MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012
Volume 12 Issue 19
Santa Monica Daily Press
GREEN CYCLE SEE PAGE 5
We have you covered
THE SLIPPING AND SLIDING ISSUE
Nonprofit argues agency isn’t protecting watershed BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
WASHINGTON D.C. A Santa Monica-based environmental nonprofit will go to the Supreme Court Tuesday to settle the question of who is responsible for treating pol-
luted stormwater that flows from the local watershed into the ocean. The Natural Resources Defense Council and L.A. Waterkeeper — formerly Santa Monica Bay Keeper — will argue that the Los Angeles Flood Control District is shirking its duty to clean the water that flushes illness-causing bacteria into the Los Angeles
and San Gabriel rivers. The Flood Control District, however, maintains that the responsibility to cleanse the water belongs to everyone in the area, and that the cost of the infrastructure needed to remove the bacteria from the water is far too costly for the district to cover. The NRDC and Waterkeeper originally
brought the case in 2008. A district court sided with Los Angeles County, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, a judicial body known for its liberal tendencies, held that the flood control district needed to make the investment to clean the water. SEE NRDC PAGE 8
Great whites: Blink and they’re gone BY SARAH SIKICH Special to the Daily Press
SM BAY The landlord, the man in the gray suit, jaws, white pointer, tommy shark, great white — whatever you call it, the elusive white shark has long been the subject of lore and legend. I know it’s a given for a marine biologist, but I have always been fascinated by white sharks. I’m now actively working with ocean groups up and down the coast on an organized campaign to create stronger state and federal protections for these awe-inspiring and misunderstood animals. Throughout my studies and career, I’ve heard stories of SCUBA divers on Catalina startled by the shadow of a white shark passing in the waters above, seen shots of surf photographers unintentionally capturing an image of them breaching while focusing on their main subject — surfers — and fishermen encountering them while they are days offshore and far from civilization. Since my college days, I told myself that I wanted to log enough ocean time to see a white shark in its natural environment, without luring it in or going to a spot with a high chance of an encounter. After living on a boat in Baja, spending years on the water teaching hands-on marine science on Catalina, and loads of time sailing, surfing, and diving in Southern and Central California, my moment finally SEE SHARKS PAGE 6
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SECOND WIND
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Red Cross volunteers and the public run along with actor Josh Duhamel during the annual Red Cross Youth Run on Sunday morning.
Program trains farmworkers to be organic farmers GOSIA WOZNIACKA Associated Press
SALINAS, Calif. Bending over beds of shriveled strawberry plants, former farmworker Domitila Martinez pulls pieces of black plastic row covers in preparation for next sea-
son’s planting. Except this time, she’s the boss. Martinez, who escaped the civil war in El Salvador three decades ago, used to pack tomatoes and harvest grapes for long hours and little pay in Central California. Then, one day, she heard an announce-
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ment on the radio: She could become a grower herself. She enrolled in a small farmer education program in Salinas that trains farmworkers to establish and manage organic farms. SEE FARMERS PAGE 9
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