Thumbs Up for Styrofoam Recycling Program

Heal the Ocean, Edhat

“In less than two months of announcing a Styrofoam Recycling Program created in a partnership of Heal the Ocean and MarBorg Industries, the amount of Styrofoam going to the program instead of the landfill (and from there, pieces of it out to sea) – is mind-boggling! Right away, on the first day, construction contractors pulled up to MarBorg’s free drop-off site at 20 David Love Place in Goleta, and private citizens began diverting Styrofoam from their trash bins and taking it to the MarBorg recycling center at 132 Nopalitos, in the lower Milpas area, where a mountain of Styrofoam formed within 2 weeks. . .”

Heal the Ocean, MarBorg Team Up to Divert Styrofoam from Landfill

Nick Welsh, Santa Barbara Independent

“Heal the Ocean and MarBorg have launched a joint initiative to divert Styrofoam products from the county’s landfill at Tajiguas, operating collection sites out of MarBorg’s buyback facility on Nopalitos Way downtown and its recycling location on David Love Place by the airport. In the first few days of operation, MarBorg’s Brian Borgatello reported 55 cubic yards’ worth of donations. . .”

MarBorg, Heal the Ocean Announce Styrofoam Recycling Program for Santa Barbara

Brooke Holland, Noozhawk Staff Writer

“As part of a new recycling program, residents can drop off expanded polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam, for free at two sites on Santa Barbara County's South Coast.

People can bring unlimited amounts of it to the ​MarBorg Industries center at 20 David Love Place in Goleta, which is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. . .”

Santa Ynez River Valley communities’ water contaminated, study says

City Hall Cracks Down on Cascaron Confetti

Nick Welsh, Santa Barbara Independent

“With the annual Fiesta celebration only a couple of weeks away, parade organizers at Old Spanish Days were put on notice last week that they needed to up their game when it came to cleaning the avalanche of cascaron confetti festooning downtown streets and sidewalks afterward. Instigated by complaints from groups like Heal the Ocean, Channelkeeper, and Downtown Santa Barbara, City Hall launched a “Confetti is litter” campaign on June 21, right before the Summer Solstice Parade. . .”

Peterson Joins Heal the Ocean Board

Charlotte Boechler, Santa Barbara News-Press

“Eric Peterson has joined the advisory board of Heal the Ocean. Mr. Peterson retired as fire chief for Santa Barbara County in 2018 and had been with County Fire for 32 years, making him a veteran of the Painted Cave, Zaca, Tea, Jesusita, Gap, Sherpa, Alamo, Rey, Whittier, Thomas, and Holiday fires. . .”

Merrifield Joins Heal the Ocean Board

“Rick Merrifield has joined the advisory board of Heal the Ocean. Mr. Merrifield is former director of Santa Barbara County’s Environmental Health Services and will, in part, act as a consultant on septic system issues. . .”

Heal the Ocean Celebrates 20 Years of Water Improvements

News Channel 3-12

“The ocean and water watchdog group Heal the Ocean celebrated its 20th anniversary over the weekend.

The event at the El Paseo restaurant featured videos, auction items and tributes. Among those honored were retiring Santa Barbara Coutny Fire Chief Eric Petersen and Retired City Fire Chief Pat McElroy. . .”

Montecito Deserves Better

Cori Hayman, Ken Coates, Brian Goebel, Woody Barrett, and Dana Newquist, Santa Barbara Independent

“. . .Under the direction of its board, the MSD treats about 500,000 gallons a day of wastewater to the secondary level and then discharges it into the ocean. It is therefore treating to the minimum level allowed under state law, despite the fact that Heal the Ocean has called on all local sanitation districts to discharge at the tertiary standard, and has been doing so since 2001 because of the obvious benefits to the environment. . .”

SCAPE Art Sale Draws Funding to Help Heal the Ocean 'One Painting at a Time'

Rochelle Rose, Noozhawk Contributing Writer

“Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment (SCAPE) hosted an art sale to benefit Heal the Ocean on July 25 at the harborside Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. . .”

EF Language School, Heal the Ocean Join Forces for Beach Cleanup

Hillary Hauser for Heal the Ocean, Noozhawk

“To celebrate Earth Day 2018, EF International Language School’s Santa Barbara campus and Heal the Ocean conducted a cleanup of the Santa Barbara County coastline on April 20. EF International's 300-member student body, along with staff and teachers, tackled 10 beaches from Goleta to Summerland. . .”

Summerland’s Becker Well Capped

Keith Hamm, Santa Barbara Independent

“Crews aboard the 180-foot barge DB Salta Verde set up shop just off Summerland early Monday to execute the final phase of a three-year, $1.4 million effort to properly seal the Becker Well, a long-abandoned oil pipe that has been seeping raw crude along one of the South Coast’s most popular beaches. . .”

About the Thomas Fire Mud on the Beach

Hillary Hauser, Santa Barbara Independent

“Heal the Ocean has received numerous (some irate) phone calls regarding the mud being deposited on Goleta and Carpinteria beaches. Television media has also called for a response from us. We told them, and everyone else, we were investigating and would let everyone know when we knew the answer. We at HTO (Heal the Ocean) don’t believe environmental knee-jerk reactions help anything, least of all the environment. . .”

Earthquake Debris Muddies Waters for New Market

Jean Yamamura, Santa Barbara Independent

“Caltrans’s digging at Garden Street in 1988 uncovered layers of junk: household waste, metal girders, construction materials, bottles, tires, old newspapers. The county said the site was full of debris from the 1925 earthquake, according to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) preliminary report, which concluded no toxins were present. By 1995, however, both soil and groundwater in the surrounding area were found to be contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-VOCs, and lead.

It was a citizen complaint of methane in the area that first alerted the EPA. In 1999, another concerned citizen brought a vial of nasty brown water to Heal the Ocean (HTO) offices, collected from the Garden Street underpass walls during a hard rain. . .”

City Preps for Fiesta

Jean Yamamura, Santa Barbara Independent

“Bicycle riders, food vendors, and cascarón waste come under special scrutiny this Fiesta. Parking rules on the street during the Fiesta parade, however, will relax in certain areas, as meter maids will give the 75- and 90-minute curb-parking zones in parts of downtown a break: Above the 101, parking for any length of time will be allowed on August 5 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. up to Valerio Street and bordered by Bath and Laguna. Below the freeway, the zone goes to Cabrillo Boulevard and between Castillo and Garden. . .”

EF International Helps Heal the Ocean With Large-Scale Coastal Cleanup

Hillary Hauser for Heal the Ocean, Noozhawk

“EF International Language School’s Santa Barbara campus, Heal the Ocean and Looking Good Santa Barbara teamed up for a massive cleanup of both the downtown area and Santa Barbara South County beaches in honor of Earth Day, April 22, 2016.

Over 300 EF International students spread out to work on 10 beaches from Devereaux to Summerland, while another 200 students hit the downtown area. . .”

EF, Heal the Ocean Joining Forces for Earth Day Cleanup

Mac Walby, Santa Barbara Independent

“Visiting Alameda Park won’t be the only way locals can celebrate their planet this Earth Day. EF International Language School of Santa Barbara, along with Heal the Ocean and Looking Good Santa Barbara, are teaming up to tackle the tough task of cleaning Santa Barbara’s streets and beaches on Friday, April 22. EF’s 500 students will split into two groups, a beach cleanup and a city cleanup group. The beach group will cover 10 sites from Summerland to Goleta. . .”

Heal the Ocean: The Future of Water in Santa Barbara

James Hawkins for Heal the Ocean, Noozhawk

“On July 21, 2015, the Santa Barbara City Council gave final approval to a redesigned desalination plant as a last-resort water supply for the city, in the throes of one of the worst droughts in California history.

While some have questioned whether more could have been done to stave off this decision, the reality is that the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant has long been designated within the city’s water portfolio as an emergency supply, and the severity of the current drought has prompted such an emergency, with no other water available to fill the immediate shortfall. . .”

Heal the Ocean Compiles 15-Year Beach Bacteria Database

Hillary Hauser for Heal the Ocean, Noozhawk

“Heal the Ocean announces the completion of a comprehensive database covering fecal indicator bacteria monitoring for local beaches in Santa Barbara County from Guadalupe to Rincon. This database is now available for download on HTO’s website.

The HTO Beach Bacteria Database, created in February by HTO policy analyst James Hawkins, incorporates ocean testing results from County of Santa Barbara Environmental Health Services, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and County of Ventura Environmental Health Division into an electronic database with detailed spreadsheets for all weekly monitoring data going back to 1997 — and for some beaches — back to 1996. . .”

Heal the Ocean Turns to Ex-County Official for AB 885 Assistance

Hillary Hauser for Heal the Ocean, Noozhawk

“Heal the Ocean has announced that Rick Merrifield, former director of the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department’s Environmental Health Services, is helping the organization as a consultant in the teamwork crafting of language for AB 885 — septic system regulations for the state of California. . .”