Operation Clean Sweep Set for SB Harbor, May 4
April 19, 2013
Byline: Ambrosia Brody
SANTA BARBARA — It’s time for the annual spring cleaning of Santa Barbara Harbor, as divers and volunteers will rid the bay of accumulated junk on the harbor floor during the seventh annual Operation Clean Sweep.
Volunteers and waterfront staff will concentrate on fingers I through L in Marina 1 during the cleanup, scheduled for Saturday, May 4. Each year, divers haul out strange items ranging from commodes to barbecues and bicycles.
“It is really a lot of fun,” said Mick Kronman, Harbor Operations manager for Santa Barbara. “It’s a fishing trip. You never really know what it is until it comes up.”
Between 40 and 45 participants came out to lend a hand in 2012, he said. All the work is done from the dock, as volunteers and waterfront staff hoist the items identified by divers into trash carts.
To date, the event has resulted n the removal of about 10 tons of junk from the seafloor.
Waterfront staff members will report results of this year’s effort at the Harbor Commission’s May 17 meeting. Volunteers interested in helping at the dock to remove items from the seafloor and the Marina 1 gangway in trash carts can contact Kronman at (805) 897-2587.
