I am at my wits end like many resident and business owners in Carpinteria.
On Jan. 9, our Ash Avenue beach was dictated by the County of Santa Barbara as being a location to dump debris and mud from the flood basins. This happened in 2018 after the Montecito mudslides, and our beach have been polluted ever since.
I have contacted the district office of EPA out of San Francisco. I have called the Coastal Commission, appeared at Carpinteria City Council meetings, called County Supervisor Das Williams’ office, called NOAA, Heal the Ocean, Central Coast Water Board and many other agencies.
They claim materials being dumped are safe and not raising bacteria levels. What is the threshold for reporting this? Our beach is muddied water. It’s mud instead of sand, and one cannot participate in recreation there.
There needs to be a better alternative than to have our town endured the carnage happening with dump trucks going around. Is this going to happen every time it rains?
Why can’t this be dumped in multiple landfills, used for construction purposes or dispersed more evenly?
Carpinteria thrives on tourism. That is how people make a living, and we are not going to be able to support that with the state of our beaches at this moment. But we are told to get over it and that it’s not a big deal.
Would you like to take your kids to play at our beach? The California State Parks have posted signs at their beach to stay out of the water; hazardous materials submerged. What is going on here?
I have started a petition for change to the County Supervisors office. I’m waiting for a call back from a supervisor personally. You can sign the petition at www.change.org/STOPTHEDUMPCARPINTERIA.
Please, can another side to this sediment dumping story be told?
Thank you.
Michelle Carlen
Carpinteria resident and business owner
