YOU can help California make restaurants foam free! | Surfrider Foundation

YOU can help California make restaurants foam free! | Surfrider Foundation

YOU can help California make restaurants foam free!

August 29 2011 | Rise Above Plastics,
by Bill Hickman

Last week SB 568 advanced through the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee and will be voted on by the full Assembly floor before September 9th! This is a huge step forward for the bill to eliminate polystyrene foam containers from restaurants statewide. Surfrider Foundation is a co-sponsor of this bill with Clean Water Action because we see the impact that foam litter has on our waterways, beaches and ocean. It's a top item picked up at bleach cleanups throughout the state and a major contributor to the North Pacific Garbage Patch which is turning our oceans into a plastic soup. In addition to our main concerns, styrene, a chemical used in foam manufacturing, was recently added to U.S. health department's list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer or could raise the risk of cancer.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: #1) The easiest: If you live within California, call your local State Assemblymember to say 'Please support SB 568 to eliminate foam at restaurants statewide', and include any personal reasons. If you live outside of California but visit the state, we encourage you to call also because tourism is a huge industry and tourists want to see clean beaches, streets and sidewalks. Find the zip code of where you visit and enter it here: www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html to find the corresponding State Assemblymember.

#2) The most important: Help us rally some more business support for SB 568. If we can show more support from businesses that would be affected that will go a long way. Foam food containers have been banned in over 40 municipalities statewide without a signle business closing down to our knowledge. Most of those local ordinances have a hardship cause where a business can apply for an exemption if needed and we're not aware of any business that has applied for that exemption. Do you know any California restaurant owners or frequent any establishment that might sign on in support? Ask them to sign this letter of support and email or fax it to the contact info listed on the bottom of the letter.

#3) Help spread the word. Please post a link to this blog on your social networks and email it to friends/family, we need as much support as possible down this final stretch. You can follow SB 568 on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/yeson568

SB 568 has been labeled as a 'job-killer' by the opposition and that's simply not true. Foam production jobs would be lost but the flood of green jobs from companies such as Biosphere Industries would create a positive job impact. Some people oppose the bill because of their belief that any regulation is bad. We're not always fans of more regulations, but without them how clean would our water and air be?

Thanks for your continued support, stay strong during this final push and cleaner beaches can be a reality!

[UPDATED: Gates Still Locked, Surfrider Statement] Dana Point: Unlock the Gates, Let Them Have Beach Access, Court Rules

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/08/updated_gates_still_locked_surfrider_statement_dana_point_gates_locked_strand.php

Environment
[UPDATED: Gates Still Locked, Surfrider Statement] Dana Point: Unlock the Gates, Let Them Have Beach Access, Court Rules

Summer Saved for Malibu Lagoon, but Struggle Continues

Article reposted from the Malibu Patch website - http://malibu.patch.com/articles/summer-saved-for-malibu-lagoon-but-the-fight-continues

The opening brief was filed this week for the Oct. 27 court hearing in San Francisco that will determine whether the Malibu Lagoon is saved from destruction.

• By Marcia Hanscom
• Email the author

   

On Wednesday morning, two biological researchers from UCLA sent me greetings along with some beautiful wildlife photos they'd taken at Malibu Lagoon. Vladimir and Irina Kasho, molecular biologists from Russia, have been busy in their lab this summer, but they were grateful for a break to visit one of their favorite places on the coast this past weekend. In their message to me, they expressed gratitude to those who have come together to make sure that Malibu Lagoon would be intact this summer.

The Kashos have been supporters of the lawsuit filed to challenge a decision by the California Coastal Commission that would have meant the entire western marsh would have been drained, bulldozed and dredged. More than 87,000 cubic yards of soil excavation and fill is part of the plan. This is living soil that is part of the marsh ecosystem, all scheduled to be piled on top of the lagoon parking lot to dry out and die before being either trucked out (most of it) or re-sculpted into a few small islands in the project scheme.

Proponents claimed they would have caught the fish and moved them, but the Kashos' photos prompt several questions:

• What would the pied-billed grebe young in the photo have eaten if there were no fish near the first bridge where the photo was taken?  
• Would the pied-billed grebes have even been able to mate and nest in the area with the bulldozing sounds and moving of earth all around and water having been drained and the tule reeds ripped out from the area where they nest?
• Would the pied-billed grebes have even stayed in the area, given the bridges were to be demolished as well?
• And what would the hundreds and hundreds of surfers, beach-going families and wildlife observers be doing this summer, as they would be directed around a highly intensive construction project that would be removing the wooden bridges that were essential to their experience?

Such questions remind me I am grateful as well that a San Francisco Superior Court judge issued a stay that prevented the alteration project from going forward this summer. A reprieve. A chance for life at Malibu Lagoon to have one more summer. But things are far from resolved.

This week, two fine public interest lawyers—James Birkelund, who worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council before starting his own firm, and Rose Zoia, who specializes in the California Environmental Quality Act—filed the opening brief for a hearing that is scheduled for October 27^th. The document is attached to this piece.

We've taken several supporters on nature walks in the lagoon this summer, and each time we are astounded by the amount of life there. Fish—large and small—by the millions, colorful dragonflies alighting on rocks and flowers, shorebirds, wading birds, waterfowl, songbirds—hunting for food, singing for territory protection, interacting with other wildlife.

It's a celebration of life. If only the judge could come for a visit.

Marcia Hanscom is director of the Wetlands Defense Fund and managing director of CLEAN, two of the petitioners in a lawsuit challenging the Malibu Lagoon project.

San Diego Reader | Smokers Targeted in Anti-Litter Campaign

San Diego Reader | Smokers Targeted in Anti-Litter Campaign

Malibu Times > Archives > News > Council approves $755K in legal expenses for lawsuit it says could bankrupt city

Malibu Times > Archives > News > Council approves $755K in legal expenses for lawsuit it says could bankrupt city

Council approves $755K in legal expenses for lawsuit it says could bankrupt city

Published:

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 1:57 PM PDT

Facing a lawsuit from environmental groups requesting more than $100 million in damages for alleged water quality violations, the City Council approved nearly a million dollars in additional legal expenses for its defense.

By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times

With a multimillion dollar lawsuit by environmental groups against the city headed for trial in November, the Malibu City Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve an additional $755,000 in funding for legal expenses related to its defense. The lawsuit, filed in 2008 by the National Resources Defense Council and Santa Monica Baykeeper, alleges violations of the Clean Water Act by the City of Malibu and requests damages of $105 million.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the city illegally discharged polluted water in the coastal preserve off western Malibu that is designated as an Area of Special Biological Significance (ASBS). It also holds the city responsible for exceeding levels of pollutants in Malibu Creek.

The legal expenses were not included in the city's recently passed fiscal year 2011-12 budget and will be taken from its reserve fund. Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen said the money would cover previous costs related to the lawsuit, such as depositions and requests for records, as well as future costs for the impending trial.

Malibu Mayor John Sibert said city officials had attempted to resolve the dispute through mediation with the NRDC and Baykeeper, with no success. Sibert and other council members expressed outrage at being forced to allocate major sums to the continuing litigation in the face of what they view as intransigence from the environmental groups.

"This is all money that we have to spend that should be going to clean water, and that really disgusts me," Sibert said. "But we have to do this, because the alternative for the City of Malibu is bankruptcy, or something close to it."

Sibert said the city had spent millions of dollars in recent years on clean water projects such as the stormwater treatment facilities at Paradise Cove and Legacy Park, "addressing all the things that they're suing us about." He blamed a different lawsuit by Baykeeper regarding Legacy Park for costing the city a $5 million dollar water quality grant from the state, and said the city's environmental staff had been occupied responding to the current lawsuit instead of working on environmental issues.

Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rosenthal said the city's past reputation for inaction on water quality issues does not apply today.

"Sometimes you have to look at the momentum, where is a city moving, and how fast are they moving," Rosenthal said. "We're moving quickly, and we're moving in the right direction, and I think that needs to count for something."

Councilmember Jefferson Wagner sought to assure Malibu taxpayers their money was not being wasted frivolously. Wagner said Downey Brand Attorneys, LLC, the law firm hired by the city for its legal defense, was held in high regard by the state water board and had a great deal of credibility in Sacramento on water quality issues.

"The money, although it's a great deal of money, is being spent wisely as far as I've seen in the last couple years," Wagner said. "It's unfortunate that the amounts have become so extravagant."

Councilmember Lou La Monte also voiced his frustration with the process, as well as a warning to the NRDC and Baykeeper.

"I'd like them to know that we are going to court, and ultimately I think we are going to win this case," La Monte said. "Unfortunately, I think it's going to be after several lawyers have put their kids through college, and the water's not getting any cleaner."

Can lawyers resolve Dana Point beach-access issue? | city, access, coastal - News - The Orange County Register

Can lawyers resolve Dana Point beach-access issue? | city, access, coastal - News - The Orange County Register

SOCAL EVENTS & MEETINGS FOR AUGUST 2011

Hi Everyone, here's the summary of Chapter action alerts, meetings and events in SoCal for August 2011! Attending a local Chapter meeting or event is often the best way to learn more about what is going on in your Chapter's region, meet the folks running your local Chapter, and find out how you can get more involved.

Please always CHECK YOUR LOCAL CHAPTER WEBSITE to confirm meeting and event dates and times, which can and do change. Thanks!

TOP SOCAL ACTION ALERTS:

Open Access At Strands Beach
Preserve The Gaviota Coast
Support Polystyrene Foam Food Container Prohibition (SB 568)

MEETINGS:

8/1 - Long Beach - Chapter - 7pm

8/2 - Ventura - Combined EC & Chapter - EP Foster Library - 7-9pm

8/2 - South OC - EC - Location TBD - 6:30pm

8/9 - San Diego - RAP Committee - 7pm

8/10 - Huntington/Seal Beach - EC - Shorebreak Hotel - 6-7pm

8/11 - Huntington/Seal Beach - RAP Committee - Shorebreak Hotel - 6:30-7:30pm

8/11 - Santa Barbara - EC - Watershed Resource Building - 7-9pm

8/15 - Long Beach - EC - 7-9pm

8/17 - Huntington/Seal Beach & Newport Beach - Joint Chapter Meeting - Time TBA

8/17 - San Diego - Chapter - 7pm

8/23 - San Diego - OFG Committee - 7-8pm

8/31 - San Diego - Tijuana River Action Network - 6-8pm

Isla Vista - offline through the summer 2011


EVENTS/OTHER:

8/6 - Long Beach - Termino Ave Cleanup - 9am

8/12 - WLAM - Banana Republic Malibu - Cocktail Party / Benefit - 6-9pm

8/12 - South OC - Deadline to comment for Poche Outlet. Details >> SOC website
     Send your emails of support before Aug 12 deadline to Stephen M. Estes

8/13 - Long Beach - Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project - Link to Facebook Event
     10-12pm - Clean LB Beach Cleanup @ Junipero Ave Beach
     12-2pm - Celebration @ Legends Sports Bar



8/13 - Huntington/Seal Beach - Clean-up - South Bolsa Jetty

8/13 - San Diego - Hold On To Your Butt Awareness Day - various locations - 10am-12pm



8/13 - San Diego - Tijuana River Valley Clean-up - 9am-12pm

8/13 - San Diego - Tamarack Beach Clean-up, Carlsbad - 9-11am

8/14 - South Bay - Pints Against Plastic - Hot's Kitchen - 3pm-Close

8/14 - Long Beach - Ocean Friendly Gardens - Lawn Patrol - 10am-12pm

8/15 - Huntington/Seal Beach - Ban the Bag at HB City Council - 6-9pm

8/20 - Long Beach - Granada Beach Clean-up - 10am

8/20 - South Orange County - Ocean Friendly Gardens Workshop - 9am-12pm
     - RSVP Required - Laurie: 949-496-2979

8/20 - San Diego - Stone Brewing - 15th Anniversary Celebration - University of San Marcos



8/20 - San Diego - Beach Cleanup at Moonlight Beach, Encinitas - 9-11am

8/26-28 - CALIFORNIA CHAPTER CONFERENCE! Ventura, CA



8/27 - Ventura - 20th Anniversary Celebration at Zoey's - 6pm-On

8/27 - Long Beach - Fisher-Price Clean-up - 10am

8/27 - Huntington/Seal Beach - Beach Clean-up 17th St/PCH

8/27 - San Diego - Beach Clean-up at Pacific Beach - 9-11am



LOOKING AHEAD:

9/9 - SF Global - Celebrity Expression Session - Malibu, CA



9/15 - San Diego - OFG Basics Class

9/17 - Coastal Clean-up Day - Various locations


SOCAL NEWS - TOP HIGHLIGHTS:

Laguna Beach Considers Bag Ban
LA Stormater Blog - Make Your Garden Ocean Friendly - A Chat with Surfrider Foundation's Paul Herzog
Big Access Threat Seen in Little Beach Pathway - (also posted in Boston Globe, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronical, Atlanta Journal Constitution)
La Jolla Man Wins National Greenscape Award

##