Experts warn that first rainfall carries pollutants, trash to beaches

By Michael Picarella Acorn Staff Writer

The rainy season is coming and local agencies are asking residents to remember basic tips to keep storm drains clear of trash, litter and debris so that such waste doesn’t wash down the creeks and onto the beaches where it can harm ocean life and swimmers.

The first rain of the season often dumps a lot of the summer’s trash onto beaches, according to Calabasas environmental services assistant Robin Hull. She and others offer some tips to help keep the beaches clean and safe.

"All that stuff that’s dropped on the streets and the sidewalks goes into the storm drain system—unfiltered—straight into the creeks," Hull said. "Me and my supervisor were out in the creeks a couple of weeks ago and we saw paint. And so we did an investigation—we took pictures of the paint and the creek—and we went up and found it coming out of someone’s backyard drain . . . It’s one of those rare times that we look for the source and we find the source."

Hull and her supervisor spoke with the homeowner and learned that the person hadn’t thought about the implications. The site was cleaned up, Hull said.

As far as trash goes, Hallie Jones, a spokesperson for the Malibu Creek Watershed Advisory Council, said that during a coastal clean-up day on Sept. 20 this year, 400 pounds of trash was found on Surfrider Beach in Malibu during a three-hour period of work.

"That’s pretty extensive for the location," Jones said. "At Topanga Beach, for example (on the same day), we only picked up 70 pounds of trash. At Venice Beach, we picked up 200 pounds of trash. At Zuma Beach, we picked up 635 pounds of trash.

"We had two cleanups that were inland at Malibu Creek State Park in the banks of the creek and then we had a clean-up at Medea Creek—both of those drain onto Surfrider Beach," Jones said. "We caught a lot of trash before it actually made its way down to the beach. Those numbers are incredible. In Malibu Creek, we pulled 1,500 pounds of trash out and at Medea Creek, we pulled 2,400 pounds of trash out."

Other precautions involve soap.

Hull recommended that people take their vehicles to a car wash and not use their driveways. When using soap, she said, even if it’s biodegradable, it gets washed down the storm drains and endangers ocean life.

"If we get too many nutrients from the soaps, it causes these algae blooms," Hull said. "And when the algae blooms die, the dissolved oxygen goes down (to the ocean) and then you have fish kills."

Regarding pesticides, Hull suggests using them sparingly and only if necessary. Some experts say rain carries pesticides into storm drains, but others say that rain and pesticides are absorbed into the soil.

The same precautions, Jones said, should be taken regarding fertilizers.

Some forms of bacteria are washed to the beaches and are another concern to environmentalists. Heal the Bay gives beach report cards that show dangerous levels regarding pathogens. To view them, log onto the Internet and go to www.healthebay.org and click on "Beach Report Card."

For more tips to protect the waters and the environment, log onto the Internet and go to www.888cleanla.com. Or go to the Malibu Creek Watershed Advisory Council Internet Website at www.malibuwatershed.org.