skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Montgomery County Installs 'Litter Trap' to Keep Trash Out of Waterways

play audio
Play

Thursday, April 14, 2022   

Montgomery County has installed its first-ever "litter trap," which will capture trash and debris and prevent it from flowing downstream into the Anacostia River and eventually Chesapeake Bay.

Located in the Lockridge Drive Tributary, the floating trap is anchored to the banks and uses the stream current to guide the debris into it.

Ryan Zerbe, watershed outreach planner for the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, said the litter trap is one way to keep Maryland waterways free of trash pollution. Plastic bottles make up 60% of all the trash found in other traps in the Anacostia River.

"Any litter in our streams ends up going into our drinking water," Zerbe pointed out. "And water treatment plants can only treat so many things. Unfortunately, until we change our behavior, we'll need tools like trash traps to keep our streams clean, and the more we eliminate litter, the better."

The project is in collaboration with Anacostia Riverkeeper, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection and the Chesapeake Bay Trust. The trap is the eighth of its kind installed in the Anacostia River Watershed.

Jeffrey Popp, senior program officer at the Chesapeake Bay Trust, said in addition to the installation, the project also focuses on behavioral change to prevent people from littering in the first place.

"This project is right in a neighborhood," Popp explained. "Everybody who walks past it understands what it is. It has a sign on it that explains what it is and what it does, and so the goal here is that people will again see the amount of trash, especially after a rainstorm, and understand that this is a problem that is easily fixed."

As part of the grant, the Montgomery County Conservation Corps will go out once a week and sift through the trash, divide it into different categories, weigh it, and then share the data with the county. The trash trap project was funded through the Montgomery County Watershed Restoration and Outreach Grant Program, a partnership between the county and the Chesapeake Bay Trust.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021