Sunday, June 4, 2017

Venice Beach Storm Debris From Navy St. to the Venice Pier!...

Welcome to Venice Beach!...






Dateline: Saturday morning, June 3, 2017... at and after 8:30 a.m.....

Shocking!  It's the only word to describe how much storm debris, principally broken shafts of bamboo, that litters the water's edge at the high tide line all the way from Navy St. to the Venice Pier. 

Why hasn't the Los Angeles County Dept. of Beaches & Harbors (LACDBH) cleaned this up?!  

It represents a significant public health and safety threat. The bamboo is sharp and can cut the skin which can then get infected leading to staph infections or worse!

This is something that should be done as a matter of course. Why is LACDBH not doing the job that it is supposed to be doing? 

Below are approximately 100 photos of all of this storm debris, principally broken shafts of bamboo, that I observed yesterday morning, Saturday, June 3, 2017 between approximately 8:30 a.m. and 12 noon.

Navy St.











A dead bird too!...  The reason this does not get picked up either is because LACDBH doesn't even bother to patrol the berm near the water's edge. Or if they do they aren't picking much of anything up.


Nice?!...  Pay for beach parking and this is what you get in return...









NOTE:  This storm debris, principally, broken shafts of bamboo does NOT get picked up by Heal The Bay volunteers either.  HTB volunteers focus on human trash, e.g., plastic, aluminum, glass, paper products, etc.
































Above and below, the heavily promoted rainbow themed painted lifeguard tower at Brooks Ave., and the deluge of storm debris at the high tide line adjacent thereto...










What a freakin' mess!!!...



Congratulations to LACDBH on a job not well done...


 This is unacceptable!  All of this storm debris can and will surely lead to injury to the beach going public!


Perhaps LACDBH just did not see this near entire plant of bamboo, roots and ALL !!!...







Yes, I am tremendously disappointed in the failure of LACDBH to do even a competent job of cleaning up the beach near the water's edge.  It's not difficult. You just have to get out there and pick it up. Heck, I will help BUT ONLY if LACDBH does so.








Maybe all of this storm debris led someone to drink?!...  MILLER HIGH LIFE®.  Thankfully, Heal The Bay volunteers probably picked this up yesterday during their Venice Beach Clean Up. 


Below, the Venice Breakwater area of Venice Beach...


The balance of the photos were taken near the water's edge between the Venice Pier and Ave-23 at the Venice Garage where LACDBH's beach crew is stationed.  Full disclosure: I took a swim at Ave-26 and upon exiting the water I noticed an LACDBH pick up truck stop on the sand and the driver got out and picked up one (1) piece of driftwood, but did not pick up any of the bamboo littering the ENTIRE STRETCH OF BEACH there.....  It's physical labor after all and could get messy......




An LACDBH truck drove right past this and left it!...

















Below: Just look at all this crap!  It would be so easy for LACDBH to clean this up but it does not do so!  Why?!  Because they do not care!  They do care about collecting those beach parking fees, however.....





I should not have to devote so much time to addressing this ongoing and basically perpetual issue of beach trash and/or storm debris near the water's edge which represents an ongoing public health and safety risk. LACDBH should be cleaning this storm debris up regularly instead of ignoring it.  What are we as taxpayers paying for if the department responsible for cleaning the beach is NOT cleaning the beach?!  Perhaps LACDBH should forfeit its right to beach parking fees until such time as they start to clean up the beach daily and regularly of both beach trash and storm debris.  On a Saturday, the beach going public should not have to pay beach parking fees only to have to contend with and try to avoid all of this debris that can lead to injury.

Why do I have to point this out to LACDBH?!  They know what their job is and they are NOT doing it!

Meanwhile, the rainbow themed tower at Brooks Ave. gets all the attention. 


A court of law, on the other hand, would recognize that L.A. County is inviting the public to the beach only for the public to be put in harm's way because LACDBH is not doing its job and cleaning up the storm debris, etc.

L.A. County Counsel certainly can appreciate this liability risk. Hopefully, they can prevail upon the Board of Supervisors and LACDBH to do its job and clean up the beach of all of this debris which continues to threaten the public health and safety.

This is the beach that we are getting from LACDBH. If you are as disappointed as I am, please contact Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and L.A. City Councilman, Mike Bonin and let them know that while the rainbow themed lifeguard tower is a nice tribute, we expect the beach to be safe and free of hazards that can and do cause injuries.

Is this too much to ask of the Los Angeles County Dept. of Beaches & Harbors?!...

Respectfully submitted,

William Maguire
Los Angeles City and County Resident

(All photos by & Copyright William Maguire 2017.)

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