OCEANSIDE: Not much for the 'Morning After'

Light crowd left little litter after July Fourth show

By MANNY LOPEZ - For the North County Times | Saturday, July 5, 2008 11:17 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- Volunteers for the Surfrider Foundation's "The Morning After Mess" beach cleanup said they were pleasantly surprised Saturday to find the beach was not as dirty as they had expected.

Organizers had anticipated huge amounts of trash, but all they got were mainly plastic straws, wrappers, bottle caps and cigarette butts.

Bill Curtis, an Oceanside beach lifeguard captain, said the beach was the cleanest he had ever seen it after a Fourth of July celebration.

Born and raised in Oceanside, Curtis attributed the difference to a beefed-up law enforcement presence and the establishment of a "safety zone," which was implemented for the first time this year. Fines within the zone were tripled, and no traffic or pets were allowed. Lifeguards estimated the beach had about 100,000 visitors, which was about half of the crowd that was on hand last year Curtis said.

According to Cynthia Mallet, an environmental specialist with the city of Oceanside, 205 volunteers picked up 572 pounds of trash and 8,064 cigarette filters.

Some of the organizers said there appeared to be more garbage in the streets than on the beach.

Donna Wolf of the Surfrider Foundation said that the most dangerous objects recovered were a pocket knife and a small amount of drug paraphernalia. Wolf credited the combination of public awareness and the support of Oceanside residents for the change in what typically is the worst trash day of the year on the beach.

"We can't become complacent about protecting our nations beaches," Wolf said. "Beach closures are becoming more common, and runoff from storm drains is contaminating the oceans."

One cigarette butt on the beach isn't a problem, she said, but thousands of them release a liquid form of second-hand smoke that is deadly to marine life.

A diverse group of students from MiraCosta College participated in the cleanup as part of a class project entitled "Taking Civic Responsibility."

"I have 18 different countries represented in my class," said instructor Debbie Hanley. Most of them have never done anything like this before."

Kanin Dlodowski of Poland said it was his first time visiting the beach in Oceanside, and that working as part of a group to keep it clean was a great experience.

Last year more than 1,000 volunteers collected over 8,000 pounds of debris on San Diego beaches, according to Surfrider officials.

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