Seal Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties, and the state have partnered with the Ocean Cleanup to place its trash interceptors in the San Gabriel and L.A. rivers.
Founder Boyen Slat says the project is part of their global 30 cities program to keep plastic out of the ocean.
“The coastlines here are some of the most beautiful ones in the world,” he said. “They're world famous for a reason. You've got this incredible biodiversity in Santa Monica Bay, the San Pedro Bay. So this plastic is doing a tremendous amount of harm.”
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the inceptor’s technology is about “stopping pollution before it reaches the ocean.”
“It's about using engineering and data, local conditions, operational partnerships to capture when it moves in our rivers and along our waterways,” he said.
The group's 007 interceptor is already at work in the Biona Creek. L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn says it was the first of its kind in North America, and this project has been a tremendous success.
“It has nearly doubled our expectations, and since 2022, the Ballona Creek interceptor has removed more than 200 tons of trash before it could ever reach the ocean,” she said.
Officials say the new interceptors will complement the one in Ballona Creek. The interceptors are expected to be in place by the 2028 Olympics in Long Beach.
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