Fewer pieces of plastic and other trash will be floating into the Gulf of Mexico thanks to barriers being installed in Pasco County. The money for this pilot project was awarded under the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Bear Creek runs under a busy stretch of U.S. 19 near Beacon Woods Drive in Hudson. It's a narrow strip of water just a few steps away from a store parking lot.
The creek is littered with plastic bottles, a jug, and even a truck bed liner. All of this trash was destined for the Big Bend Seagrass Aquatic Preserve and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico.
"Everybody's worried about pollution … So, it's a very, very big deal for all my citizens, up and down [the coast]," said Jack Mariano, a Pasco County commissioner for District 5.
The county applied and was granted to be part of Operation T.R.A.P., which stands for Trash Reduction for Aquatic Preserves. So, a trash boom was installed across Bear Creek a couple of weeks ago.
It's a floating yellow barrier that stops trash from moving forward while allowing marine life to continue swimming freely below it. Pasco will eventually have 40 of these across county waterways that lead to the Gulf.
“Looking at the technology, it’s really kind of simple, but it's so effective and works,” Mariano said. “And the collecting of the data for the next four years is gonna be critical. We can figure out where it's coming from, what's causing it and how to prevent it, which leads to the long-term health of the Gulf of Mexico.”
Crews will collect data on the amount and type of trash found during monthly clean-ups and after large rain events.
"With that, we can hopefully work upstream and work with policymakers to make maybe different decisions or at least outreach campaigns so that people understand the things that they use in their everyday lives can end up in these waterways," said Nancy Wallace, director of the marine debris program at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Every minute, the equivalent of two garbage trucks of plastic escapes into the ocean, according to Operation T.R.A.P.
In 2022, the top items collected during the International Coastal Cleanup were cigarette butts, plastic bottles, food wrappers, bottle caps, plastic bags, foam and plastic food containers, paper cups and plates, and plastic straws or stirrers.
NOAA is collaborating with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Florida Sea Grant, and a handful of counties starting with Pasco and Levy. The goal is to expand it into Citrus and Hernando counties in the coming years.
Wallace said the initiative is getting $150 million over five years in federal grant funding.
"The amount of good work that we’re gonna be able to do is just incredible," she said.
Maia McGuire, with Florida Sea Grant, said this project will deploy a few different kinds of garbage-collecting devices: litter booms, like the one in Bear Creek; litter traps, which are installed in existing stormwater drainage systems; and monofilament collection devices.
“Monofilament recycling containers are PVC receptacles installed at public water access points such as boat ramps and fishing piers to collect primarily monofilament fishing line,” McGuire said.
Saqib Mukhtar, with UF/IFAS, said the project is a good example of working together to come up with real-life solutions.
“These types of activities and demonstrations only become possible when we have the kind of support and kind of monetary support and other types of support that we need at the local level,” Mukhtar said. “Hopefully we'll be able to report, in a year or two, the true benefits of all of this.”
