Operation Clean Sweep Begins 12th Year In New Bedford

More than 100 volunteers turned out Saturday in Ward Two to kick off the 2017 Operation Clean Sweep campaign.

They collected hundreds of pounds of trash, dirt and discarded furniture and electronic items.

Organizer Lynn Coish tells WBSM News, the program is now in its twelveth year and neighborhood cleanups are planned all summer long. "There's still trash out there. The city's new trash barrels and recycling barrels have made a big difference in the cleanliness of the city, but its a high-wind city and there's still a lot of stuff blowing around," said Coish.

Saturday's cleanup was sponsored by AFC Urgent Care on Coggeshall Street.

Coish says volunteers are the backbone of Operation Clean Sweep. Marilou Nicholson was one of the volunteers on Saturday. "We're starting here, but we need to take care of this neighborhood, we need to care for our environment in total." She added, "there is so much plastic trash around and it certainly affects the wildlife."

Nicholson says she's most concerned that plastic bags and other material will eventually find their way to the harbor and the ocean, choking fish and birds.

The next Operation Clean Sweep is scheduled for Saturday, May 20th. Volunteers are encouraged to gather in the parking lot at St. Luke's Hospital