Community Corner
Hundreds Join Navy, EPA in Pilot Study on Ocean Pollution
The Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station will be the site of a new study aimed at understanding how trash washes out to sea. Hundreds of local volunteers will help.
More than 300 people will converge on the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station today to take part in a pilot program aimed at discovering how trash ends up in the ocean.
Working with the Navy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the nonprofit Save Our Beach, the volunteers will help collect and categorize trash that washes shore on the base.
“One of the things we are attempting is to find out how the trash ends up on our beaches,” said Gregg Smith, spokesman for the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.
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The base is an ideal place for the pilot program because its beaches are restricted, he said. The trash on the navy property is more likely to have washed out to sea from rivers and flood control channels than public beaches where sunbathers and visitors litter along the shoreline. The findings will help researchers understand specifically what kind of debris is washing out into the ocean, said Smith. A better understanding of the problem will help authorities develop solutions, he added.
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