January 2024 E-Letter

• BEHOLD THE KING TIDES! - Join the CA King Tides Project
•   HTO’s Summerland Geology Study Starts – With the Sky
•   Where did all the Styrofoam Go?
•   Leaving Things Behind Makes for Big Cleanup – by Somebody Else
•   Leaping into 2024 with Gratitude

King Tides Need Watching – You Can Help!

The California Coastal Commission has put out a call to all citizens – that means YOU - for photos of high tide action along the coast. The agency is asking you to upload photos to its California King Tides Project. The instructions are simple. Take pictures of your beach of choice at high tide and upload them here.

**Click the image to upload pictures of the High Tide. Graphics by Jasmin Tupy**

Summerland Oil Mitigation Study (SOMS) Starts with the Sky!

**The installation of the Air Quality Monitor. Photos by Harry Rabin.**

With $500,000 awarded to Heal the Ocean by State Assemblymember Monique Límon and an additional $105,000 donated from the Mericos Foundation, Heal the Ocean has kicked off the New Year with a grand start to its Summerland Oil Mitigation Study (SOMS) – with a comprehensive air quality study.

The two researchers, Ira Leifer of Bubbleology Research International and Harry Rabin of On the Wave Productions, put their heads together after the last well abandonment at the end of 2023. The SOMS study will determine the most logical and efficient approach to capping the leaking wells by helping to reveal all the connectivity between wellheads, oil, and water reservoirs beneath the Earth's surface.

Therefore, the two researchers are compiling a Graphical Information System (GIS) database as a critical resource to evaluate, strategize, and prioritize mitigation efforts for well abandonment. They are starting by measuring air emissions from oil seep, as oil can emit VOCS such as hydrogen sulfide, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. The SOMS team is updating software, cell modems, and installing more monitoring equipment on an air quality weather and gas monitor tower in Summerland.

The abstract to the SOMS Study can be read here. It is titled “OS24A-04 Anthropogenically-Modified Seepage and Leakage from the World’s First Offshore, Abandoned Oil Field, Summerland, Southern California” authored by Ira Leifer and Harry Rabin.

A Call for Styrofoam

Heal the Ocean has a Styrofoam recycling program in place with MarBorg Industries. During gift-giving occasions, especially those involving items like televisions and stereos, a significant amount of Styrofoam ends up in the landfill.

At HTO, we want to remind everyone not to forget this important and convenient resource! This program ensures that Styrofoam stays out of the landfill and is upcycled into new items!

Here are some reminders of how the program works:

Do not put your Styrofoam in your blue trash bins, it will not be recycled!
Instead - Take it to a FREE drop off zone at a MarBorg recycling center near you:

20 David Love Place in Goleta
132 Nopalitos Way in the Milpas area of Santa Barbara

Keep in mind that the Styrofoam must be clean. Please make sure it’s not confused with Styrene (such as is used for pool “noodles”). Recyclable Styrofoam must snap when bent. It should be free from any tape, aluminum wrapping, or any other components such as food, waste, metal, or moisture.

Non-recyclable Styrofoam may come in the form of packing peanuts, pool noodles, concrete-coated foam, and any form of Styrofoam that has been in contact with food or waste.

Act of Carelessness turns into Big Litter

On January 9, HTO was alerted by a supporter about a kayak abandoned on Haskell’s Beach. With impending King Tides set to impact the Santa Barbara coast on January 11 and 12, HTO swiftly acted to prevent the kayak from being swept into the ocean.

The HTO team discovered the kayak was filled with water and sand, increasing its weight to 300 pounds. What initially seemed like a straightforward removal evolved into a more complex project – returning to the scene and using a saw to cut the kayak into pieces for removal. The whole exercise was a reminder that leaving things behind can make for harder work later.

Leaping into the New Year with Gratitude

For Heal the Ocean, 2023 was our biggest year ever, both in impact and (tremendous!) support. As we leap into the New Year, we want to thank everyone who has given us this help. For one thing, it helps so much to be able to pay for contractors, engineers, scientists, outside help – and of course a great staff.

As we leap into a New Year, we at Heal the Ocean extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you for your unwavering support, and for being an essential part of our journey.