Surfrider Foundation is a leading organizer protecting the beaches and coastal waters along California shores. They are responsible for uniting foundations and groups together with local citizens to maintain the health and beauty of the coastal ecosystem to provide a beautiful surf as well as a clean place for all the lives that call it home. Connecting good-willed people is the only way to hold negligent companies responsible for their harmful actions.
Result of Negligence
Last year in October 2021, Amplify Energy’s offshore oil pipelines ruptured, which caused 24,696 gallons of crude oil to spill out into the waters of the Huntington Beach area. This disaster initiated the efforts of Surfrider to do what they do best: organize, inform, and mobilize people to clean up the beaches. This spill affected innocent wildlife, damaged sacred indigenous land, closed beaches, suffocated sensitive habitats, and negatively impacted local businesses. Environmental disasters have a ripple effect across many aspects of nature, culture, and communities.
Surfrider has joined forces with the Center for Biological Diversity, Orange County Coastkeeper, Sacred Places Institute, California Environmental Voters, Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast, Oceana, and the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in allegiance to focus on ongoing efforts to ensure this unnecessary situation does not occur again.
You, As An Individual, Matter
It is essential for local citizens to stay informed of the cleanup process, volunteer opportunities, and potential new legislation being passed. Surfrider Foundation regularly releases articles to keep us up to date with the latest status and efforts for continuous cleanup, in addition to an email list where you can be contacted directly about ways to be involved. Being active in the process ensures accountability and minimizes the potential for repeat disasters.
Stay Informed
To read up on what has happened with the oil spill impacting Southern California beaches, here is a list of three important articles published by Surfrider in response to the disaster:
- Statement One Year After The Amplify Energy Oil Spill
- Major Oil Spill Off Orange County Triggers Ecological and Recreational Disaster as it Washes Up on Local Beaches
- Surfrider’s Response to the Oil Spill in Santa Barbara County.
For ongoing publications, visit Surfrider’s article and blog posts at this link. There you can find the most recent and relevant articles.
Track Tarballs
Your trips to the beach can be essential in locating areas of focus for local cleanups. Surfrider outlines three important steps you can take to be a part of the ongoing cleanup. First, capture observations of tar and oil on the beaches with your cellphone cameras. Second, report the data with submissions to the ArcGIS Quick Capture App (Apple, Android) to notify where cleanups need to take place, and lastly, continuously collaborate.
You Have The Power
Volunteering your time is the single most influential decision you can make if you want to clean up the environment. There are people out there every day cleaning up the result of bad human behavior. You can join a crew of people through organizations such as Surfrider, or you can make your way to the beach with a trash bag on your own time to have a solo cleanup mission. Every action helps. Remember never to minimize the impact a single person can have.
Key Takeaways
- The best way to stay involved and up to date with what is happening with our beaches is to get involved directly. Become a Surfrider volunteer at this link.
- To stay up to date on ways to help with cleanup, text “OILSPILL” to 51555.
