Tons of litter pollute Seal Beach in California. These consist of an assortment of items that are carried by rainwater from the riverbeds of los angeles and Orange counties. A few other beaches are also affected and cleanup crews have arrived with the necessary equipment to remove and cart it away.

Los Angeles Times reports that volunteers with the environmental group undertake this exercise regularly. However, the winter storms have aggravated the situation and the volume of debris is substantial. The teams have a tough task ahead because such unwanted material piles up on the beaches after any storm but the recent storms makes the beaches look like landfills.

Source of the problem

The source of the litter is interesting. Portions of it come from places that are nearly 40 miles away while the bulk of them are belongings of the homeless people who live in riverbeds around Los Angeles and Orange counties. Volunteers are always on the job to remove the litter but the rains have dumped an extraordinary amount of debris and it will take time to complete the cleanup. Some of these unwanted materials could be different types of waste which might lead to health issues once they come into contact with the body. These usually settle at the floor of the ocean and destroy the quality of the surroundings.

Los Angeles Times adds that experts advise beachgoers to delay entering the water after a downpour.

In the opinion of the Save Our Beach group, there must be a long-term plan to arrest the pollution at its source. As Fellers says, “Every city that has a storm-drain system ought to have a catch system — some way of catching at least the larger articles that are floating in the water to filter it out.”

California’s famous Seal Beach looks like a landfill

The recent winter storms in California played havoc with the Environment.

The rains carried mounds of litter from various locations to the ocean and these have given the beach an appearance of a landfill. These items include not only plastics but also shopping carts, traffic cones and Styrofoam.

According to the Guardian, Eben Schwartz, an official of California, says that 80 percent of the trash that ends up in the ocean originates on land.

He adds that Seal Beach lies at the mouth of the San Gabriel River, and trash from as many as 50 cities in the Los Angeles river basin move to the ocean via this route. It is a massive problem and needs a concerted effort to check such a trend in order to protect the environment.

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