COUNTYWIDE : 3,300 Take Part in Coastal Cleanup

The results of September’s Coastal Cleanup are in: Almost 3,300 volunteers collected about 70,000 pounds of garbage and recyclables from Orange County beaches.

That’s far more trash than was collected in Los Angeles County and was enough to make Orange County’s effort the second most successful in the state, according to California Coastal Commission officials who organized the annual one-day event.

The state’s most ambitious cleanup took place at Upper Newport Bay, where about 1,500 people using boats and trash bags collected 48,000 pounds of trash and 6,200 pounds of recyclables.

“We are tremendously pleased by what they did,” said Jack Liebster, director of the California cleanup program. “This was very important work.”

Liebster attributed the Upper Bay turnout to local organizers who have assembled such events before.

The volume of trash reflects the fact that the Upper Bay, unlike local beaches, is not regularly cleaned by city and county officials.

“People use the area as a dumping ground,” he said. “That stuff can accumulate over the years.”

Plastic containers, fast-food boxes, household appliances and even aircraft wheels were pulled out of the bay, Liebster said.

Some of the junk had been dumped into the water from nearby roads, but other materials simply flowed into the bay from gutters and streams, Liebster added.

“Wetlands act like a filter. Trash can accumulate there,” he said. “When you toss a McDonald’s box into the storm drain, it might end up there.”

Another successful cleanup took place at Huntington City Beach, where 875 volunteers collected about 10,000 pounds of trash and recyclables.

At Doheny State Beach, 375 people collected about 1,300 pounds of materials.

Overall, the number of people who took part in the Orange County cleanup increased by 500 in 1992, which also saw an increase of more than 20,000 pounds in the amount of trash that was collected in the area.

“Clearly,” Liebster said, “in areas of Orange County, people like their wetlands and people are willing to help.”

Cleaning Up

Nearly 3,300 Orange County volunteers helped in September during California’s annual Coastal Cleanup. The results:

Pounds of Pounds of Beach Volunteers trash recyclables Bolsa Chica State Beach 23 19 7 Huntington City Beach 875 8,640 1,890 Huntington State Beach 109 88 57 Crystal Cove Beaches 35 165 13 Doheny State Beach 375 1,210 105 Laguna Beach 300 300 N/A Newport Back Bay 1,500 48,000 6,200 Newport Beach 79 515 N/A

Source: California Coastal Commission