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Adopt-A-Beach volunteers cleanup 172.7 tons of trash

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24th Annual Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup draws 8,815 volunteers

AUSTIN — More than 8,815 volunteers joined forces Saturday for the 24th Annual Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup. The volunteers removed nearly 172.7 tons of trash off more than 167 miles of Texas coast.

 "The turnout this year was great," said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.  "I think our social media efforts to reach surfers, fishermen - people who care about the beach - through Facebook and other online media is really starting to have an effect."

 Volunteers this year reported a shocking array of items among the usual cigarette butts and beer cans, including an Oriental rug and an empty beer box with a 24-inch rattle snake living inside at Surfside Beach, a vial of heroin at the Padre Island National Seashore (which was turned over to law enforcement), a prom corsage in Chambers County, an intravenous fluid bag and TV on Galveston Island, a federal permanent resident, or green card, in Horsepen Bayou and a bottle of catsup from Japan on Matagorda Island.

 The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup is an all-volunteer effort to remove trash from Texas' shores. Coastal cleanups are held three times each year and the program's success is due to the hard work of volunteers, including local coordinators who work many unpaid hours publicizing the cleanups in coastal communities.

 Since 1986, more than 406,000 Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have picked up more than 7,800 tons of trash from Texas beaches, some of it originating from as far away as South America. Volunteers record data on the trash to learn more about the causes of marine debris and to help mitigate pollution along Texas' 367 miles of coastline.

 The next coastwide cleanup will be the Spring Adopt-A-Beach effort scheduled for April 30, 2011.

 The success of the Adopt-A-Beach program is made possible not only by the generous efforts of thousands of volunteers, but through the generous donations of community leaders and sponsors statewide. The lead, statewide sponsor for the 24^th Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup was Shell Oil Company. Other sponsors include HNTB Corporation, AT&T Pioneers, El Paso Corporation, KBR, Halliburton, LyondellBasell and the Ocean Conservancy.

Local news media sponsors for the cleanup include:

 Beaumont

KFDM-TV CBS 6, The CW Southeast, and GuidryNews.com, the Online News Station and Clear Channel Radio stations KLVI-AM, KYKR-FM, KCOL-FM, KKMY-FM and KIOC-FM.

 Houston

KXLN-TV Univision 45, KFTH-TV Telefutura 67, Cumulus radio stations KHJK-FM, KFNC-FM, CBS radio station KLOL-FM, and GuidryNews.com, the Online News Station.

 Victoria

KAVU-TV ABC 25, KVCT-TV FOX 19, KMOL-TV NBC 17, KXTS-TV MY 41, KUNU-TV Univision 21, KVTX-TV Telemundo 45, and GAP Broadcasting radio stations KIXS-FM, KQVT-FM, KLUB-FM and KTXN-FM.

 Corpus Christi

KRIS-TV NBC 6, KZTV-TV CBS 10, KDF-TV 47, The CW South Texas, KORO-TV Univision 28, KCRP-TV Telefutura 41, and Clear Channel Radio stations KKTX-AM, KNCN-FM, KMXR-FM, KRYS-FM, KUNO-AM and KSAB-FM.

 Rio Grande Valley

KGBT-TV CBS 4, KTLM-TV Telemundo 40, and BMP radio stations KBUC-FM, KURV-AM, KJAV-FM; XHRR-FM, XAVO-FM, XCAO-FM and KVJY-AM.

 To learn more about items collected at the cleanup, and for information on the health of the Texas coast, visit the Adopt-A-Beach program Web site at www.texasadoptabeach.org, or contact the Texas General Land Office at 1-877-TXCOAST (1-877-892-6278). Keep up with all Adopt-A-Beach activities by joining us on Facebook, just search "Texas Adopt-A-Beach" to find our page on Facebook and click "like." 

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