Around July of 2022, Mark Hubbell, a dedicated Pacific Beach Coalition (PBC) volunteer for the last 10 years spotted an overwhelming amount of styrofoam dumped off HWY 1 into a forested area next to San Pedro Creek. Linda Mar Beach is only a hundred yards away from the site, but this environmental hazard was especially threatening for the native steelhead trout that spawn in the creek. PBC volunteers took action.

This area of The Creek is CalTrans property. PBC volunteers, and Pacifica Public Works all filed reports. Unfortunately no one ever heard a response, even with the ability to precisely identify the location of the “mega-mess” of styrofoam within the reporting process. Where did all the styrofoam come from? No one is quite sure who dumped the styrofoam, more accurately known as expanded polystyrene (EPS). Based on the shapes and curves of the pieces, Mark suspects they may have come from the process of creating surfboards.

Styrofoam is notoriously difficult to recycle, due to it being “lightweight, bulky, and difficult to clean due to its porous nature” (PaConsulting). Recology, who runs the nearest recycling center currently accepts styrofoam from “packing blocks only,” of which the pieces dumped in the creek did not appear to be from.

Removing the 3 foot high mass of styrofoam spanning about a 30ft by 20ft area of the densely forested area was not an easy task, but the work had to be done. So starting in December of 2022, volunteers cleaned up approximately 200lbs of the stack of styrofoam.

In January of 2023, the crew removed another “350 pounds of toxic styrofoam” as well as a soggy mattresses, and a motorcycle. The total estimated haul for this day came out around 850 lbs, a huge haul in comparison to normal cleanup events. From then on, at each monthly cleanup at least three to four large garbage bags of styrofoam was pulled from the creek. Finally, August 5th was a day everyone who ever hauled a piece of styrofoam from the creek looked forward to, the day when the last piece was removed — UCSF students came as volunteers for PBC’s San Pedro Creek Cleanup, removing over 300 lbs of trash, mainly the remaining styrofoam, now prevented from flowing out to sea. Fantastic job, everyone!

San Pedro Creek’s Styrofoam Disaster is no more, thanks to Pacific Beach Coalition volunteers: Julie Brownell Walters, Audrey Meima, Margo Meiman, Dave Bowen, Terri Brown, Jacqueline Godsoe, Maureen Maher, Pacifica’s Ranger Mike, John Keener, Mark Hubbell, along with many others, and the many UCSF students who came as volunteers for The Pacific Beach Coalition’s San Pedro Creek Cleanup.

PBC holds a monthly cleanup at San Pedro Creek on the first Saturday of every month. To learn more and to sign to take action for the steelhead trout and other wildlife and plants volunteer today!

Written by Chloe Van Loon and Mark Hubbell.