Volunteer removes tons of trash from Virginia Key, warns permits and state preemption limit local fixes

Andrew Tasso, a Key Biscayne resident and volunteer cleaner, told a local shoreline committee on May 27 that he has removed roughly 30,000 pounds of trash from South Florida’s coastal ecosystems over the past eight years and about 3,200 pounds from Virginia Key between February and April of this year. "I've removed 3,200 pounds of trash. That's more than a ton and a half of trash," Tasso said during his presentation.

Tasso said much of the debris consists of Styrofoam, plastic, derelict lobster and crab trap line, and vehicle tires, including an estimated 38 tires and a 220-pound tractor-trailer tire at one dump site. He described multiple sources for the waste: land-based litter washed to the bay during storms, weekend boaters and cruise lines, and illegal beach camping that leaves tents and barbecues. "Everything that we create as a species winds up in the ocean, that winds up in the mangrove," he said.

The presentation focused on two immediate problems: recurring accumulation of trash and limits on volunteer cleanup work because of permitting. Tasso said he had a city permit that allowed him…