corralitos creek cleanup airport boulevard
A large crew of various local groups and volunteers pick up trash on a stretch of property where a long-standing homeless encampment has operated on Airport Boulevard between Freedom Boulevard and Green Valley Road adjacent to Freedom Centre. Photo: Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian

About 30 people from various organizations formed a community cleanup Wednesday on a slice of private property on Airport Boulevard at Pajaro Lane.

Headed up by the office of Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, the crew got support from the County of Santa Cruz and the City of Watsonville with large dumpsters and heavy equipment to round up mountains of trash, some of which was endangering the nearby Corralitos Creek.

“On one hand it makes me sad to see so many people living homeless,” said volunteer Rozene Enloe. “But it feels good to help the environment and to be out here working with these groups.”

Ramon Gomez, chief of staff for Hernandez, said the crews had picked up 11,200 pounds of trash as the work continued.

“There are a lot of volunteers and groups that are making this happen,” he said.

Those groups include Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the Monterey Bay Trout and Salmon Project.

In addition to cleaning the wooded area on the land, crews also tidied up about 150 feet of Corralitos Creek.

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Tarmo Hannula has been the lead photographer with The Pajaronian newspaper in Watsonville since 1997. More recently Good Times & Press Banner. He also reports on a wide range of topics, including police, fire, environment, schools, the arts and events. A fifth generation Californian, Tarmo was born in the Mother Lode of the Sierra (Columbia) and has lived in Santa Cruz County since the late 1970s. He earned a BA from UC Santa Cruz and has traveled to 33 countries.

1 COMMENT

  1. Thanks to the volunteers and businesses that helped out on this cleanup. You rock!

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