Los Angeles is home to some of California’s dirtiest beaches. It’s about as common to see a plastic bag floating in the lineup as it is to see a C-list celebrity out at Malibu. But this takes nasty to a whole new level.
The L.A. Times reports that Dockweiler State Beach, near surf spots like El Porto, was closed down Wednesday night after hypodermic needles, condoms, and tampon applicators washed ashore. Local L.A. activist group Heal the Bay reports that the influx of medical waste could’ve came from last week’s storm, which forced the Hyperion Treatment Plant to divert 200 million gallons of waste to a sewage pipe near the scene aptly known by surfers as “shit pipe.”
C’mon Los Angeles. We’re supposed to the nation’s poster child for eco-friendly living – a place where kale salads are eaten by the tons, where environmental consciousness prevails over our smog-ridden concrete jungle. But alas, we fail. With environmental decline and human negligence, pretty soon the oceans (especially in L.A.) will be like a cesspool of toxic sludge. Hazmat surfing, anyone?
