00:00 So I hope that you'll consider what the

00:02 work that's been done here and Beaufort

00:03 is kind of a benchmark for for other

00:05 things and the template that you can use

00:06 in other locations. (Rett Newton, Mayor of Beaufort, NC speaking) It's twofold right

00:09 you're cleaning up the waterways but

00:11 this is a public health issue and I

00:12 actually add a third isn't this good for

00:15 commerce wouldn't people want to come to

00:17 Beaufort to a clean water of coastal

00:19 community the answer is clearly yes. (Paula Gillikin, Central Site Manager speaking) to

00:21 undertake a project like this first you

00:24 need to understand the extent of the

00:26 problem so collecting data on the

00:28 problem understanding how much debris

00:30 there is and what the risk is to the

00:33 environment and people and then knowing

00:35 how many resources you need to address

00:37 that problem. We couldn't do a project

00:40 like this without great partnerships and

00:44 I think we have the best example of

00:47 partnership working well in the Beaufort

00:50 area with this project. We have the

00:53 coastal reserve and it's protected

00:56 Nature Reserve which is used as an

00:58 outdoor laboratory in an outdoor

01:00 classroom and we have overlapping waters

01:03 with the jurisdiction of the Town of

01:06 Beaufort. So we're both invested in the

01:09 issue for a lot of the same reasons.

01:11 We're both passionate about keeping our

01:14 environment beautiful and clean and

01:17 available for public use. (Lee Skykes, Atlantic Coast Marine Group, Inc. speaking) This project

01:21 showed how local organizers can reach

01:26 out within the community and find

01:28 various stakeholders that had unique

01:30 talents and skill sets to take an idea

01:34 and make it a viable project. And that's

01:37 what Beaufort did here. When the reserve

01:41 came to me and wanted me to get involved

01:44 with this project I said not only are we

01:46 gonna get involved from the operation

01:48 side but we're gonna get involved on the

01:50 money side too. In return we matched a

01:52 lot of money to help pull this off

01:54 because this was a big project. (Dr. Liz DeMattia, Research Scientist speaking) It's been

01:57 really fun to work with NOAA on this

02:00 project because our students can pick up

02:03 small pieces of debris but as the larger

02:06 abandoned derelict vessels

02:08 and other pieces that our students can't

02:11 pick up but that we all see when we walk

02:13 on the beaches or walk in downtown

02:15 Beaufort, this partnership allows greater

02:18 resources to take some of those out and

02:21 actually clean up our beaches from some

02:23 of the bigger things that we as

02:25 individual citizens can't do. (Lee Skykes, Atlantic Coast Marine Group, Inc. speaking) The risk

02:29 and dangers involved in a project like

02:31 this are kinda at every stage. You've got

02:34 guys underneath the water working you're

02:36 taking an item that is decomposing so

02:40 it's not as structurally intact so when

02:43 it comes up something may break and

02:45 separate. And then once you successfully

02:47 get it to the surface then you have to

02:49 get it ashore and the towing operation

02:52 of towing a partially submerged boat or

02:54 towing a piece of a boat presents its

02:57 own risk. Then when you go to shore side

02:59 trying to crane this out and a lot of

03:02 these vessels if you can just imagine in

03:05 your head that it's like wet cardboard.

03:06 So when you go to take the load it kind

03:09 of settles in the straps and it moves on

03:12 you a little bit and then you have to go

03:14 through the dismantling and disposing of

03:17 it. (Dr. Liz DeMattia, Research Scientist speaking) And some of the derelict vessels and

03:21 big pieces can pollute, right, so rubber

03:24 overtime those smaller pieces of plastic

03:27 and break up into smaller pieces of

03:29 plastic and that can enter our food

03:31 chain. Getting rid of the bigger pieces

03:33 not only improves the beauty of the area

03:37 but also decreases the probability that

03:39 any of the pollutants will break up and

03:42 enter our food chain in the ocean.

03:44 (Paula Gillikin, Central Site Manager speaking) Vessels are a problem for people they're

03:47 problem for the water and they're

03:48 problem for a wildlife. (Lee Skykes, Atlantic Coast Marine Group, Inc. speaking) I've got two

03:51 little kids they like to swim and play

03:53 on the island over there, I don't want

03:55 them getting cut up on debris there's a

03:58 lot of families that are using these

03:59 shorelines and using these waters. (Kyle Garner, Planning & Inspections speaking) We've

04:02 been extremely pleased we had no idea

04:04 that we'd be this successful this short

04:07 of time into the project. We've removed

04:09 thousands of pounds of debris as well

04:12 some abandoned vessels. We're already

04:15 starting to hear positive comments from

04:16 our community and the budding community.

04:18 (Rett Newton, Mayor of Beaufort, NC speaking) A large part of this is the education

04:22 just making sure that they understand

04:23 sometimes marine debris can be out of

04:25 sight out of mind but it doesn't mean

04:26 it's not there

04:27 doesn't mean that it's not impacting us.

04:29 (Paula Gillikin, Central Site Manager speaking) We want to bring the public out to the

04:31 Nature Reserve out to the Rachel Carson

04:33 Reserve and have them participate in

04:36 marine debris cleanups, have them

04:38 invested as a part of the project so

04:42 that they understand marine debris

04:43 issues better, and we'll go home and

04:46 think about perhaps the products that

04:49 they're using that can contribute to

04:51 marine debris. Start at home securing

04:54 your debris in the proper way.

04:56 Making sure it's not overflowing in your

04:58 recycling bin think about the things

05:00 that you use in your home and instead of

05:02 putting those vegetables in a plastic

05:04 bag at the grocery store try just

05:06 putting them in a reusable bag and then

05:08 you won't have to worry about that bag

05:09 getting away from you. (Rett Newton, Mayor of Beaufort, NC speaking) You’ve got the federal level

05:12 you've got the state level you've got

05:13 the municipal level and you've got

05:15 commercial entities and you've got

05:17 academic entities that are involved as

05:19 well.

05:19 And this is all part of a clean water

05:21 coastal community.