Wood doing good

This is a guest post written by Nate Ivy, Coordinator of the Service-Learning Waste Reduction Project (SLWRP) -- a joint venture between StopWaste.org and the Alameda County Office of Education. Students at Wood Middle School recently organized their 2nd Annual Beach Clean-Up as part of their participation in the program. These same kids have also participated in Save The Bay field trips to learn more about their watershed and the ways in which their actions impact the health of the Bay.

Enjoy the post!

Wood Middle School 2nd Annual Beach Clean-Up

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

At first glance, Crown Memorial Beach in Alameda appears to be a clean, pleasant retreat highlighted by sweeping views of San Francisco. Unlike many other public shorelines along the San Francisco Bay, Crown Beach does not appear on a list of Trash Hot Spots. However, students from Wood Middle School in Alameda discovered that looks can be deceiving as they participated in their 2nd annual microscopic beach clean-up.

Designed by science teacher Jeannette Frechou, the microscopic clean-up focuses on small bits of plastic that birds and other animals often confuse for bite sized bits of food. A close examination of the high tide line reveals a smorgasbord of multicolored plastics that easily float on the surface of the water.

"People are jerks! Who would do something like this?" one student declares.

In fact, students found many bits of debris from products they themselves use. Data tracking sheets reported the collection of plastic forks, bottle caps, salsa packets, and even a small plastic army man.

"We all do it," replies another. "It's not like people come and throw this on the beach... every piece of litter that falls on the ground or out of our car door gets washed down to the beach. We all have to be more careful." As if to emphasize the source of litter, a storm drain outlet peeks out of the receeding tide- connected to a storm drain one block from school labeled, "No Dumping! Drains to Bay."

This year, students have been working to do more than just be more careful with litter they produce, they have been studying choices that help to eliminate waste before it is produced. Staff and students from Wood Middle School have engaged in a partnership with the Alameda County Office of Education and Save The Bay to address marine debris through a grant provided by NOAA.

Earlier this year, students wrote letters to the editor addressing the challenge of candy wrappers entering the ecosystem at Halloween. In a study of healthy eating, students observed that healthier food choices usually use less packaging and benefit both human and environmental health. In just 60 seconds, one participant picked up 13 soda bottle caps along the tideline highlighting the challenges to our health and our environment.

Frechou helped students make further connections at the beach as she pointed out a tar ball, likely a legacy of the Cosco Busan oil spill of 2007. "Plastic is made from oil. We use a huge amount of oil to transport so many of the things we buy from all around the world. To help avoid spills in the future, we need to use less oil and less plastic."

Ms. VerDuin, another participating teacher from Wood, plans to use the beach clean up activity as a starting point for a discussion on marine debris, oceanic currents, the Pacific Garbage patch and the impact of plastic on wildlife. "There is a disturbing series of photos from Chris Jordan taken at Midway Atoll that shows birds killed by bits of plastic just like the ones we are cleaning up today. The clean-up activity will really help students connect to this global problem."

Click here to see the original post, complete with photos!

Friday's Oil Spill Fouls Bay

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Nearly two years to the day after the Cosco Busan oil spill devastated shorelines and killed countless birds and wildlife, San Francisco Bay has again fallen victim to a damaging oil spill. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that on Friday, October 30, at approximately 6:50 a.m., heavy bunker fuel was released into the Bay during a fuel transfer operation between an oil tanker, the Dubai Star, and a fuel barge. At this time, it is estimated that 400 to 800 gallons of oil was spilled into the Bay. The cause of the spill is still being investigated.

Upon being notified, The Coast Guard, the Marine Spill Response Corp., and the National Response Corp., deployed booms and skimming vessels to contain and clean up the oil Emergency crews are currently focused on the Alameda shoreline, where rescue workers are trying to save oiled birds and remove balls of sticky tar.

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) has several teams working to rescue oiled birds and wildlife. No public or volunteer assistance is needed, and OWCN asks that the public refrain from entering the affected beaches because this activity severely stresses the wildlife. Oiled wildlife should be reported to 877-823-6926.

Beaches along the Alameda County shoreline, from the Bay Bridge to the San Mateo Bridge, are closed in order to help clean-up crews, protect the public and provide peaceful and safe areas for birds to land. Further, fishing and shellfish harvesting are suspended in the same areas.

Save The Bay is working with the appropriate agencies to monitor the situation and will continue to post updates as more information becomes available.

Want to help? Here is what you can do:

--> Make a donation to our BAY EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND. This fund enables us to provide rapid response in a crisis, gather and distribute critical information quickly, educate the local community, and advise key decision makers on actions that require immediate attention.

--> Volunteer to restore wetlands to strengthen the health of the Bay and to provide wildlife with increased habitat for greater survival during such emergencies.

--> Sign up for our Bay Savers Email Action Alert to help us advocate for stronger oil spill legislation and other policies the Bay needs to stay healthy.

SF Water Board puts trash in its place

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Fish and wildlife may finally get some relief from pervasive trash pollution.

Yesterday, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to approve historic and long-overdue requirements for cities to make significant, measurable reductions in trash flowing to the Bay.

This is great news for the Bay! Even the San Francisco Chronicle thinks so.

Under the new municipal regional permit, cities and other permittees must reduce trash getting into the Bay by 40 percent in the next four years, and achieve zero trash discharge from stormwater within 12 years.

Intense public interest and involvement and years of sustained advocacy have finally produced a permit approach that can begin to reduce Bay trash. In fact, 20 state and federal legislators, nearly 40 community organizations and environmental groups and thousands of Save The Bay supporters have joined us in advocating that trash must be reduced like mercury and other urban runoff pollutants.

What to do now? Save The Bay is urging the Water Board to work diligently to ensure full compliance with these groundbreaking regulations; and through the Clean Bay Project, we are working with cities to help them achieve these important trash reductions.

Battin' Cleanup

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Last week Save The Bay launched its 4th annual list of Bay Trash Hot Spots in anticipation of Coastal Cleanup Day to raise awareness about the trash problem in the Bay and to recruit volunteers to Coastal Cleanup events throughout the region.

This year, we put the spotlight on plastic bags; and even used last year's Coastal Cleanup Day data to help us determine the ten locations around the Bay where volunteers removed the most plastic bags. Not only are these ten spots choked with bag pollution, but they are indicative of a larger problem in the Bay. Plastic bags are ubiquitous -- literally, they are everywhere. And since they are so light and flimsy, they are easily picked up by the wind and blown into our storm drains and creeks, and eventually to our Bay and ocean where they harm wildlife, degrade habitat and spoil our quality of life.

Each year Save The Bay hosts several cleanup events and this year was no exception. We had teams out at three sites: Candlestick Park in San Francisco (one of our hot spots), Coyote Creek in Milpitas (also a hot spot) and Eden Landing in Hayward. Volunteers came out in droves -- 200 in total -- to help clean up the Bay. They were rewarded with an absolutely amazingly beautiful day and the gratification of a good, hard days work.

Here are the numbers:

Candlestick Park - 109 volunteers; 2,000 lbs of trash and recyclables
Eden Landing - 45 volunteers; a 20 yard dumpster and two truck beds of trash and recyclables
Coyote Creek - 46 volunteers; 450 lbs of trash and recyclables

And the latest from the California Coastal Commission, which oversees all Coastal Cleanup Day events for the entire state, is this: With 65% of the cleanup sites reporting, the statewide count stands at 66,550 volunteers, which should approach the event goal of 70,000 volunteers. Those volunteers picked up 819,394 pounds of trash and an additional 89,899 pounds of recyclable materials, for a total of 909,294 pounds. They expect to exceed 1,000,000 pounds of trash when all the totals are in. Not too shabby for three hours worth of work.

Save The Bay wants to thank all the volunteers in the Bay Area and statewide who donated their time to cleaning up our waterways, protecting habitat and wildlife.

If you are interested in protecting and restoring the shoreline year round, visit www.saveSFbay.org/restore.

Is there a Hot Spot near you?

Have you checked out our Bay Trash Hot Spots yet? Click on the link below to see our interactive map, watch our clever two-minute video, take action and sign up to volunteer!

Bay blighted by bags

By Allison Chan, Policy Intern

It’s a sunny weekend morning and you decide to head out to do some hiking along the Bay shoreline. As you stroll through the brush and marshlands, you commune with nature, you enjoy the sprawling bay views… and you encounter scattered plastic bags wedged between rocks and clinging to vegetation?

Oh yes. Plastic bag pollution is a growing threat to Bay habitat and wildlife. In 2008, Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers in the Bay Area removed over 184 tons of waste from the Bay, including over 26,000 plastic bags! Plastic bags are among the most harmful, ubiquitous and preventable types of pollution. Not only does this pollution smother wetlands and harm wildlife, it negatively impacts our recreational experience in and around the Bay. Isn't it time we took a stand against plastic bag pollution?

To address this growing problem and to encourage Bay area cities and residents to find a solution, today Save The Bay launched its fourth annual list of Bay Trash Hot Spots. Using data collected by volunteers during last year’s Coastal Cleanup Day, we have listed the ten sites where the most plastic bags were removed. On just one single day, volunteers picked up anywhere from 384 bags at Ryder Park in San Mateo County to a staggering 7,497 bags at the Albany-Berkeley-Emeryville shoreline in Alameda County. But I’m sure most of us agree that one bag in the Bay is a bag too many.

It's time to really do something about plastic bag litter and pollution. For the past 15 years, California has made a concerted effort to promote plastic bag recycling, but with disappointing results. Less than five percent are actually recycled. Plastic bag recycling is cost-prohibitive because there is no market for the plastic film and it is difficult for recycling machinery to handle effectively. And, due to the amazing aerodynamics of plastic bags, even those destined for a recycling plant are easily rerouted by gusts of wind into the streets and, ultimately, into the Bay.

So, what to do? The solution is actually very simple. First and foremost, kick your bag habit! Find some snazzy reusable bags and keep them in your car, in your purse, or by the front door. Second, help round up the bags floating around right now by participating in Coastal Cleanup Day this Saturday, September 19th. I think most of us can squeeze in a few hours to help protect Bay wildlife and make our next experience on the Bay more enjoyable. Finally, speak up! Tell your mayor to support legislation to ban the distribution of free plastic and paper bags. The more cities that reduce plastic bag pollution flowing to the Bay, the healthier our natural treasure will be.

Check out our interactive website to see a map of this year's Hot Spots, photos, video and how to help.

Plastic bag industry spins and spends in Seattle

By Laura Reinhard, Policy Associate

Watch out for higher prices in your grocery bills — maybe plastic bags will end up costing stores even more as plastic bag industry lawyers and lobbyists fly around the country squashing local initiatives.

Seattle’s groundbreaking proposal to place a 20-cent fee on all single-use bags was defeated Tuesday in a David v. Goliath PR battle. The plastic bag industry shelled out the first round of cash to get signatures to put the ordinance, previously approved by city council, on the ballot. A syndicated AP article reports the bag industry spent $1.4 million to defeat the proposal. Unfortunately, the bag industry is much better prepared to take on these fights than it was just a few years ago, when few cities were considering bag ban or fee ordinances. When plastic bag industry representatives sued Fairfax, CA for passing a plastic bag ban ordinance, Fairfax took it to the voters themselves and passed the measure with 79% of the vote.

But Fairfax is a small city and times have changed. Now, the list of cities considering bag ban or fee ordinances is long and the plastic bag industry, recognizing the threat, is out in force.

That doesn’t mean that cities have to capitulate to industry pressure. This year Washington, D.C. passed a single-use bag fee, despite the bag industry paying for a presidential-election style spin campaign complete with automated calls to residents. And just this spring, Palo Alto, CA successfully passed a ban restricting large grocers from distributing single-use plastic bags, despite a lawsuit from plastic bag industry lawyers.

So what should reusable bag advocates take away from this experience? For one, cities trying to cut down on unnecessary plastic bag litter and help solve the problem of marine plastic should expect well-funded lobbyists flying in from corporate HQ. Communities must be prepared to overcome this by speaking up loudly for policies that restrict the distribution of free plastic bags. San Jose, CA is considering enacting a strong policy to prevent free plastic bag distribution. We urge residents of San Jose and San Jose elected officials to take this opportunity to stand up for a clean community and a healthy San Francisco Bay.

Just like Big Tobacco, the plastic bag industry will have to fight these battles until they find a new line of work.

How clean is your city?

Last year Save The Bay launched the Clean Bay Project (formerly Cities Keep It Clean) to provide Bay Area cities with a roadmap to a cleaner San Francisco Bay and empower them to adopt innovative and common sense programs to reduce Bay runoff pollution.

The Bay Area's largest city, San Jose, is the first Clean Bay Project partner. But we need more cities to participate – and that's where you come in. Help us determine which cities have effective pollution programs, which are behind the times, and what programs you’d like to see in your community!

Please take just five minutes to complete this short survey and you will be entered to win an iPod shuffle.

We are counting on your input to help make the Clean Bay Project even stronger. We’ll compile your answers and share with you the results.

Pollution threatens our quality of life, health and economy. Please take the short survey today and help our community clean up the Bay! And be sure to forward this email to your friends so they can take the survey too!

Save The Bay makes the national news!

by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

We got some national attention last night when ABC's World News with Charles Gibson featured our "The Bay vs. the Bag" video during a segment on the negative environmental impact of plastic and paper single-use bags and the steps cities across the nation are taking to reduce pervasive bag pollution and litter.

Check it out!

And read all about it. Click here for more news stories about cities nationwide that are helping residents to kick the bag habit.

Big win for the Bay!

by Laura Reinhard, Policy Associate

I was at the hearing this week where the Water Board unanimously agreed that 24 tributaries and two major shoreline sections of the Bay are so clogged with trash that they violate the Clean Water Act. This historic step was widely reported in over 20 media stories, including this article in the San Francisco Chronicle or this article in the San Jose Mercury News.

Save The Bay members and concerned citizens helped document this problem by sending in photos of trashy creeks and shorelines around the Bay. Of course, now we have a lot more work to do to make sure that our creeks and Bay get cleaned up. Stay tuned!

For more information on Bay trash, and to find the trash hot spots near you, click here .

Kick the Bag Habit

by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

The San Francisco Weekly published this article a few weeks ago about plastic bags and whether or not banning their usage is the proper way to clean up the environment and end global warming. As the debate between paper versus plastic heats up, it seemed appropriate to share with you Save The Bay's stance on the matter: BYORB—Bring Your Own Reusable Bag.

Californians use an estimated 19 billion plastic bags per year, but only five percent of these are recycled. While some plastic bags sit in landfills for thousands of years, many find their way to our Bay where they often entangle, choke and even kill wildlife. In fact, an astounding fifteen thousand plastic bags were pulled out of the Bay by volunteers in just one day last year.

Paper bags aren't really the answer either. That's why Save The Bay is asking you to join us in supporting a single-use bag fee by signing our petition and helping your community make the switch to re-useable grocery bags, keeping both plastic and paper bags out of the Bay. And while you are shopping, please remember to bring your own bags!

The other kind of Water Boarding

by Laura Reinhard, Policy Associate

While most Bay Area residents don’t lose sleep wondering what is going on at the San Francisco Regional Water Board, people in Vallejo (and elsewhere around the Bay) just might start. The Vallejo Times-Herald recently reported that the city's Rindler Creek is one of many Bay Area creeks being considered for the EPA's "303d" list of trash-impaired waterways. This "303d" designation has sparked backlash from municipalities and, on January 14, brought a showdown at the ol’ Water Board hearing room. I was glad to be there to witness some real leadership for the environment.

On one side: The Clean Water Act and the health of the Bay

On the other: The well-paid consultants who make their money off of studying trash pollution at city expense.

And the bone of contention is the possibility of the Water Board reporting 24 Bay tributaries and two sections of Bay shoreline to the EPA for being so full of trash as to violate the Clean Water Act,. This would require cities to clean up the trash and fix the problem. You will note, quite often the companies making lots of money studying a problem for cities are not the companies making money fixing the problem.

Bay Area cities are understandably concerned about budget woes. But it makes more sense to invest in solutions than superfluous studies of a well-documented problem. Inserts in storm drains that catch trash are one type of project that would keep trash out of our waterways.

In considering reporting these creeks and shorelines to the EPA, several Water Board members spoke out about the crisis of trash and plastic debris in the Bay. Board member Steve Moore, an engineer who has extensive experience with runoff and trash issues, spoke passionately about the need for action. He pointed out the opportunity to put Bay Area residents to work through overdue infrastructure investments that will also clean up the trash and polluted runoff choking our waterways.

The outcome of this showdown looks to be going the Bay’s way. An official vote won’t come until next month or later, but if the January 14 hearing was any indication, the score might be Bay: 1 Trash: 0

Learn more about Save The Bay's Bay Trash Hot Spots

Reporting from the Inauguration: A new day dawns for the Bay

by David Lewis, Executive Director

I’m huddled with my wife and two young daughters below the U.S. Capitol, watching Barack Obama’s historic swearing-in as the 44th President of the United States.

The spectacle is impressive – the huge throngs, the dramatic setting, the pomp and circumstance. The emotion and import is overwhelming –a nation founded upon legal slavery is actually installing an African-American as its national leader.

Most stunning: this dramatic transfer of power and enormous political shift is again accomplished peacefully and orderly, as it has been for more than two centuries.

So what will it mean for San Francisco Bay? We have reason to be optimistic that the federal government will start doing more to prevent pollution of our Bay and accelerate restoration for fish and wildlife. President Obama says a challenging economy actually presents an opportunity for bold steps to strengthen our environment and infrastructure – saving the Bay is a great place to start.

Save The Bay and our sister organizations from estuaries around the nation are already working with the Obama administration on an ambitious plan to increase federal funding for wetland restoration. Restored tidal marsh helps combat global warming by capturing carbon from the atmosphere, protects against coastal flooding, and provides wildlife habitat and recreation for people.

Creating jobs that rebuild the nation’s infrastructure should include upgrading stormwater and sewer systems so they stop trash, bacteria and other toxics from polluting our Bays and oceans.

Nancy Sutley, the new director of the Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality, knows San Francisco Bay and Save The Bay from her years of service on California’s Water Resources Control Board. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, and many of our region’s Members of Congress are Bay champions.

These are all reasons for us to work harder than ever to make progress for the Bay.

Ways to help Save The Bay:
Sign up to volunteer
Join our Bay Saver Email Action Network
Become a Facebook Fan

Remembering the Cosco Busan

by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

Originally posted on November 7, 2008

Today marks the one year anniversary of the November 2007 Cosco Busan Oil Spill. It's hard to believe a year has passed since the 900-foot cargo ship left the Port of Oakland in heavy fog only to run into one of the towers of the Bay Bridge. The ship spewed more than 50,000 gallons of heavy bunker fuel into the Bay and fouled 56 miles of shoreline, killing 3,000 birds. Bay Area residents will never forget the images of birds and wildlife coated in oil and our beaches covered with thick, black sludge. It was a tragedy for our Bay.

Even so, the outpouring of public concern and support following the spill proved how much the community loves our Bay. Our quality of life and economy depend on a healthy Bay and it defines our region. And the community knew that.

At Save The Bay, the mood of our staff varied from sadness and anger to motivation and inspiration. In the wake of the spill, we realized it was more important than ever to strengthen the health of the Bay and to provide wildlife with increased habitat for greater survival during emergencies. Today, we continue to work toward our goal of restoring 100,000 acres of healthy wetlands around the Bay and will plant 20,000 native seedlings along the shoreline this winter.

In direct response to the oil spill, Save The Bay did the following:

      --demanded a full investigation into the accident and reparation for the damage

      --testified to Congress and advised policymakers how to restore the Bay’s health 

      --provided expertise and support on state and federal legislation to protect the Bay against future spills 

      --provided accurate, timely spill information for volunteers, the news media, and elected officials

      --helped wildlife agencies document the oil’s impacts and submitted over 180 photos to Natural Resource Damage Assessment teams

      --noted impacts to sensitive eelgrass and oyster beds

      --educated thousands of students and adults about the impact of oil spills 

      --enlisted community volunteers to clean up the shoreline and restore wetlands

Chillingly, this was only a modest spill, so it serves as a wake-up call to improve vessel security, ship traffic control, hazardous material handling, spill prevention and response and volunteer coordination. There is nothing more frustrating than having an army of able-bodied volunteers and not being able to use them.

Governor Schwarzenegger did sign several bills to increase oversight of Bay ship pilots, train emergency responders, and improve communications when oil spills occur. But the Governor DID NOT DO ENOUGH to protect the Bay. He vetoed bills that would have required faster response, more pre-positioned equipment, and new cleanup technologies.

In truth, the Bay is under assault every day from runoff pollution and it can take years for ecosystems to recover from spills of this magnitude.  But to help ensure a faster recovery for the Bay, you can do the following:

      --Volunteer to help restore Bay habitat. 


      --Make simple lifestyle changesto reduce runoff pollution. 

      --Sign up for our Bay Savers Email Action Network and we’ll alert you when we need your help on important policy efforts.

 

 

Save The Bay does Coastal Cleanup Day

by Jocelyn Gretz, Community Programs Manager

Originally posted on September 26, 2008

Photo by Adrienne Miller

Last weekend Save The Bay hosted five Coastal Cleanup Day events in four counties ringing the Bay. Coyote Creek and the Guadalupe River in San Jose, Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward, the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Park in Oakland and Mission Creek in San Francisco all got a little TLC from over 300 Save The Bay volunteers.

Coastal Cleanup Day started in Oregon in 1985 and California--with its sweeping coastline--was quick to join the following year, taking the lead ever since. Last year over 60,000 Californians volunteered out of an international total of 378,000! I suppose we could thank our long coastline and large population, but I think it might have more to do with the quality people of our state and their love for our aquatic resources.

I led 75 volunteers at Mission Creek in cleaning up trash from Giants fans, homeless encampments and runoff washed down from the watershed. We found plenty of the usual items like cigarette butts, needles and plastic bags, as well as unusual items like suitcases, car parts and electronic boards. I had to run around to keep up with the demand for bags and garbage bins, and not until the end of the three hours was actually able to pick up some trash myself. Our county coordinators at Literacy for Environmental Justice helped keep us stocked and indicated that all of their sites were maxing out on supplies--a good indicator that this year was much bigger than last year.

Our volunteers varied in ages, with high school students to octogenarians cleaning up their neighborhood waterways. Many groups like Building With Books, The Eden United Church of Christ, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, UC Berkeley's Circle K Community Service club, and even employees from the Hard Rock Café joined our Bay-wide cleanups!

In total, we had 319 volunteers contributing 957 hours of service to the Bay collecting 11,000 pounds of trash and over 1,000 pounds of recycling. Statewide preliminary results indicate that 60,000 volunteers collected 635,000 pounds of trash and over 100,000 pounds of recycling. Thanks to all who showed up for the event! We're looking forward to another successful Coastal Cleanup Day event next year!

In the meantime, Save The Bay hosts monthly cleanup and restoration events at several sites around the Bay. And we are just about to start our winter planting season! Sign up to volunteer today!

Trash talk gets tough

by Laura Reinhard, Policy Associate

Originally posted on September 19, 2008

A few days ago as I was enjoying my morning coffee, I overheard a funny conversation between a pair of cyclists in San Mateo. They had just finished their post-ride sandwiches. 

      “Hey, you’re not going to throw away that plastic bag, are you?”

            “Well, I don’t really need it. They just gave it to me with my leftovers.”

      “Give it to me! Those things are like gold in San Francisco now.”

As a result of San Francisco’s recent ban on plastic bags San Franciscans are saving and re-using plastic bags instead of throwing them away—where they often wind up in our creeks, Bay and ocean. This result is exactly what environmental advocates have been encouraging for decades.  Yet often our local, state and federal governments opt for the easy-out—the “public education” approach—shying away from the controversy of putting laws on the books.

Overhearing this exchange brought home to me just how effective public policy can be in changing our behavior. “Public education”, while important, won’t be enough without effective regulation. The problem of marine debris and plastics pollution seems so much bigger than our family’s grocery bags. Often, we don’t feel like our actions matter enough to warrant changing our behavior. But that’s the point of legislation—to help us, en masse, to do the right thing—even when we can’t always see the impact for ourselves. San Francisco’s ban has made plastic bags less plentiful and disposable. More people are switching to reusable bags, keeping millions of plastic bags out of the Bay and ocean, and ultimately out of the stomachs of seals, turtles, and birds.

Despite massive public outcry over plastic pollution in our bays and oceans, many Bay Area cities are lobbying hard to block regulation aimed at stopping trash flows into the Bay. Unfortunately, they might be winning. The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) has the authority to require cities to stop the daily flood of trash into the Bay from polluted creeks and rivers. The Water Board can set limits on the amount of pollution cities can discharge into the Bay when they re-write the storm water permit this Fall, Save The Bay wants a strong permit that requires measurable, enforceable reductions in trash pollution. Cities and counties, on the other hand, want a weak permit, with toothless regulations on trash. We won’t know if their lobbying efforts are paying off until we review the next permit draft when it is released in a few weeks.

Most of us have no idea how the Water Board seriously affects our lives and environment, but they are a critical regulator of pollution. Trash in the Bay affects our quality of life, not just the lives of sea birds and seals. That’s why there’s never been a better time to speak up and tell the Water Board that you want a strong storm water permit. We’ve been flushing our trash into the Bay for long enough. It’s time to get strong trash pollution laws on the books.

Bay Trash--Threatening Damon Slough and shorelines near you!

by Amy Alton, Communications Associate


Originally posted on September 17, 2008

If you’ve ever taken BART to an event at Oracle Arena or McAfee Coliseum, you have crossed over it. If you’ve ever traveled in or out of the Oakland Airport, you’ve flown over it. And if you live in East Oakland, your neighborhood storm drain connects right to it. I’m talking about Damon Slough. A thriving habitat flowing around the Coliseum and running alongside the Nimitz Freeway, Damon Slough in Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline Park opens up to Arrowhead Marsh and is home to several species of native plants, including pickleweed and arrowgrass, and endangered wildlife like the California clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse. It’s also home to unsightly masses of trash and debris.

At Save The Bay, we call it a “Bay Trash Hot Spot.” In fact, for the last three years we have compiled a list of some the Bay Area’s trashiest waterways to call attention to this problem and Damon Slough has been on the list for three years running. One of the few, three-time repeat offenders, Damon Slough in its current state is particularly disturbing given it has all the makings of the proverbial Cinderella story.

In the 1980’s, crews from the Port of Oakland began dumping fill into the northeast side of the marsh. Fortunately the commotion caught the attention of East Bay Regional Park District staff and they contacted the authorities. After a successful lawsuit headed by the Golden Gate Audubon Society, Save The Bay, and the Sierra Club, $2.5 million dollars were allocated for restoration of this 72-acre wetland.

Since 2000, Save The Bay has partnered with East Bay Regional Park District to work with schools, community groups and corporations to restore wetland habitat along Damon Slough. Part of that effort includes shoreline cleanups to pick up trash and debris from urban runoff, litter, and dumping. To date, our volunteers have removed over 20,000 pounds of trash and recyclables!

Even so, Damon Slough is repeatedly inundated with plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, cigarette butts, bottle caps, car batteries, shopping carts, industrial waste, and old electronics.

While Damon Slough is of particular concern, trash accumulates in massive amounts all over the Bay, choking wetlands, poisoning and entangling wildlife, and harming water quality. A 2005 assessment by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) found an average of three pieces of trash along every foot of streams that lead to the Bay. And this trash also has global ramifications; it flows out the Golden Gate to form part of the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”—a floating island of trash the size of Texas.

So what can we do? The good news is that because we create this pollution, we have the power to diminish it. We can:

Reduce the amount of trash we generate and make sure our trash doesn't end up in the Bay.

Dispose properly of hazardous waste, switch to reusable bags, and recycle and compost when we can.

Advocate for tougher policies and regulations to reduce trash flowing to the Bay. In fact, the Water Board has the opportunity to stop trash from fouling the Bay as they vote this fall to renew the storm water permit. Save The Bay is working to ensure that the permit limits the amount of trash cities and counties discharge into the Bay.

Volunteer to clean up and restore the Bay shoreline. Save The Bay hosts monthly cleanup and restoration events at several sites around San Francisco Bay. This Saturday, nearly 100 Save The Bay volunteers will clean up hot spot Damon Slough at the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline in Oakland, as part of the Coastal Commission’s 24th annual Coastal Cleanup Day.