HAPPY WORLD OCEANS DAY – JUNE 8!

World Oceans Day is an international day that takes place on June 8 every year. Originally proposed in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit - UN conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, the World Ocean Day was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2002.

The international day fosters public interest in the protection of the ocean and the sustainable management of its resources. At Heal the Ocean, we pause to recognize real (and significant) progress made, as we go forward to take on additional victories for the ocean. We particularly like remembering these moments in our campaign:

Rincon Septic-to-Sewer Project 1998-2013

Heal the Ocean took up the Rincon Sept-to-Sewer project in 1998, right after our organization was formed. It took us 15 years to complete the project, overcoming daunting costs, lawsuits, and numerous other obstacles.

The groundbreaking in 2013 marked our success, made possible by the tenacity and generosity of Rincon homeowners, the resilience of the Carpinteria Sanitary District (with CSD Manager Craig Murray pictured here), and stellar political support from Hannah-Beth Jackson, Salud Carbajal, and Das Williams (also pictured here).

Our accomplishment? The removal of 7 miles of septic systems along the Santa Barbara south coast and Ventura coastline, eliminating the pollution of the ocean by septic leach fields that had been emptying into the Rincon Lagoon and the ocean itself.

Goleta Sanitary District Upgrade to Full Treatment of Wastewater 2002-2013

When the Clean Water Act went into effect in 1972, all wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were ordered to upgrade their treatment levels to "Full Secondary," prohibiting the discharge of partially treated wastewater into U.S. waters. The 301h Waiver program was initiated at that time to give WWTPs time to secure funding for these upgrades. However, thirty years later, many WWTPs were still operating under the Waiver, including the Goleta Sanitary District (GSD).

In 2002, when GSD applied to the Regional Water Quality Control Board for another five-year waiver to discharge partially treated wastewater off Goleta Beach, Heal the Ocean challenged the permit. It took us 11 years to win this battle, but at the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony in October 2013, GSD officials thanked us. They acknowledged that delaying the upgrade any further would have resulted in enormously high costs. Today, GSD and HTO are fast friends.

HTO Helps City of Santa Barbara Launch “One Water” Program

Hillary speaking at Public Announcement of One Water Program

Heal the Ocean has long advocated for wastewater treatment plants to upgrade their systems to produce more recycled water for irrigation use – a practice that would save nearly 75% of drinking water supplies.Therefore, when the City of Santa Barbara implemented its “One Water” program during the early years of the California drought, HTO got behind the program full force, and participated in the public announcement of the program. In this program, all waters - wastewater, groundwater, storm water, seawater (desalinated), and Cachuma – would be purified and mixed in the Lauro Reservoir, treated in the Cater Treatment plant, and distributed throughout the City as well as neighboring communities. We were all for it!

Success in Petitioning CA Governor for Funds to Cap Becker Oil Well (2017)

Becker Well was the first troublesome oil leak on Summerland Beach that got HTO’s attention. Black goo constantly burbled up from the sand, day and night. When the California State Lands Commission announced it had only half of the $750,000 needed to cap the well, we stepped forward and promised to find the other half. And we DID.

We collected signatures at a Jack Johnson concert on a long roll of butcher paper, and also launched a tremendously successful letter-writing campaign. Heal the Ocean hand-made colorful postcards, and participants emailed us their messages. We hand-wrote the messages, stamped the postcards, and mailed them all at once. Governor Jerry Brown’s desk was swamped, and he couldn’t say no!

We Successfully Lobbied for SB44
- $14M for SUMMERLAND OIL CLEANUP!

After the Becker Well cleanup, Heal the Ocean went to work to find more funding for the State Lands Commission to clean up the other leaking “legacy” wells off Summerland. We did intensive lobbying in Sacramento to get Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s Senate Bill 44 passed – and that brought in $2M per year for the next seven years ($14M total)! State Lands is still operating with these funds.

One Beach Cleanup After Another!

Each year Heal the Ocean organizes many groups of dedicated individuals who regularly clean up trash from Santa Barbara beaches. It’s a fantastic program: participants are provided with sturdy gloves and use horse feed bags for collection (instead of plastic). Plus, they receive free HTO T-shirts!

Andrew Velikanje – Folk Hero of Environmental Cleanups

Some years ago, Heal the Ocean met Andrew “V” at our cleanup of a homeless encampment near the Bacara Hotel, and he came to help. What was so unusual about this is the fact that Andrew once lived in the camp. When HTO learned of the major cleanup Andrew has been voluntarily conducting for years through his company Earthcomb, we hired him immediately. We also pay his workers, who help clean out encampment after encampment. Their only requirement for getting paid work is that they must be homeless – not just temporarily out of a job.

Since January 2024, Earthcomb has removed 5,770lbs of trash from Rincon and Summerland to Goleta. He goes to work in the mountains, and cleans out trash from Highway 154 to the shores of Lake Cachuma. He has cleaned freeway underpasses in Montecito, Rincon and other areas, all of this pickup averaging a little over 1,000lbs a month. Andrew has his own little house now, and his best pal is a frisky little dog named Dede.

A Final Note for World Oceans Day
– We Don’t Forget our Dogs!

In 2010, Heal the Ocean launched our now-celebrated Doggy Bag program, which provides about $30K annually for dog bags in parks and along trails in both the City and County of Santa Barbara.

It’s a simple concept: businesses and individual dog owners sponsor a dog bag dispenser. We create and install stickers according to the sponsor’s wishes and maintain them. The City and County receive the funds from us for the bags, and the rangers keep the dispensers stocked. Dispensers are available for sponsorship. If you’re interested, call Jasmin Tupy at the HTO office at (805) 895-5559. Thank you!