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Residents, community advocates and environmental groups showed strong opposition to the Wall Street water developer, Poseidon, on Friday, Dec. 6, at the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board workshop at Huntington Beach City Hall. More than 47 Orange County residents stayed at the workshop all day to tell the board why they didn’t want a giant, polluting water factory on our coast and in our community. You have until January 21, 2020 to write a letter to the regional board and express your concerns. Read more.

The day before Thanksgiving, 1.4 million gallons of raw sewage spilled in Laguna Beach due to a sanitary sewer leak at a golf course, prompting health officials to close 16 miles of south Orange County ocean and bay areas to the public for five days. Coastkeeper Founder and President Garry Brown said, “A sewage spill of that size demands a substantial penalty. We are going to work toward ensuring there is accountability and a penalty.” Coastkeeper is working with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board who is investigating the incident. Read more.

Coastkeeper’s restoration team and student volunteers sampled newer oyster beds that were installed six months ago in our Upper Newport Bay living shoreline restoration sites. The goals of the oyster restoration sites, which are made of oyster shells wrapped in a coconut coir fiber mesh, are to help revitalize the native Olympia oyster population, stabilize the shoreline and improve overall water quality and habitat in the bay. The team is excited to report that there is a lot of new (oyster) life coming in to the sites, and they are hopeful to find lots of juvenile oysters soon! Learn more.

Following a workshop where local enforcement officers discussed compliance issues for Marine Protected Areas, Orange County Coastkeeper along with the Orange County Marine Protected Area Council, MPA Collaborative Network and California Environmental Protection Agency together released a new training manual and reference guide as an added tool for officials to enforce rules at Orange County’s seven Marine Protected Areas along the coast. The manual contains rules and regulations, maps, species identification and other useful tools. Read more.

For the last two decades, Coastkeeper has been working hard to hold polluters accountable and reduce bacteria levels of fecal coliform in Newport Harbor. This month, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board successfully approved a 4-year “Time Schedule Order” to extend the schedule for compliance with fecal coliform effluent limitations for discharges to the Newport Bay watershed. “This was extremely important to us to keep the dishargers’ feet to the fire to improve water quality,” said Garry Brown, Coastkeeper Founder and President. The goal is to reduce bacteria levels in the harbor where people recreate. Read More.

A gift to our Kids Care program will go directly to help support Coastkeeper’s marine debris education program for elementary students in 3rd through 5th grade. This program teaches kids about the dangers of marine debris while giving them a hands-on beach cleanup experience. Many of our Kids Care students experience their first visit to the beach through this program. For $35, you can purchase a “reusable kit” for one of our Kids Care students, which will include an eco-friendly water bottle, cutlery kit and straw. Learn more & Give.

 

January  4 – Monthly Cleanup in San Clemente: Join Coastkeeper for our monthly trash cleanup at Calafia State Beach. Grab your family and friends and help us protect the California coast. 9-11 am. Must register in advance here.

 

January 4 – Service Saturday at Coastkeeper Garden:  Volunteers are welcome to participate in a morning of gardening activities while enjoying the natural beauty of the Garden. Details can be found here.

January 11 – Monthly Cleanup in Huntington Beach: Join Coastkeeper for our monthly trash cleanup at Huntington State Beach. Grab your family and friends and help us protect the California coast. 9-11 am. Must register in advance here.

January 11 – Coastkeeper Garden Plant Share:  Looking to add new plants to your garden?  Want to meet like minded gardeners? Then the Coastkeeper Plant Share is for you! Join us for a morning of fun. All of the information is here.

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