June 2022 E-Letter - Part 1
In this E-Letter:
HTO Funder Bill Poehler struck down in bike accident
Lucy Lefkowitz joins team HTO as Policy Analyst
Rabin update on Summerland Oil
Ralph Clevenger kicks off HTO's Arts & Environment Program
Andrew Velikanje tackles Montecito homeless camp cleanups
Support HTO at Finch & Fork Restaurant this month for World Oceans Day!
Beloved HTO Friend Dies in Bicycle Accident
William (“Bill”) Poehler has been a friend to Heal the Ocean for years. He called us up one day and told us about his family foundation, the Poehler-Stremel Charitable Trust in St. Paul, Minnesota, and wanted us to apply for funding. Which we did. Years ago. Every year, he’d send a note to remind us to apply again. In this way, the Poehler-Stremel Charitable Trust has paid for the printing of Heal the Ocean’s newsletters and E-letters (including this one) since 2010.
He was an avid bicyclist, belonging to a team of friends who would ride regularly and often. He lived with his beloved wife Pam and daughter Lily, who came with Bill to our events. He was a quiet, unassuming gentleman who painted watercolors (some of which we published) and played music. Bill, Pam, and Lily were instrumental in the campaign to save the San Marcos Foothills. Bill was riding bikes with friends when he struck something in the road, and the resulting accident tragically took his life. We will miss him, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Pam, and daughter, Lily.
Lucy Lefkowitz Joins Team HTO as our Policy Analyst
ISABELLA “LUCY” LEFKOWITZ is joining the Heal the Ocean staff as Policy Analyst, to take on the mounting piles of coastal and environmental issues we are grappling with. Lucy graduated from the prestigious Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, and earned her JD degree in May 2021. Her commitment is to the field of environmental law, particularly ocean and coastal management law. In Oregon, she assisted Earthrise Law Center in drafting a recommendations report for a coastal state’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program, among myriad other environmental programs. Welcome aboard, Lucy! – we’ve been waiting for you!
HTO Continues Summerland Oil Monitoring to Guide Next Steps for Cleanup
This graphic, by Harry Rabin/On The Wave Productions, shows original CALGEM locations of wellheads and corrected (actual) locations of wellheads located by Harry and his SLC co-workers.
HTO Field Advisor Harry Rabin continues his regular monitoring of the ocean off Summerland, to provide information to the State Lands Commission (SLC) about any new oil leaks that may occur. He also works with SLC contract engineers, Interact, in differentiating between seeps and wellheads, and in March 2022 the team located a leaking wellhead called “Moore.” The team also corrected CALGEM information about the locations of other leaking wells, including Treadwell 1 &5, slated for capping at the end of 2022.
The Moore survey was conducted over three days in collaboration SLC, Acteon/Claxton Drilling and Decommissioning (InterAct), Global Diving, and Patriot Environmental Services. The support vessel Danny C provided DSV services and Rabin’s On the Wave Productions team provided aerial survey services. On the Wave’s report to SLC outlined how, after three days of surveying and digging, the diver located the Moore 1 wellhead as well as the potential extension of the Moore Wharf. At least 2 natural seeps were identified and 1 seep was excavated. The Moore leak will go onto the SLC calendar for future work.
Andrew Leads Homeless Camp
Cleanup in Montecito
Andrew (2nd from left, in sunglasses) and his Earthcomb crew.
With his Earthcomb team of workers, Andrew Velikanje led a massive attack on two abandoned homeless camps in Montecito this past May, removing almost 5 tons of trash and offal from the environment. Andrew hires homeless and formerly homeless workers to work with him and arranges such cleanups in coordination with Heal the Ocean, which pays for the MarBorg haul off of trash and offal from the sites. Thanks, Andrew!
Ralph Clevenger Kicks off Art & Environment Fundraising Program for Heal the Ocean
Thanks to a generous donation from Charles & Brynn Crowe and the Kirby-Jones Foundation, the esteemed photographer Ralph Clevenger is kicking off a new program for HTO that will feature artists – photographers, painters, sculptures, jewelry makers – who will sell their art through Heal the Ocean, donating a percentage of proceeds from the sales through the HTO online store found on our website. You can check out Clevenger’s work here.
Finch & Fork Creates 'Great Wave' Cocktail to Celebrate World Oceans Day & Benefit Heal the Ocean!
World Oceans Day is June 8, 2022, and to celebrate, Santa Barbara’s Finch and Fork Restaurant has created a “Great Wave” cocktail to celebrate, with $1 from the sale of every cocktail during the month of June to benefit Heal the Ocean! It’s made with local SoCal produced Sake and is a picture in itself. Thank you Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants…we’re all looking forward to riding this “Great Wave” with you!
From all of us at Heal the Ocean to all of you, thank you, and please stay safe.
HTO thanks the Poehler-Stremel Charitable Trust
for providing funds to publish our newsletters and e-letters!
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