“GARBAGE TAKEOVER:” Yellow foam washes up on beaches in Milton

Yellow blocks that appear to be made of construction foam and other debris have washed up on our beaches.

It's an issue that has dogged WPTV since we first received reports from viewers on Friday.

“It’s one of the most mind-blowing trash takeovers I’ve ever seen,” said Mary Glazier. “I have never seen the garbage accumulate like this and the building materials we have collected take over.”

Glazier is the founder of Gurferlady, a women-owned surf school committed to ocean conservation in Palm Beach, Jupiter and Lake Worth Beach.

She is one of many who spent the weekend removing trash bags from the beach.

“Foam generally doesn’t break down for hundreds of years, so it will continue to break down,” Glazier said.

WPTV

She believes the trash came from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton on the Gulf Coast and ended up on our beaches through the Gulf Stream.

“(It will be) in our water and even in our air, which is crazy. So our marine life will continue to consume it, and even we will as we enjoy the ocean,” Glazier said.

WPTV reached the northern end of Palm Beach Island, where mountains of the yellow foam could still be seen, along with wrappers, bottles and other trash.

Nearly 100 bags of trash were collected, according to Friends of Palm Beach, a local 501(c)3 that helped clean up over the weekend.

WPTV reached out to Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation, who said they are responsible for a set list of beaches.

Friends of Palm Beach

County employees were off for the holidays but released a statement to WPTV's Joel Lopez saying:

They said they worked with the Beach Bucket Foundation, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Friends of Jupiter Beach, Sea Turtle Adventures and others to help.

They said there had been several cleanups but they would continue to monitor the situation as more debris washed up.

They encourage people to help the effort at any time by using one of the Beach Bucket Foundation's stations and signing up for a volunteer group cleanup.