Ballona Creek To Pilot Nation’s First Trash Interceptor Project

MARINA DEL REY, CA — The nation's first trash interceptor was deployed at the mouth of Ballona Creek and is being hailed as a major step in capturing more than 30 tons of trash before it flows into the ocean, which will improve water quality and benefit marine life.

Dutch non-profit organization The Ocean Cleanup worked together with Los Angeles County Public Works to deploy Interceptor 007 on Oct. 6 after it was towed from the Long Beach Coast Guard Base up the coast to Marina del Rey.

"The Interceptor is The Ocean Cleanup's answer for river plastic waste," The Ocean Cleanup's website states. "It is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world's oceans from rivers."

The Interceptor is a fully-automated, solar-powered trash collection device deployed to combat pollution at Ballona Creek. The floating barge dumpster is 70 feet long and 20 feet tall and is part of a pilot project that includes the construction of six moorings on the north and south jetties of the channel, the installation of a river monitoring system to characterize types of trash and educational signage.

Inside the interceptor are a catamaran and an automated trash rack with a conveyor belt system. The Ocean Cleanup provided the interceptor at no cost and will also provide monitoring equipment to characterize the system's success. The district will spend $650,000 for the 18-month pilot program.

"The Ballona Creek Trash Interceptor Pilot Project will allow for a direct way to not only address the issue of trash within Ballona Creek but also to implement a scalable solution worldwide with the lessons learned," the Department of Public Works said in a statement.

In May two Play del Rey residents filed a petition against the interceptor's placement at Ballona Creek, stressing the importance of considering less disruptive means of collecting trash from the creek, including a trash capture project at Alla Road.

Although the interceptor project will result in "significant adverse environmental impacts," the county completed neither a negative declaration nor an environmental impact report, circulated neither for public review and comment and presented no mitigation measures or project alternatives to the community, according to the petition.

Kerjon Lee, communications manager for Public Works, said the interceptor will benefit the community by showing people that stopping stormwater pollution can start in their backyards.

"It's so important to us that the community and their voices are brought into the process," Lee said. "There is a lot of excitement about keeping this waterway in particular clean."

Construction for the project is set to continue through December 2022.

Public access to the north jetty is restricted and bike traffic may be stopped intermittently to allow for equipment and materials to be transported to the site. The south jetty and Pacific Avenue Bridge remain open to the public.

The Ocean Cleanup has already deployed Interceptors in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic and said they chose to put an interceptor at Ballona Creek after seeing the abundance of trash in the water.

"Like we've seen in the other deployments, it will create an awareness of the problem," said Joost Dubois, director of communications for The Ocean Cleanup. "So it's not just about The Ocean Cleanup or the Interceptor or the amount of trash that it will take out, but also about the message that we have to find a way to avoid trash from getting into the ocean."

The LA County Public Works Department will be at the location of the interceptor on Oct. 15 with a pop-up community resource event and on Oct. 22 will hold a celebration with The Ocean Cleanup in the morning.

City News Service contributed to this report.