Westside : Coastal Cleanup Nets Tons of Trash
Thousands of volunteers and tons of debris removed from Westside beaches marked the success of the 11th annual Coastal Cleanup Day, organizers said Monday.
Up to 4,500 volunteers scoured beaches from Malibu to Marina del Rey on Saturday, picking up 50,000 pounds of trash and recyclables, said Lisa Crossley, Heal the Bay program manager.
Along with cigarette butts and bottle tops, volunteers found two voodoo dolls and numerous pairs of men’s underwear on Santa Monica Beach, Crossley said.
Inland waterways also were the focus of cleanup efforts as hundreds of volunteers pulled trash out of Ballona Creek.
“The bay will never be clean if Ballona Creek isn’t clean,” said Joan Satt, Culver City’s waste education coordinator. Ballona Creek, stretching from mid-Wilshire to Playa del Rey, empties as much as 8 million gallons of water a day into Santa Monica Bay.
Crews of Culver City students, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts joined in the cleanup effort, collecting 39,000 pounds of debris. Clothing, furniture, shopping carts, syringes and a multitude of plastic foam cups were plucked from the three-mile stretch of the stream, Satt said.
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