Rep. Dave Min’s request for $1 million dollars for the San Gabriel River Trash initiative was recently approved by the EPA. Seal Beach District One Council Member Joe Kalmick announced the funding at last week’s City Council meeting.
“We’ll be seeing that money very soon,” Kalmick said.
In related news, the council on Feb. 23 approved an amendment to its contract with the city’s consultant on the river trash project.
The River Trash Initiative is a working group made up of Seal Beach, Long Beach, Orange County, Los Angeles County, the Surfrider Foundation (North Orange County and Long Beach chapters) and the offices of Assembly members Diane Dixon and Josh Lowenthal.
“These funds will be used for designing additional trash mitigation measures that have been identified in the recently completed feasibility study,” Kalmick wrote in a Feb. 10 email.
“The primary trash capture device is slated to be provided by the international non-profit The Ocean Cleanup. Our consultant Shane Silsby is actively working on all of the various approvals that must be obtained, and we are working on acquiring additional funding to insure the success of this project,” Kalmick wrote.
Background
“Implementation of a trash mitigation project in SGR is likely to require federal, state, and local agency permits and approvals. The Feasibility Study further concludes that there are a number of potential sources that could be pursued to support funding of a trash mitigation project,” according to the San Gabriel River Trash Mitigation Feasibility Study.
The agencies listed in the study as being expected to require permits included: the United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, the United States Coast Guard, the California Coastal Commission, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, as well as the cities of Seal Beach and Long Beach, and the counties of LA and Orange.
Kalmick wrote that if the city pulls this off, it will show how a small city can “put a cork” in the trash that flows from cities up the river, down to the ocean and onto “our beach”.
The Seal Beach council in January approved an agreement with LA County and The Ocean Cleanup.
Scope of the problem
Seal Beach gets more than 400 tons of river trash a year on the public beach, according to a Jan. 12 staff report by Public Works Director Iris Lee. Note: Lee’s Feb. 23 staff report put the number at 500 tons. The website sgrcleanup.com, the website for the River Trash Initiative, put the volume of river trash at more than 300 tons in the years 2021, 2022, and 2023. Each year, the reported volume of trash increased from the previous year.
Feasibility study
Stantec Consulting Services Inc. performed the Feasibility Study, which is available online at http://www.sgrcleanup.com/.
According to the 127-page document, the feasibility study evaluated 17 alternatives to placing devices to capture trash flowing down the river.
“The trash capture devices evaluated include:
“• trash screen inlets
“• dual vane traps
“• floating booms
“• in-channel screens and nets
“• drop rack traps,
“• trash wheel technologies,
“• trash interceptor technologies,” according to the Feasibility Study. “The results of this evaluation conclude that a trash interceptor with floating booms at Sites 11b (between E 7th and 2nd Streets) and 7b (south of 405 Freeway) have the highest scores, 24 and 23 respectively. It should however be noted that there could be challenges deploying a trash interceptor at these locations if deployment required passing underneath low height bridges such as that present where Marina Drive overpasses the SGR,” according to the Feasibility Study.
“In the event this potential deployment obstacle cannot be overcome, the placement of floating booms and manual trash removal from the adjacent riverbank using an excavator or crane with a clamshell bucket could be a feasibly equivalent trash capture device alternative at both of these locations,” according to the Feasibility Study.
“The presence of Native American resources at or near the potential trash mitigation sites have not been determined as part of this review. However, the area is along the SGR and associated tributaries, which would have promoted Indigenous settlement and activity in this area,” according to the Feasibility Study.
The study put the capital cost of the project between $300,000 and $2 million.
“It is important to note that actual costs may vary greatly depending on existing site conditions, special installation requirements, and the complexity of the designs. Also, these costs are estimated in 2025 dollars and not escalated to the date of construction,” according to the Feasibility Study.
The study also looked at annual costs.
“• Trash Interceptor with Floating Booms: $400,000 – $750,000
“• Trash Screen Inlets: $50,000 – $75,000
“• Dual Vane Trap: $80,000 – $100,000
“• Drop Rack Trap: $80,000 – $100,000
“• Aquatic Litter System: $80,000 – $100,000
“• Trash Wheel Systems: $400,000 – $750,000
“• Trash Net In-Channel: $53,000 – $75,000
“• Caltrans Trash Net: $55,000 – $85,000,” according to the Feasibility Study.
“Costs are heavily dependent on debris load, accessibility of a disposal barge to the trash collection area, and maintenance frequency,” according to the Feasibility Study. Again, the estimates were based on 2025 dollars,” the study said.
Funding sources include Prop. 4 Climate Bond funding, which represents $.2 billion for water quality, according to the study; EPA funding for state governments; the California Coastal Conservancy; the Infrastructure State Revolving Fund Program; Google.org Corporate Giving program, to name a few.
“The convergence of Proposition 4 funding, private-sector partnerships, and evolving grant management practices presents an unprecedented opportunity for California cities to advance their project priorities,” according to the Feasibility Study.
“Therefore, Stantec recommends that the implementing agency proceed with the completion of a clear project scope, budget, and timeline with anticipated intakes for grant funding in mind. Completing any planning or positioning needed sooner rather than later will only support their ability to effectively pivot as grant or partnership opportunities arise,” according to the study.
