Keeping trash from going with the flow into the L.A. River

Every time it rains, workers in Long Beach rush to the mouth of the Los Angeles River to scoop up the floating islands of plastic bottles, grocery bags and other debris before it's all swept onto local beaches or pulled out to sea.

Now, a deceptively simple solution is underway to fight the ongoing problem of river trash by intercepting it before it's washed into the river in the first place.

Over the next year, 16 cities in southeastern Los Angeles County are installing screens beneath nearly every storm drain that flows into the lower Los Angeles River.

Once the custom-built stainless steel devices are installed inside nearly 12,000 catch basins, authorities expect them to keep 840,000 pounds of debris -- the equivalent of about 450 Volkswagen Beetles -- from reaching the ocean each year. The garbage that washes off city streets and highways has long been identified as a major source of pollution that can degrade coastal habitat and float thousands of miles away on ocean currents.

The project will also help communities along the Los Angeles River comply with state and federal clean-water rules that require they capture nearly all the trash that for years has washed into the river.

"This stuff is not just going into the ocean and disappearing," said Jonathan Bishop, chief deputy director of the State Water Resources Control Board. "The long-lasting parts of it, which are primarily the plastics, are essentially moving their way through the currents, impacting marine life and impacting our beaches and our local waters too."

Described as the largest debris-capturing project in the nation, the cleanup effort is being undertaken by the Gateway Authority, a coalition of cities and public water agencies in southeastern L.A. County, using $10 million in federal stimulus dollars.

Read the full story here.

-- Tony Barboza in Long Beach

Comments

[Richard]

Why does it always take GOOBERnment, so long, to come up with such simple and obvious solutions?

"Anybody that would build a city 5 ft.below sea level in a hurricane zone and fill it with Democrats is a damn genius. "
- Larry the Cable Guy -

[Steven M.]

Plastic bags can float. The same with plastic bottles and other debris. Drainage pipes will clog, the water will back-up and cause flooding in the streets, causing accidents and flooding houses.

We still have wooden pallets, shopping carts, the property of hobo's and animals and their waste material, flowing down the flood control channel, which the EPA Chief (who should be drug tested), has designated as "Traditional and navigable waters."

Another "make work" project for more minimum wage morons.

[got mine]

We have those up in the hills of Sylmar. They clog, the dont open when they should. Glad I am near the top of the hill...

[diaper rash]

Just skip the requirement to prepare an Environmental Impact Report and everything looks fantastic through rosy glasses.

The curb level mouth to the storm drains are not always uniform in the contours of the concrete. But the street level grates installed are identical in their dimensions - result, the grate is able to open - only after i whack it with a sledge hammer.

It goes without saying that this new system of screens and grates requires regular cleaning to function. We have no cleaning since the city has no money to cover this new service.

When we get the big storm and my block is flooded i will have to row a canoe to city hall in order to vent - don't pretend we didn't warn you!

What about the innocent nocturnal raccoon families which have long colonized the local storm drains into raccoon condos?

Did they even consider what this is doing to them?

Haven't they ever heard the term "holocaust"?