http://www.healtheocean.org/library/news/ en info+healtheocean@oniracom.com (Heal The Ocean) Copyright 2012 2012-04-03T01:04:53+00:00 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/sand_point_in_on_line http://www.healtheocean.org/news/sand_point_in_on_line On Friday the 13th, 2012, the first homeowner in Sand Point (a big HTO supporter incidentally) was able to flush into the new sewer system now being completed for the Sand Point community of homes! This project, part of the South Coast Beach Communities Septic-to-Sewer project, is one of HTO’s flagship programs to reduce ocean pollution. Sewer construction is now starting for the Sandyland group of homes, with Rincon close behind. The Carpinteria Sanitary District also has information about the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer Project on its home page http://carpsan.com/#  Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:04:53 -0700 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/doggy_donors_line_up_for_2012 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/doggy_donors_line_up_for_2012 Aye’la has donated 1,000 doggy bags to HTO’s biobag program! HTO recently sent $2,500 to the County of Santa Barbara to pay for doggy bags that are being stocked in beach dispensers! Thank you to all the doggies contributing to this fund! $60 buys 1,000 doggy bags! Please view the gallery of doggies who in the past have donated to this cause, and have your doggies renew their contributions for 2012! Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:10:40 -0700 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/march_newsletter http://www.healtheocean.org/news/march_newsletter Read Hillary Hauser’s 2/15/2011 Memorial tribute to Mike deGruy here! Read all about Mike’s work on his website here! Mike deGruy There is no way to describe our intense sorrow in hearing that world-acclaimed underwater photographer, filmmaker and ocean advocate Mike deGruy was killed on Friday, February 3, 2012, in a helicopter crash off the coast of Australia. By now, many of you know Mike was working pre-production on a film for James Cameron, and was with pilot Andrew Wight, a well-respected adventurer and filmmaker at the time of the crash. Mike was well loved in HTO’s family. He came onto HTO’s advisory board in 2004, helped with our offshore dives on sewer outfalls, and served as emcee or did stage presentations at our public functions. Mainly, he encouraged us with his go-gettum spirit, his fabulous smile and happiness. We send all our love and prayers to his wife Mimi, and children, Max and Frances. If you want to send a card to the family through HTO, please send through the office (address below). For news accounts, click here or here. Read more news Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:08:56 -0700 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/heal_the_ocean_has_moved http://www.healtheocean.org/news/heal_the_ocean_has_moved HEAL THE OCEAN HAS MOVED! Our new office is at 1836 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:04:27 -0800 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/happy_new_year http://www.healtheocean.org/news/happy_new_year click to enlarge Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:38:31 -0800 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/november_newsletter http://www.healtheocean.org/news/november_newsletter CLICK HERE to catch up on the latest HTO news! Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:31:38 -0700 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/montecito_journal_a_line_in_the_sand_ft._hto_and_julia_louis-dreyfus http://www.healtheocean.org/news/montecito_journal_a_line_in_the_sand_ft._hto_and_julia_louis-dreyfus Click to read this cover story highlighting HTO’s Imaginary Gala, it’s Honorary Chair Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and HTO Executive Director Hillary Hauser. Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:47:10 -0700 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/imaginary_gala_2011_results http://www.healtheocean.org/news/imaginary_gala_2011_results View the results of our Imaginary Gala 2011!   Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:47:47 -0700 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/help_feed_your_soul http://www.healtheocean.org/news/help_feed_your_soul We'd like to introduce you to our friends at Help Feed Your Soul, an initiative supporting and raising funds for Heal the Ocean. In addition to working with us, Help Feed Your Soul has become an official supporter of the World Food Programme USA and The Music Preservation Project. As you may know, the World Food Programme USA is a nonprofit organization that builds support in the United States to end global hunger. WFP USA engages individuals and organizations, shapes public pollcy, and generates resources for the United Nations World Food Programme and other hunger relief operations. The Music Preservation Project is a social movement dedicated to preserving endangered music archives and creating a cultural resource for educators and students. The Music Preservation Project is a cooperation between the University of Southern California and a group of passionate music, education, and technology professionals. Help Feed Your Soul is not limited to only supporting one area of work, which is part of it's greatness. We thank Help Feed Your Soul and encourage you all to visit their website to learn more and donate to support them supporting us. As their slogan accurately states, a spoonful of goodness does indeed go a long way! Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:36:07 -0700 http://www.healtheocean.org/news/sand_point_sewer_construction_awarded_hto_imaginary_gala_a_success_and_more http://www.healtheocean.org/news/sand_point_sewer_construction_awarded_hto_imaginary_gala_a_success_and_more Sand Point Sewer Construction to Start Heal the Ocean is celebrating the news that the contract for sewer construction in the Sand Point community of the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer Project will be approved by the Carpinteria Sanitary District board of directors on September 6! According to CSD general manager Craig Murray, the district will give the contractor Travis Agricultural Construction, Ventura, a Notice to Proceed order on that date, and actual construction will proceed “several weeks after,” or by the end of September 2011. CSD has put in a purchase order to buy all the pumps for the 21 Sand Point homes, and the arrival of this equipment will start the construction project. Sandyland is moving forward, too. CSD is advertising for construction bids for the construction of sewer to this group of coastal homes during the week of August 22, 2011. Craig Murray expects the construction of both Sand Point and Sandyland septic-to-sewer projects to proceed almost simultaneously. As for the Rincon part of the project “all of this is good news,” Murray says. “We have just finished another addendum to the (Rincon) EIR to locate the pump station in the (upper) County park area, and are revising other aspects of the project using the same CEQA document.” Heal the Ocean has spearheaded the septic-to-sewer conversion of all 171 homes along the coast in this south coast area since our organization began in 1998. HTO’s pride and joy of our environmental work is actual infrastructure replacement and/or upgrade that removes or reduces sources of ocean pollution. In addition to paying for consultants, lawyers, DNA tests and engineering plans, HTO has also been instrumental in finding outside funding to help pay for the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer project. We helped CSD write the Prop 84 grant for $2.1 million, and then lobbied for this grant at the State Water Resources Control Board level. These funds will be applied to the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer project, in the form of a 25% rebate to homeowners who have paid to build it. CSD Sewr Pipes Moving Off Carpinteria Bluffs During its September 6, 2011 meeting, the CSD board of directors will also give Notice of Proceed to Sierra Construction, Carpinteria, to move CSD sewer pipes off Carpinteria Bluffs, an environmentally sensitive (and eroding) cliff area. HTO successfully assisted CSD in lobbying for $2 million in SWRCB Proposition 84 funds to help pay for this project. HTO Imaginary Gala A Huge Success! With Julia Louis-Dreyfus serving as Fantasy Chair, HTO’s Annual Gala this year had the theme “Stay Home! No attire required!” Sponsorship levels ranged from “Dream Tables” and “Phantom Tables” to “Invisible Seats and Make Believe Seats.” With invitations going out at the beginning of July 2011, and with a deadline of August 1, 2011 to make deadline for full-page tributes to our sponsors in the Montecito Journal and Santa Barbara Independent (to appear Thursday, August 17, 2011), we are ecstatic to announce that our support surpassed our goal of $100,000! The fundraiser got a tremendous kick-start with the instant Dream Table sponsorship of Scott & Ella Brittingham/Brittingham Family Foundation, and culminated with a Thursday August 18, 2011 cover story in Montecito Journal with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and HTO executive director Hillary Hauser in conversation with MJ publisher Jim Buckley. HTO Flags Up On State Street! On Thursday, August 18, one day before our 13th birthday, HTO flags went up on State Street! We love being part of the Downtown Organization’s State Street Flag Program, and we love Stan & Cheryl Tomchin/Tomchin Family Foundation, for taking out a full-page ad in the Montecito Messenger to salute our birthday and our flags! In addition, the Tomchins sponsored a Phantom-Dream Table at our Imaginary Gala. Thank you, one and all! HTO thanks the Poehler-Stremel Charitable Trust for the funds to publish our newsletters, e-letters and all public communications!   click here to support (every dollar helps!) THANK YOU!   Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:35:15 -0700