The Kokua Hawaii Foundation, the brainchild of Kim (and Jack) Johnson, has thrown its hat into the EF International Language School signature program of massive beach cleanups, following the EF/HTO model of involving many students at one time in tackling a coastal area to pick up what doesn't belong on the beach. EF International's Honolulu campus will join with Kokua for such work in Hawaii, while in Santa Barbara, EF International and HTO are preparing for their fourth annual cleanup of South County beaches on April 12, 2019. . .

HTO has long worked on the problem of leaking sewer laterals, which, if faulty (or even non-existent), can back up wastewater into the house, leak into the ground/groundwater, and cause other environmental problems. Years ago, we worked with the City of Santa Barbara to create an annual fund to help homeowners pay for inspection and repair, but after a number of successful years (and the annual fund growing from $200k to $900k per year), those funds dried up. Therefore, we welcome the news that the City is ramping up another program for sewer lateral inspection and repair. . .

A study published by Heal the Ocean, Santa Barbara, has been credited as a compelling factor in a Senate bill introduced in February 2019, that would require huge reductions in the volume of treated wastewater discharged into the Pacific Ocean and California estuaries.

SB 332, the Local Water Reliability Act, calls on wastewater treatment facilities to step up recycling, conservation, and efficiency to meet reduction targets of 50 percent by 2030 and 95 percent by 2040 for the amount of waste(d)water dumped into the ocean and other water bodies. . .

"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" has become a mantra around the country, and most cities have instituted curbside pickup for plastics, cardboard, and other recyclables.

But an alarming article recently published in The Atlantic explains how recycling facilities are having a hard time keeping up with the amount of waste they receive--China no longer accepts America's waste, recycled or not. Even eco-cities like San Francisco are having a problem with what to do with waste. . .

As the State Lands Commission (SLC) moves toward its June/July planning for the capping of the next leaking Summerland oil wells, HTO Advisory Board members Harry Rabin and Nora McNeely-Hurley are putting their heads together on what they are observing by drone (Rabin) and daily observation (McNeely-Hurley). Rabin, who is in contact with State Lands officials about what he is seeing by drone, is also communicating with a UCSB researcher who is able to scientifically identify spilled oil with its source(s). . .

With bells and sirens, Heal the Ocean also welcomes Santa Barbara County Fire Chief (ret) Eric Peterson, to Heal the Ocean's Advisory Board. Peterson had been with County Fire for 32 years before he retired in 2018, making him a veteran of the Painted Cave, Zaca, Tea, Jesusita, Gap, Sherpa, Alamo, Rey, Whittier, Thomas, and Holiday Fires. With fire being the "new normal" for California, environmental issues come up for the handling of these disasters, and Eric Peterson's skill, leadership, and experience will help us with no-nonsense environmental decision-making on these issues. Thank you, Eric!

Heal the Ocean is proud to announce that Rick Merrifield, former director of Santa Barbara County’s Environmental Health Services, has joined our Advisory Board - and has already begun important work to help as a consultant on septic system issues. During his tenure as EHS director, Rick worked closely with HTO for years on septic pollution problems, including the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer Project. . .

State Lands Commission Petroleum drilling engineer Steve Curran sent a picture to Heal the Ocean this week that shows the rusty, hazardous pilings now being removed from Haskell's Beach, adjacent to the Bacara Resort. The removal is being done with funding from Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson's Senate Bill 44, which takes in coastal hazards removal as well escaping of abandoned, leaking oil wells. Curran is in the Santa Barbara area every week, planning the next oil-capping. . .

In 1999, during the earliest days of HTO, someone came into our office with a vial of putrid water collected from the wall of the 101 freeway south onramp at Garden Street. We had it tested – and the bacterial readings were off the charts.

HTO chased this issue for years and were led astray by many City, County, and State officials, who said this area only consisted of a wood-mulching company. Our petition to the Regional Water Quality Control Board merely led the owner of the mulching company having to cover the area with tarps during a rain. . .

1. Recycle that Awful Styrofoam

2. Home Planting

3. Recycle Film Plastics . . .

In these last few days of 2018, we celebrate all of our supporters who have helped us do wonderful work for the ocean this year, and we are full steam ahead on achieving great victories in 2019!

Including:

• The capping of another (or two!) leaking oil well(s) off Summerland Beach. After the successful capping of Becker Well in February 2018, State Lands officials have communicated with us their plans to cap the next oil well(s). . .