Heal the Ocean has received numerous (some irate) phone calls regarding the mud being deposited on Goleta and Carpinteria beaches. Television media has also called for a response from us. We told them, and everyone else, we were investigating and would let everyone know when we knew the answer. We at HTO (Heal the Ocean) don’t believe environmental knee-jerk reactions help anything, least of all the environment.
First, the Thomas Fire/mudslide is a disaster of enormous proportions. Possibly the worst since the Earthquake of 1925 took down the Potter Hotel. The 101 Freeway is still closed, and as this commentary is written, now closed indefinitely, because the workers, as they remove mud and debris, are carefully combing the water and debris for bodies of missing persons.
More importantly, the decision to deposit mud on Goleta and Carpinteria beaches is a decision not made lightly by the numerous agencies charged with dealing with this massive problem — including public works officials from the city and county of Santa Barbara, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CalTrans, and the contractors themselves.