ST. PETE, Fla. — A stretch of the Saint Petersburg Marina hasn't been cleaned in over 25 years.
Following Hurricanes Milton and Helene last year, a significant amount of trash was pulled into the water, including items that harm the environment and sea life.
That’s why dozens of divers and organizers came out Saturday to help clean up the garbage at the bottom of the marina.
WATCH: Community volunteers dive in to clean 25 years of debris from St. Petersburg Marina
"Getting all this stuff up and out of the water, pun intended, is good because the things that we have pulled up are stuff that has been around since Hurricane Helene and Milton,” says Kirsten Hutchings, co-founder and executive director of the Blue Urban Project.
The Blue Urban Project, partnered with Letts Dive and St. Pete Yacht Club, organized these volunteer scuba divers to help with the cleanup.
“We have probably nearly 100 people working together as a community to try to reduce some of the negative impacts of the debris that finds its way here,” said Raymond Salden, also a co-founder of the Blue Urban Project.
Some of that debris included soda, beer bottles and cans, PVC pipes, and there was even a laptop.
These are all things mother nature can’t do away by herself.
"Now there are some items down here which have fallen like parts of the old dock, the concrete, which nature finds a way to repurpose, and it becomes part of the artificial reef system down below,” said Salden. “So we'll leave that. But then we'll take out all the other debris like this bottle, plastics, and other contaminants in the environment."
These items will be logged, catalogued, and studied.
If you want to get involved with the project, click here.
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
