Dave Koubsky, restoration manager with the Coastal Virginia Conservancy, holds a tube in 2022 displaying clean sand and activated carbon to line Paradise Creek. (Photo by Katherine Hafner)

A local nonprofit recently finished the first phase of a years-long cleanup project in Portsmouth’s Paradise Creek.

The Coastal Virginia Conservancy, formerly known as the Living River Trust, has now removed about five million pounds of historically contaminated sediment, replacing it with clean sand.

The milestone “represents a colossal step forward in our mission to conserve and restore the marine and wildlife habitat, natural beauty, and ecological health of our waterways,” the Conservancy’s Board Chair Mary Ann Saunders said in a statement this week.

“By revitalizing this tributary of the Elizabeth River, we are not only reversing decades of legacy contamination, but also enhancing and ensuring a brighter, more sustainable future.”