Crew Pulls 10 Tons of Trash From Compton Creek

Carrying a message of coastal conservation into Compton on Saturday, volunteers fished 10 tons of trash from Compton Creek, hoping to show that preservation starts inland.

About 130 volunteers wore raincoats, plastic gloves and big yellow boots as they worked through a constant drizzle. They waded through ankle-deep water and found broken bicycles, car stereos, a bowling ball -- even a live dog.

“This isn’t just a black eye for Compton, it’s a black eye for Los Angeles County,” said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based conservation group that helped organize the cleanup.

The three-hour effort covered a half-mile stretch of the creek behind the Crystal Park Casino near the Gardena Freeway. Among the volunteers were Compton community groups, city officials and members of Heal the Bay, as well as the local Army National Guard, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Compton middle school students.

The creek cuts diagonally through the city and flows into the Los Angeles River, before draining into the ocean at Long Beach Harbor. It catches runoff from storm drains and has been a frequent site for illegal dumping.

To conservationists like Paula Daniels, president of Heal the Bay, such cleanups “help inland communities learn how they’re connected to the environment.”

“They may throw something out the window or dump oil in a storm drain and not think about where it’s going. All those small actions accumulate,” she said.

The creek cleanup is part of a $13-million Compton Creek restoration project that began in 1993. The project is a cooperative effort by Los Angeles County, the office of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Compton.

“After so many years of neglect, there’s so much potential here,” said Compton Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux, who heads the Compton Creek Task Force. Volunteers meet at the creek for two cleanups a year. Project plans include renovating several bridges and building a bike path and an equestrian trail along either side of the creek.

Arceneaux hopes that someday the creek will look more like a natural stream, with willow trees, vegetation, and aquatic life, she said.

Right now, the blackened water is home to large clumps of wild weeds and a few worms and snails.

To Compton resident Mary Patterson, the cleanup is about pride: “It’s about knowing that we can have something beautiful in our own backyard.”