In the city of Long Beach, the main appeal lies in the latter part of its name. Residents find solace in taking walks on the beach through the gleaming sand as the water gently crashes at their feet. So, why is there so much plastic and trash that ends up on almost all beaches in the city?
The Surfrider Foundation, a volunteer-activist environmental organization, has been focused on maintaining the world’s oceans and beaches for over 70 years. Originally founded in Malibu, Surfrider has expanded to over 90 chapters worldwide, with one located right here in Long Beach.
History of the Long Beach Surfrider Chapter
In 1996, a handful of members from the Orange County Surfrider chapter shifted southeast to focus on a prevalent issue: the Long Beach Breakwater.
The Breakwater, authorized in 1930, is a 2.5-mile wall of rocks built during World War II to protect the U.S Navy’s Pacific Fleet, while also serving as a safe anchorage for commercial traffic in the Long Beach ports.
The Breakwater is home to a plethora of issues for the city’s beaches. The wall’s existence prevents waves from forming in the water, but its absence could mean that the waves erode anything it touches.
Another issue is that the Los Angeles River empties its trash into the Breakwater, making it a hazard for marine life due to possible accidental ingestion of trash, and for humans because contact with the trash can lead to potential diseases. On top of all that, it also makes for an unpleasant experience for visitors.
The Long Beach chapter’s founding members had read articles published by Bill Hillburg, a columnist for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Hillburg, who is now an at-large member of Surfrider, had written a few articles discussing the Breakwater and its issues before departing to Washington, D.C. to be a White House correspondent.
“While I was gone, these people had read my articles and I was very pleased,” said Hillburg. “They had obtained some action and decided to start this chapter, and I joined it when I moved back here.”
The Navy departed Long Beach around 1997, but the Breakwater remains intact to this day. Conversations about it still circulate, but current members of the Long Beach chapter decided the wall was no longer a point of advocacy for the organization, as they have directed their attention towards other environmental issues.
A Different Environmental Focus
Surfrider’s main focuses are beach cleanups, its Ocean-Friendly Gardens program, ensuring proper and equal beach access for others, and educational outreach through various outlets such as tabling and youth programs.
Hillburg explained that even though beach attendance has become more popular, the public’s accessibility to them stagnates. In March, Surfrider launched a campaign to oppose AB 1740, an act that would eliminate the public beach access that is indefinitely agreed upon in the California Coastal Act.
“There’s a bigger complex now on the playground at Alamitos Beach … and one idea we have would be to have shuttles [at Belmont Shore],” said Hillburg. “It’s almost impossible to find parking space, so we would advocate for as much access as possible. We want to see people use the beach.”
Another issue specific to Long Beach is that the city lies between the mouths of the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers, adding even more pollution to the pile that Surfriders are trying to get rid of. Starting in the Inland Empire, the trash trickles its way down to Alamitos Bay, and a lack of a Blue Water Task Force (a Surfrider subgroup that tests water quality) makes it harder for them to effectively clean up multiple messes at once.
Over the years, Surfrider has gone from cleaning up multiple beaches like Rosie’s Dog Beach and Alamitos Bay to now solely focusing on the Belmont Pier every first Saturday of the month. The beach cleanups bring in a steady crowd of supporters and prove to be an effective way to foster community through volunteering.
Long Beach spends roughly $1 million annually cleaning up its beaches, according to information from the Public Works Department from 2023.
With their most recent beach cleanup at Belmont Pier adjourned on May 2, Surfrider is now planning its third annual San Gabriel River cleanup. Millie Heur, an at-large member and newsletter coordinator for Surfrider, notes that the crew has consistently secured over 100 volunteers, making the team more motivated to arrange bigger cleanup advocacy events.
“What we do is we go down to the sea turtle habitat that’s there, and we do a major cleanup and that is really intense because the amount of stuff that we are pulling out of that area is tremendous,” Heur said.
Heur emphasizes there is no one action too small to become a more environmentally-friendly person, and advises people to assess what they are purchasing and think about where the item will end up. This means making do without consuming single-use items and disposable plastics (straws, bags and cutlery), as well as properly disposing of all trash items.
“Our advocacy [method] is a way of bringing people’s habits to the floor without shaming them,” said Heur. “We want to make things better on the planet.”
For more information about the Surfrider Foundation’s Long Beach chapter, visit longbeach.surfrider.org/.
Christine Nader
Reporter
Christine Nader is a journalist with aspirations in community, music, and entertainment stories. She has ample experience in creating videos, social media posts, and other various forms of multimedia content. She wields the skill of reaching younger audiences through relatability, and presents a positive and determined attitude in all professional environments. In her spare time, you can find her at a concert, or in a movie theater.
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