VENTURA : Federal Workers to Clean the Shoreline
Local employees of the federal agency that opens coastal waters to offshore oil drilling has adopted a one-mile stretch of the San Buenaventura State Beach to keep the shoreline litter-free.
Employees of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service, which moved last November from downtown Los Angeles to Camarillo, will have their first beach cleanup day on Saturday, in conjunction with Earth Day.
“Our motive is sincere,” said Jim Grant, project coordinator and a geologist with the Minerals Management Service’s office of resource evaluation. The management service leases tracts in federal waters to oil companies for oil drilling, including tracts off the Ventura County coast.
“It is important that we keep our beaches clean,” he said. “We are all concerned about the environment and habitats of our beaches, and this is our effort to broaden public awareness of the issues of ocean and coastal conservation.”
Grant said about 25 office employees and their families will take part in the cleanup on Saturday, clearing the beach of debris and logging what they gather on data sheets.
“Keeping track of stuff like foam cups and cans might help us figure out where it’s coming from,” Grant said. “If we can figure out where it’s coming from, maybe we can devise solutions to the problem.”
The data will be given to officials at the California Coastal Commission, which coordinates the statewide Adopt-A-Beach program.
The employees plan to clean the beach at least two more times within the year.
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