Kids Speaking Up: Swimming with Sewage?

» cmk on 09.24.08 @ 09:27 AM

Well-spoken, Sophie, and articulated better than most articles I’ve read on the subject. Keep up the vigilance and continue to shine a light on the problem and you can indeed make difference. You have my vote. :)

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» individual contribution on 09.24.08 @ 09:02 PM

This is wise advice to contact the city council, however, more beach closures are due to urban runoff. That is the stuff that runs off of our lawns and sidewalks, into the storm drains and eventually to the ocean. We all need to take a look at fertilizer use, picking up pet waste, leaking oil from cars and the basic litter on the street to keep our beaches clean. I sincerely hope that Kids Speaking Up brings issues like this to the forefront and not just hand the issue over to an elected body or a company with the hopes that a change can occur. Get the word out to teens everywhere and adults for that matter. Make the changes at home and in your yard and we will see a marked difference in our beaches.

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» Brian Ehler on 09.25.08 @ 09:20 AM

Sophie, don’t believe everything these folks tell you..take a tour of a local wastewater plant and ask questions and more questions…Heal the Ocean and Channelkeeper depend on fear to keep the donations coming in….don’t let them scare you. Hold them accountable when they use fear tactics to scare young people… and keep up the good work!

Ocean Facts: The waters of the Pacific Ocean are already grossly unsuitable for human consumption. They contain highly toxic (to humans) amounts of salt and smaller quantities of almost every element and compound — hazardous and beneficial — known to man. Also present are an untold number of bacteria, including various dangerous ones from the intestinal tracts of land and sea animals. In fact, if it’s poisonous and exists anywhere on Earth, it’s in the ocean.
but the good news is the ocean is a healthy place, despite what Channelkeeper may say. Wastewater plants are biological wonders and are the last, best defense against ocean pollution by people.

Citizens’ groups such as Heal the Ocean and Channel Keeper have long suggested that the city’s aging sewer system was leaking into the ground water and moving underground into the surf. But preliminary results from a study, which is funded in part by Heal the Ocean, suggest that city sewers are not to blame. More taxpayer money wasted on another study. Common sense could have told her the outcome.The sewer system pipes aren’t pressurized.
Brian Ehler

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» admin on 09.25.08 @ 03:54 PM

A note to opinone

I’m all for people making it better and many do ...however, spreading misinformation, trespassing into wastewater plants to grab samples, ignoring strict sampling protocol, and ignoring obvious signs of ocean pollution like litter and dogs; or trying to tell me that the ocean is a pristine place and that you and a few celebrities are going to “save” it from “us” is silly..environmentalism is often hard and dirty work..fundraising and platitudes won’t get the job done…

again: look at the ocean realities to separate facts from fiction

there’s a psychology of ocean pollution…...hysteria, emotional reactions to our own bodily functions, bad samples, false positives, and other factors designed to keep you out of the water and the money coming in to “Ocean Saviors” to do redundant, private testing…common sense is the best defense against the hysterics… work and awareness are the best defense against human caused pollution.

Brian Ehler

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» Kim Miller on 09.28.08 @ 10:58 AM

Well done, Sophie. :)
I’ve lived here for 40 years now. I grew up playing in Atascadero Creek and at Hendry’s beach.  I’ve noticed a great deal of waterway degradation over the years. For example, when I was a child, every small tidepool at the beach was filled with all kinds of interesting life forms. Now, they’re barren of all but a few anenomes.

I’m not a plumbing expert, but my direct experience with observing the dissolved remains of sewer pipes installed underneath school buildings (new in 1961) and my own house (new in 1964) suggests to me that 100 year old sewer pipes in earthquake-prone Santa Barbara/Goleta just might be leaking.

I also think every storm drain should have a bioswale area before the water gets to the creek.

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» lauren sherman on 10.12.08 @ 09:49 PM

Dear sophie,
im currently a junior at dphs and am doing a research project on ocean pollution in the santa barbara area. while researching i came across your article. ive been searching every inch of my mind for while on how to help the community and this projected opened up my mind. im very interested in helping out your cause. i want to help the community and the enviorment very much. tell me how and where and what i can do to help and im there. you can email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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