Local and regional environmentalists are watching how municipal and state leaders are acting on measures this fall that emphasize how to prevent stormwater pollution from entering aquifers and how to keep other forms of waste from local and regional watersheds.
In addition to a municipal stormwater ballot initiative that will come before the voters next month, Culver City leaders are contemplating a ban on single-use polystyrene containers.
But to the chagrin of some local environmentalists, that proposal may not be voted on this year.
A proposal brought to the City Council during the summer by the environmental nonprofit Ballona Creek Renaissance would make it unlawful for restaurants to use polystyrene containers for food and beverages. The group argues the material “contributes to making Ballona Creek the number one polluter of the Santa Monica Bay.”
At its Aug. 8 meeting, the City Council chose to send the matter back to its environmental subcommittee, which had already considered the proposal.
The two members of the subcommittee, Councilman Gðran Eriksson and Councilwoman Meghan Sahli-Wells have different views on the need to revamp or reconsider an ordinance, or whether it needs tweaking.
“It’s important that the community gets a chance to give their input. It’s not any different than what we’ve done in other circumstances,” Eriksson said.
Sahli-Wells agrees with having more community involvement, but thinks the Ballona Creek Renaissance proposal was good enough for the council to have taken the next step and consider a vote.
“I was hoping that we would have been able to move forward with [the vote]. This gives us a chance to strengthen it and I’m happy to do it, but we shouldn’t be looking at this as a throwaway item,” Sahli-Wells said.
The subcommittee welcomed questions and responses from local business owners and the public about a potential ban at its Sept. 14 meeting.
Sahli-Wells said she was also disheartened at what she viewed were arguments from some city officials that reminded her of the opponents of the statewide plastic bag ban was passed in 2014. “I was dismayed that a lot of the talking points from the plastics lobby were regurgitated. In my view, this is a common sense ban,” the councilwoman said.
Biologists and environmentalists say polystyrene can cause severe health problems for marine life if they swallow the polymer, which many sea birds often mistake for food. It is used to make items such as disposable razors and takeout containers, packaging and plastic models.
“This [ban] is not a new idea,” Ballona Creek Renaissance representatives said in a release. “The Culver City Unified School District and Fiesta La Ballona have already successfully banned polystyrene containers.”
Eriksson said the council should consider the harmful effects of other pollutants that make their way into streams and waterways too. “It’s not just Styrofoam that ends up in Ballona Creek. There are many other contaminants we should look at,” he said.
Culver City has been somewhat slow to joining regional and statewide environmental actions regarding ocean pollutants. The city banned plastic bags in 2013, several years after nearly 90 cities and counties in California had passed ordinances outlawing single-use bags.
As a private citizen and later as a candidate for city council, Sahli -Wells and other local environmentalists pressured the council into passing the plastic bag ban.
More than 70 cities have outlawed polystyrene.
Gary Walker contributed to this story.