Heal The Ocean

Heal the Ocean hires engineers, experts, researchers and scientists, lawyers, gis mappers and university laboratories to produce reports and to give us test results as well as blueprints for upgrade of wwtps, removal of septic systems in unsuitable places, cleanup of groundwater and contaminated soils, and more. We have facilitated state grants for wastewater facilities to upgrade to recycled water. We perform cost feasibility studies for a number of infrastructure changes that can be made to benefit clean water, and the Ocean. We have conducted dna tests in watersheds and are now working with gis mappers to delineate areas of the California coast that will be impacted by sea level rise caused by climate change - and work with regional water quality control boards throughout the coastal regions of the state to prepare for cleanup work before the Ocean rises.our approach to solving environmental problems is unique in that we work with (not against) counties, cities, agencies, wastewater and water districts to move forward with more sophisticated technology to solve water pollution problems. We access grant funds to help projects that improve Ocean water quality and to protect precious groundwater resources. We continue to help homeowners to convert from septic systems to public wastewater systems. We continue to serve on the santa barbara county integrated regional water management (irwm) steering committee, which we have been doing since 2010, and in this capacity have successfully advocated for projects that lead to wastewater treatment plant upgrade as well as groundwater protection.i. Septic systems:a) septic system pollution of groundwater. Building on our success with the rincon (south coast beach communities septic to sewer) project, Heal the Ocean continues to work on coastal areas still on septic systems - particularly important in the times we are now in with sea level rise caused by climate change. We also work on septic areas overlying important groundwater basins, such as los olivos community, which is on top of the santa ynez groundwater basin, a major source of drinking water for the santa ynez valley.b) septic to sewer:i) beach club road septic-to-sewer. Beach club road is an enclave of 28 homes within the boundaries of the south coast beach communities septic-to-sewer project, located on the Ocean and in a creek area with high groundwater. Some homeowners have connected to the carpinteria sanitary district sewer main that goes by the beach club gates. Many homeowners inside want to connect to csd, but some do not. Heal the Ocean continues communications with the community regarding conversion from septic to sewer and works with csd on an outreach plan to set up informational meetings with carpinteria sanitary district representatives.ii) los olivos. This area that overlies the santa ynez groundwater basin is heavily populated with hotels, wineries, restaurants and public facilities, and is on septic systems. It has been cited as a "problem area" by the santa barbara county board of supervisors. In 2017, los olivos created its own community service district (csd) Heal the Ocean is now working with the locsd to support its efforts to convert from septic to sewer in the area by way of connecting the district with state grant funding opportunities. Iii) sb city pockets. Heal the Ocean is working with the city of santa barbara and county of santa barbara to find methods to transition septic systems within home enclaves (called city "pockets"). the areas have been identified by the city in its west end master plan, and hto keeps this plan visible, and is working with the city to find methods of funding/homeowner financing. Ii. Upgrading wastewater to recycled water.heal the Ocean continues to educate, research, advocate for, and facilitate the facilitating the advancement of turning waste(d) water into recycled water. When proposition 1 funding became available for facilities planning grants to convert wwtps to recycled water plants, we approached number of water/wastewater districts to participate, and succeeded in getting $150,000 planning grants for a number of districts. Heal the Ocean conducted research on brine waste and the problems with its disposal. We continue to monitor the progress of those districts today, with particular focus on the city of santa barbara.iii. Groundwater.a) scope the coast. Heal the Ocean has assembled a stakeholder group, including a gis expert, to create a map that will examine how rising seas can push long-buried toxins to the surface along the California coast. In about 15-20 years, this groundwater - along with any toxins it comes into contact with - could begin to seep into basements or underneath houses and aerosolize toxic chemicals, volatile organic compounds (vocs) in particular, which is unhealthy for residents to breathe. the coastal areas where this phenomenon can take place are usually low-income, so the issue has social justice implications. Hto's project goal is to work with California state legislators to create legislation that requires coastal communities to address this concern through policy and regulation of contaminated sites. the gis map will layer land use, aquifers, monitored wells, sea level rise data, and sewage systems to illustrate this contamination threat to the California coastal zone. B) contaminated groundwater cleanup - city of santa barbara. As a result of our work to organize contaminated groundwater data into the state water board geotracker site (a 10+-year project), the santa barbara county environmental health services site mitigation unit (smu) and regional board continues to regulate the cleanup of contaminated groundwater areas beneath the city of santa barbara. We are notified by the santa barbara city and county planning commissions when a development is proposed for some of these areas, so that we can press for cleanup before any building is planned. C) sea level rise. Heal the Ocean continued its advocacy for adaptation plans in sea level rise (climate change) planning documents, illustrating with photographs during king tides how close the santa barbara county shoreline is to flooding. At city and county planning commissions, we advocate for disallowing building in coastal zones that will be flooded within 30 years or sooner. Furthermore Heal the Ocean documents king tides in santa barbara because they may be good predictors for the future of our shorelines as the sea level rises due to climate change.iv. Onshore pollutiona) oil pollution of summerland beach. Heal the Ocean has worked closely with the California state lands commission (slc) for years in the matter of the summerland oil field, where improperly abandoned oil wells pollute the Ocean and the beach. Heal the Ocean was instrumental in getting passage for sb 44, authored by former senator hannah-beth jackson, to provide $2 million per year for the cleanup of hazards and abandoned wells along the California coast. We now provide technical support to slc engineers in locating wellheads, and organizing capping projects.i) ohlsson 805 and duquesne. In august 2021 the ohlsson 805 beach well off summerland beach was capped successfully. In december 2021, state lands commission returned to cap duquesne, another beach well on the opposite end of summerland beach. Heal the Ocean provided technical help to slc contract-engineers interact during both cappings and hto has been hired by slc for post-project monitoring. Hto is currently working with slc and state legislators to extend the sb 44 funding provision past its expiration in 2026.b) styrofoam and single use plastic pollution. Heal the Ocean continues its successful styrofoam recycling program with marborg industries, which has established two drop-off facilities for the public to bring in recyclable styrofoam - one in the lower milpas street area, the other in goleta, at david love place. Marborg collects and stores the loose styrofoam in transport bags, and then transports the material to a facility in moreno valley that processes the foam to be made into products such as mirror and picture frames, crown molding and other materials. Heal the Ocean funds the transportation of this material to moreno valley. In total, 39,600lbs of styrofoam has been diverted from the landfill since july 2021.