9/10/2012
The Northcoast Environmental Center will sponsor the 28th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day next Saturday (Sept. 15) from 9 a.m. to noon. Volunteers will scour Humboldt County shorelines, from the Klamath River to Shelter Cove and inland to Willow Creek and the South Fork Eel River, to remove debris that has accumulated over the past year.
While much of the garbage contaminating the sea comes from ships, an estimated 60 percent to 80 percent of it originates on land. Cigarette butts, plastic bags, fishing line, six-pack rings, bottles, cans, syringes, tires are just a few of the items commonly found polluting beaches and waterways. It's not only ugly, it can be a health-and safety risk to both humans and wildlife.
Thirty-six years ago, the NEC received federal funding for its Humboldt Beach Beautification and Restoration project, which combined beach cleanup with community education and job training. In 1985, it expanded into California Coastal Cleanup Day (led by the Coastal Commission) and the International Coastal Cleanup (led by the Ocean Conservancy).
Today, the International Coastal Cleanup includes 130 countries and all 50 U.S. states. Last year 598,076 volunteers throughout the world removed 9 million pounds of debris from 20,776 miles of shoreline.
This year's event will also provide one of the first opportunities for documenting debris on the shores that may be a result of last year's devastating tsunami in Japan, when an estimated 1.5 million tons of debris were washed out to sea. The West Coast has already begun to feel its impact, as items as small as a soccer ball and as large as a 100-ton pier have washed ashore north of the California border. None of the items recovered in Humboldt County so far -- including those found on Mad River Beach in June -- have been confirmed to be tsunami debris. To achieve a better understanding of when or if the debris from the tsunami is reaching local shores, the NEC in coordination with the Coastal Commission will be distributing a new, simplified data card for use at selected beaches. These cards will collect information about items that could potentially indicate tsunami debris, and will provide a baseline of data against which future cleanups will be measured.
”Given that Humboldt County's coastline will likely be among the first to be hit in the state, we expect the NEC's Tsunami Debris Monitoring Program will be helpful not only in gathering data, but serving as a watchdog for counties to the south,” said Dan Ehresman, NEC programs manager. “While Japan's tsunami will likely increase the amount of debris washing up on shorelines on the North Coast, we hope it does not take the attention away from the fact that we have a veritable tsunami of debris coming from our own shorelines and inland areas throughout the county.”
For more information, visit www.yournec.org or call 822-6918.
