YYZ Airport Watch Celebrates Earth Day 2008

In celebration of this years Earth Day, the committee and members of the YYZ Airport Watch felt it was important to contribute to the global effort.  To play our part, we solicited volunteers from our membership to come out and spend an hour of their time cleaning up the area adjacent to the Fedex facility on Bramalea Rd S.  This area, which we affectionately still refer to as "Fedex Hill" is one of the more popular spotting locations among our members.  The area offers a great vantage point for arrivals and departures off runway 05/23.  Such is the popularity of this location that it is also frequented by the general public.  Unfortunately not everybody shares the same social responsibilities as our dedicated members and this area often becomes heavily littered with a plethora of trash.

On Sunday April 20 under a warm blue sky, 25 members along with a couple of wives and kids got together to pitch in and rid the area of the accumulated garbage.  This is the second such event staged by the YYZ Airport Watch and it is our intention to make this an annual event.  This effort was organized by our group with the cooperation of Mr. James Bertram (Director of Public Safety - GTAA).

In a little under an hour, our group filled some 25 plus bags of garbage which were taken away for proper disposal by crews from Pearson Airport Field Maintenance.  It's amazing how much litter accumulates and seeing the end results really gives one a sense of satisfaction.  Knowing that we're not only contributing to the beautification of YYZ, but helping to eliminate the potential for FOD.

The primary mandate for YYZ Airport Watch is to "Observe, Record, & Report" any suspicious activity to authorities.  A little over a year ago, two of our members noticed three large holes in the perimeter fence that runs parallel to Bramalea Rd.  The was reported to GTAA SOC and dealt with immediately. Unquestionably, YYZ Airport Watch is pleased to play a positive role at YYZ by not only reporting suspicious activity but also being a responsible partner in the airport community.

Photos by Andy Cline & Peter Ivakitsch