Watch CBS News

Volunteers Scour Beaches For Wayward Wastewater Disks

HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) - More volunteers are turning out to help clean up millions of small plastic disks swept downriver from a New Hampshire wastewater treatment plant to the ocean shores of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
 
The clean-up effort is taking place Saturday morning at Hampton Beach.
 
A previous cleanup effort on Thursday succeeded in retrieving at least 100,000 disks from North Hampton, Hampton and Seabrook beaches.
 
The 2-inch-wide disks covered with mesh screens came from a plant in Hooksett, where they were used in tanks to promote growth of bacteria that feeds on waste. About a week after heavy rain on March 6 carried them into the Merrimack River, the disks started appearing.
 
The disks aren't hazardous waste but it's recommended that people wear gloves when picking them up.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.