On April 16, 2019, the Santa Barbara City Council will act on the city Water Commission's recommendation that the El Estero Wastewater Treatment Plant be renamed El Estero Water Resource Center. As a result of HTO’s recommendation during the Water Commission’s February 15, 2018 meeting, the name change was approved by the Commission on March 28,2019 and will next be taken up by City Council. The name change reflects the expanded role of wastewater management, in that the facilities have a much larger role. . .

Heal the Ocean welcomes Wendy Pelayo to our team as Operations Intern! In two short weeks, this wonder-woman has produced an immense amount of work that has helped us move forward on many fronts. Wendy, a third-year undergraduate student in Environmental Studies at UCSB, is responsible for assisting with research projects, administrative duties, and supports HTO social media work. We're glad to have her with us!

In mid-March, 2019, State Lands Commission petroleum drilling engineer Steve Curran called HTO to report that funds from state senator Hannah-Beth Jackson’s SB 44 legislation were being used to clear the rusty hazards from Haskell’s Beach, which fronts the oceanfront Bacara Resort. HTO Advisory Board member (and hard worker!) Harry Rabin documented the work with aerial drone and still photography.

Heal the Ocean is so very happy to announce that the notorious Treadwell oil well which is actively spewing oil into the ocean off Summerland Beach, will be capped this summer. We thank State Lands Commission (SLC) petroleum drilling engineer Steve Curran for working closely with us to get this project rolling, and for putting us together with Mike Giuliani andErik Kroh of InterAct Engineering, Ventura, which has been contracted by State Lands to get the capping project underway. HTO also thanks Nora McNeely-Hurley, who keeps a watch on the water from her Summerland seaside home, letting us know when new oil messes appear on the surface, and lately, there has been a LOT from Treadwell.

EF International Language School, Santa Barbara, has joined hands with HTO for the fourth year in a row to celebrate Earth Day in a massive coastal cleanup scheduled for April 12, 2019.

The EF/HTO model has been picked up by EF San Diego and EF Honolulu, and on that same day in April, hundreds of students will be hitting the beaches in these locations too!

EF Santa Barbara School Director Kristen Reilly says it is the school’s vision to further introduce the beach cleanup model to other EF schools on the U.S. west coast, including campuses in San Francisco and Seattle. The project is part of the school's Ocean & Environmental Awareness campaign entitled “EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY.”

The Kokua Hawaii Foundation, the brainchild of Kim (and Jack) Johnson, has thrown its hat into the EF International Language School signature program of massive beach cleanups, following the EF/HTO model of involving many students at one time in tackling a coastal area to pick up what doesn't belong on the beach. EF International's Honolulu campus will join with Kokua for such work in Hawaii, while in Santa Barbara, EF International and HTO are preparing for their fourth annual cleanup of South County beaches on April 12, 2019. . .

HTO has long worked on the problem of leaking sewer laterals, which, if faulty (or even non-existent), can back up wastewater into the house, leak into the ground/groundwater, and cause other environmental problems. Years ago, we worked with the City of Santa Barbara to create an annual fund to help homeowners pay for inspection and repair, but after a number of successful years (and the annual fund growing from $200k to $900k per year), those funds dried up. Therefore, we welcome the news that the City is ramping up another program for sewer lateral inspection and repair. . .

A study published by Heal the Ocean, Santa Barbara, has been credited as a compelling factor in a Senate bill introduced in February 2019, that would require huge reductions in the volume of treated wastewater discharged into the Pacific Ocean and California estuaries.

SB 332, the Local Water Reliability Act, calls on wastewater treatment facilities to step up recycling, conservation, and efficiency to meet reduction targets of 50 percent by 2030 and 95 percent by 2040 for the amount of waste(d)water dumped into the ocean and other water bodies. . .

"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" has become a mantra around the country, and most cities have instituted curbside pickup for plastics, cardboard, and other recyclables.

But an alarming article recently published in The Atlantic explains how recycling facilities are having a hard time keeping up with the amount of waste they receive--China no longer accepts America's waste, recycled or not. Even eco-cities like San Francisco are having a problem with what to do with waste. . .

As the State Lands Commission (SLC) moves toward its June/July planning for the capping of the next leaking Summerland oil wells, HTO Advisory Board members Harry Rabin and Nora McNeely-Hurley are putting their heads together on what they are observing by drone (Rabin) and daily observation (McNeely-Hurley). Rabin, who is in contact with State Lands officials about what he is seeing by drone, is also communicating with a UCSB researcher who is able to scientifically identify spilled oil with its source(s). . .

With bells and sirens, Heal the Ocean also welcomes Santa Barbara County Fire Chief (ret) Eric Peterson, to Heal the Ocean's Advisory Board. Peterson had been with County Fire for 32 years before he retired in 2018, making him a veteran of the Painted Cave, Zaca, Tea, Jesusita, Gap, Sherpa, Alamo, Rey, Whittier, Thomas, and Holiday Fires. With fire being the "new normal" for California, environmental issues come up for the handling of these disasters, and Eric Peterson's skill, leadership, and experience will help us with no-nonsense environmental decision-making on these issues. Thank you, Eric!

Heal the Ocean is proud to announce that Rick Merrifield, former director of Santa Barbara County’s Environmental Health Services, has joined our Advisory Board - and has already begun important work to help as a consultant on septic system issues. During his tenure as EHS director, Rick worked closely with HTO for years on septic pollution problems, including the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer Project. . .

State Lands Commission Petroleum drilling engineer Steve Curran sent a picture to Heal the Ocean this week that shows the rusty, hazardous pilings now being removed from Haskell's Beach, adjacent to the Bacara Resort. The removal is being done with funding from Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson's Senate Bill 44, which takes in coastal hazards removal as well escaping of abandoned, leaking oil wells. Curran is in the Santa Barbara area every week, planning the next oil-capping. . .

In 1999, during the earliest days of HTO, someone came into our office with a vial of putrid water collected from the wall of the 101 freeway south onramp at Garden Street. We had it tested – and the bacterial readings were off the charts.

HTO chased this issue for years and were led astray by many City, County, and State officials, who said this area only consisted of a wood-mulching company. Our petition to the Regional Water Quality Control Board merely led the owner of the mulching company having to cover the area with tarps during a rain. . .