Heal the Ocean
August 2026 E-Letter

Read the August E-Letter HERE

Heal the Ocean
July 2026 E-Letter

Read our July 2026 E-Letter Here

July 2026 E-Letter
Heal the Ocean
May 2026 E-Letter

In May, HTO hosted record-breaking volunteer beach cleanups with more than 110 volunteers removing 400+ pounds of trash from our coastline. HTO and our partners at Earthcomb removed an additional 3,080 pounds of trash and hazardous waste near Atascadero Creek in Goleta.

HTO and TowBoatUS partnered in a rapid response effort to protect the Summerland shoreline from a beached vessel, and HTO advocated for policies that will increase the resilience of Santa Barbara's waterfront and benefit local biodiversity.

This month’s e-letter highlights these inspiring cleanup efforts, a celebration of the Carpinteria Advanced Purification Project, important policy updates, an upcoming event, a volunteer spotlight, and the incredible support helping drive our Jack Johnson Matching Campaign nearly to our goal. Thank you for being part of the movement to protect the health and vitality of our coast!

May 2026 E-Letter
Heal the Ocean
April 2026 E-Letter

Heal the Ocean is excited to share that this April, we partnered with Marborg Industries to expand a regional EPS (also known as Styrofoam) recycling program—now brought fully local to Santa Barbara. We also partnered with Earthcomb to remove over 1,600 lbs of trash and hazardous waste from More Mesa, including 30+ aerosol cans and 20 propane canisters—materials that can pose serious risks to coastal ecosystems.

April 2026 E-Letter
Heal the Ocean
March 2026 E-Letter
March 2026 E-Letter

Heal the Ocean's 20th Anniversary In the News

Heal the Ocean's 20th Anniversary In the News

The following is from KEYT-3 by John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - 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 County Fire Chief Eric Petersen and Retired City Fire Chief Pat McElroy.

Heal the Ocean has spoken out strongly about efforts to clean up and cap leaking oil wells along the Summerland coastline that have polluted the waters there. . .

HEAL THE OCEAN RELEASES STUDY OF COASTAL WASTEWATER DISCHARGES

HEAL THE OCEAN RELEASES STUDY OF COASTAL WASTEWATER DISCHARGES

Heal the Ocean is proud to release The Inventory of Municipal Wastewater Discharges to California Coastal Water Bodies, an online interactive studythat documents the 417 billion gallons of treated municipal wastewater discharged at fifty-seven coastal locations in the 2015 calendar year.

The study, led by project manager James Hawkins, MPP, involved a multiyear effort to collect, review, and analyze publicly available data to determine the total volume of treated municipal effluent discharged to California’s coastal water bodies. . .

August 2018 E-Letter

August 2018 E-Letter

The long-held tradition of smashing someone's head with an empty eggshell filled with confetti (cascarone) has always been a hoot - and a big part of Santa Barbara's annual Fiesta. The tradition was great fun until the confetti became plastic or metallic/mylar - which does not degrade, but instead goes down the storm drain and into the ocean, where fish eat it. Several years ago Heal the Ocean took up the issue with the City of Santa Barbara Creeks Division, and we were successful in getting the city to contract for the covering of storm drains during Fiesta and Summer Solstice. . .

July 2018 E-Letter Special Edition: Heal the Ocean Gets City Styrofoam Ban Tightened at City Council

July 2018 E-Letter Special Edition: Heal the Ocean Gets City Styrofoam Ban Tightened at City Council

IT WAS A GREAT DAY IN CITY COUNCIL ON TUESDAY. The Council voted to restrict plastic straws - after a heart-warming plea from beautiful children as well as heartfelt requests from physically challenged members of the community who told the Council they needed straws to have access to food/drink like everyone else…(the plastic straw regulation includes provisions for physically challenged people to have access to straws). HTO told Council that while we really wanted a total ban, we support the “ask-only” regulation because such regulation is said to reduce straw use by 80% or even 90%. . .

Heal the Ocean Takes on Styrofoam and Straws

Heal the Ocean Takes on Styrofoam and Straws

On Tuesday, July 17, 2018, the Santa Barbara City Council will vote on two Ordinances (styrofoam and plastic straws) important to all who love the ocean and the creatures that live in the ocean:

  • To ban the sale or use of Styrofoam in the city, and

  • To restrict ("ask only") on single use straws and plastic cutlery.

Heal the Ocean asks you to please come to the City Council meeting, which begins at 2 p.m. to urge the Council to ban Styrofoam and restrict straws. . .

June 2018 E-Letter

June 2018 E-Letter

  • City Ordinance Committee Moves to Ban Styrofoam and Possibly Put a Dent in Plastic Straws

  • State Lands Commission Moving Forward with Next 3 Summerland Wells

  • Regional Board to get Update on HTO/RWQCB Groundwater Assessment

  • HTO’s Alison Thompson Received 2018 McGinnes Environmental Law and Advocacy Scholarship

  • Heal the Ocean’s Trio of Upcoming Events

  • Dogs of the Month: Boss and Maggie!

AT LAST! BECKER WELL IS BEING CAPPED!

AT LAST! BECKER WELL IS BEING CAPPED!

Summerland Beach was a scene of great joy this morning (Monday, February 26, 2018), as the barge from Curtin Maritime, Long Beach, arrived to the coastline and positioned itself to lower the construction equipment to cap the infamous leaking Becker Well. Heal the Ocean was there to confer with State Lands Commission officials, who were watching the operation from Lookout Park, and to discuss future operations to follow on the other offshore/underwater wells. . .

Becker Well Project Going Forward Next Week!

Becker Well Project Going Forward Next Week!

Heal the Ocean just heard from the contractors who are capping the infamous leaking Becker Well on Summerland Beach that the project is going forward! The InterAct barge will arrive off Summerland Beach on Monday, February 26, 2018 - next week - and the operation will begin!


It is estimated that the capping project will take 3 to 4 days to accomplish. Heal the Ocean will be there to cheer on the oil field workers, to celebrate with champagne this very important project to clean the ocean off Summerland, and we thank the State Lands Commission officials for listening to all our pleadings to get this most important work done.

Montecito Mud Study Starts; Becker Well Capping Delayed

Montecito Mud Study Starts; Becker Well Capping Delayed

With considerable frustration, Heal the Ocean has had to inform Summerland residents and beach lovers that InterAct Ventura, the contractors who will cap the notorious leaking Becker Well on Summerland Beach, has sent out a notice that the capping of the of the well is delayed from its planned start date this week due to ocean conditions – namely, poor water quality (no doubt a result of the Montecito Mudslide). InterAct is hoping to start the project on February 26, 2017. . .

Montecito Mud, Take 2; And a Big Oil Cleanup Gets Ready to Roll!

Montecito Mud, Take 2; And a Big Oil Cleanup Gets Ready to Roll!

There have been 57,431 views of Heal the Ocean’s editorial on the Montecito Mudslide, which we published as an E-letter sent to our members, and on our Facebook page. Our commentary was “liked” 710 times, shared 585 times, and commented on 114 times. Most comments were favorable, in that the community has taken comfort in HTO support of the County’s cleanup of this environmental disaster – which includes dumping of mud on Goleta and Carpinteria beaches. . .

ABOUT THE THOMAS FIRE MUD ON THE BEACH

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 don’t believe environmental knee-jerk reactions help anything, least of all the environment. . .