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Stormwater Management Agencies: Plastic Bags Clog Drains, Pollute Water

The association of Bay Area agencies is urging all to support local bans on single-use plastic bags.

Though the counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara have both banned the use of plastic bags in unincorporated areas, there are still some cities in the South Bay and Peninsula that have not done so at the city level.

This week, the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association (BASMAA) issued a statement urging city governments that have not already done so to approve such bans.

BASMAA representatives say, plastic bags lead to water pollution, increased litter, and stormwater drain issues.

"In a baseline survey of Bay Area litter conducted by BASMAA in 2012, single-use plastic grocery bags accounted for 8 percent of litter in the region," the statement indicated.

Plastic bags also present unique cleanup problems, the statement suggested.

"With exposure to sunlight and water, they break into smaller toxic pieces that entwine in vegetation, contaminate soil and water, and may be consumed by animals and birds," BASMAA said. "Removing these shreds of thin plastic is challenging and time-consuming. That’s why reducing use of single-use plastic grocery bags as a litter source can help."

The statement said, the City of San Jose has already seen a reduction in plastic bag litter from 12 percent of all litter in 2010, to four percent of all litter in 2012.

The statement further said, litter is a major cause of water pollution, as it travels down storm drains and flows directly to local creeks, the Bay and the ocean.

"It degrades water quality and adversely affects fish, wildlife and aquatic habitats," the statement said.

BASMAA indicated, that fact is why a State Stormwater Permit issued to municipalities in five Bay Area counties in 2009 - Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano - required them to take actions to "virtually eliminate trash in stormwater run-off" by 2022.

"By 2014, a 40-percent reduction in trash must be met," BASMAA explained. "It is expected that these requirements will also be part of future stormwater permits issued to other Bay Area counties."

Some expect plastic bag bans to go state-wide, and soon - last month, state Assemblyman Marc Levine (San Rafael) introduced AB 158, a bill that calls for the ban of single-use plastic bags at the state level by 2015. The bill focuses on large retailers with 10,000 or more square feet and grocery stores with annual sales of $2 million or more. 

While some applaud the push toward a world with no plastic bags, others lament it, citing reasons such as the cost of reusable shopping bags, the dangers of food contamination from germs and bacteria that get trapped in reusable bags, and having to remember to carry reusable bags with them wherever they go and bring them into stores with them when they shop.

"We realize it takes time for people to make these kinds of behavior changes," said BASMAA Executive Director Geoff Brosseau. "The reusable bag movement has been a process of first encouraging people to bring their own bags, then having some stores offer incentives for doing it, and now having ordinances in place."

Brosseau likened the move to reusable bags to the moves toward the mandated use of seatbelts in cars, and ordinances prohibiting smoking in public places.

"Both changes once seemed unthinkable, and are now part of daily life," he said.

BASMAA offered the following tips for acclimating to a life without plastic bags:

  • For big shopping trips, keep reusable bags on the front passenger seat of your car so you remember to bring them into the store.
  • Always keep a small reusable bag in your purse or backpack to be ready for last-minute errands.
  • If you do opt to buy a paper bag when out, make sure to recycle it later.

For more tips on preventing stormwater pollution, visit BayWise.org

What do you think of local bans on plastic bags? Do you agree with BASMAA's reasons why plastic bags should disappear for good? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

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Stephen Joseph February 16, 2013 at 01:31 pm
Ian Butler: You say that the plastic bag industry is "deceptive." I see. Then you say that plastic bags are 8% of litter? And you call me deceptive?
You say that "San Francisco estimated that it cost the city $8.4 million a year to deal with plastic bag litter before it's bag ordinance went into effect." Please post a link to the San Francisco study. Let's see the calculation. I'm sure that everyone following these comments would love to read it. We are waiting Ian.
Stephen Joseph February 16, 2013 at 02:19 pm
Bag lady: They overwhelm the debate with falsehoods, try to discredit the industry when it challenges them because everyone is supposed to believe that "industry" = liars, and then ignore the negative consequences. They are not honest with themselves or anyone else.
The London Times wrote in an editorial: "There is a danger that the green herd, in pursuit of a good cause, stumbles into misguided campaigns…. Many of those who have demonized plastic bags have enlisted scientific study to their cause. By exaggerating a grain of truth into a larger falsehood, they spread misinformation and abuse the trust of their unwitting audiences." David Laist, a senior policy analyst with the federal Marine Mammal Commission, has stated: "In their eagerness to make their case [against plastic bags], some of the environmental groups make up claims that are not really supportable."
Bag Lady February 16, 2013 at 02:32 pm
Keep in mind, Stephen, Ian was the one who was originally claiming that if we didn't close down Sharp Park Golf Course, both the San Francisco Garter Snake and the Red Legged Frog would go extinct - a pretty strong assertion when one considers that SPGC is not deemed critical habitat by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for either species.
It appears as though Ian has fuly adapted the "end justifies the means" philosophy of his mentors at the Center for Biological Diversity, Earth First! and WEI. Once you fully understand the prism through which Ian and his teachers view environmental issues, you will know how to filter the vast majority of their self-serving, baseless statistical assertions.
Bag Lady February 16, 2013 at 02:37 pm
What I find most disturbing vis-a-vis the "no plastic bags" mandates is the complete ignorance by their extreme enviro advocates of the unintended consequences of not having any plastic bags. For example, where do all of the law obeying citizens who pick up their dog waste put it? So many other uses of the plastic bags with no good alternatives offered. Well extreme enviros, you insisted on it so get ready to step in it...
Bag Lady February 16, 2013 at 02:51 pm
Here is another variation on the "plastic bag ban" theme:
There is a trend throughout the park systems (local, state and federal) to discourage people from dumping their trash in the parks. In order to discourage this dumping many of the park managers (e.g., the GGNRA and SFRPD) are systematically removing garbage cans from their respective parks. The conventional thinking (at least amongst high paid government employees) is that if the parks don't have garbage cans for people to dump their stuff into, they will just take it home and dispose of it in their own garbage. It doesn't take a genius to imagine what the unintended consequences of this brilliant piece of logic might be.
ian butler February 16, 2013 at 04:23 pm
A survey of SF bay litter concluded that 8% of litter collected was plastic bags: http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_19972044.
Here is one of many articles that references the 2004 SF Environment Department study that concluded their cost of dealing with disposable bags was $8.5 million annually: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-11-22-sf-grocerybags_x.htm The original study may or may not be online. And Bag Lady, you are mischaracterizing my position on Sharp Park, since 2008 I have been looking for a solution that protects the species while keeping an 18 hole course, which puts me at odds with CBD and WEI.
Stephen Joseph February 16, 2013 at 07:50 pm
Ian Butler: So if a newspaper reports that it exists, it must exist, right? Do you believe everything that you read?
If the SF Dept of the Environment did a study, then it must online. Find it for me please, Ian. Show me how the figures are calculated. Or try to obtain it from the SF Dept of the Environment. Good luck with that. (Don't hold your breath.)
Stephen Joseph February 16, 2013 at 08:38 pm
Thanks Dan. I'm not too worried about that. What I would like to see is Ian check the facts before he makes posts.
I fixxy Pacifica February 16, 2013 at 08:38 pm
ian does not say which creek!
Stephen Joseph February 16, 2013 at 08:44 pm
In 2009, before San Jose banned plastic bags, I went to Coyote Creek and took photos. I sent them to the City of San Jose as part of my CEQA scoping comments. I haven't posted them on the Internet, but I will send them to anyone who asks. E-mail me at savetheplasticbag@earthlink.net. Ian, I hope you send me your e-mail address so I can send the comments with the photos to you.
I walked along Coyote Creek starting from the Coyote Hellyer County Park and heading south. This is a notorious litter “hotspot.” I searched for plastic bags and found three. I removed two. I saw a third caught in a tree on the other side of the creek which could easily be removed. I saw no plastic bags in the water. While there may be litter hotspots elsewhere along the creek, it is hard to believe based on this walk next to a park where picnickers bring many plastic bags that the plastic bag litter issue is not grossly exaggerated.
Dan Smith February 16, 2013 at 09:34 pm
http://openaccess1.sanmateocourt.org/openaccess/civil/casereport.asp?casenumber=513382&casetype=CIV&courtcode=A
I fixxy Pacifica February 16, 2013 at 09:43 pm
"What's in the debris stew? Forty-nine percent is plastic -- candy wrappers, chip bags, lids and straws, the study found -- and 21 percent is paper, 8 percent plastic grocery bags, 7 percent plastic foam and the rest cans, bottles and other debris."
smart bay area environmentalists. let's reduce our waste by 40% by going after the 8% that is estimated to be plastic bags. careful kids, the nanny state will outlaw candy, chips, and soda next . . .
Bob D. February 16, 2013 at 11:35 pm
Ian Butler - the John Kerry of the Pacifica extreme environmental movement: "I was for the closing of the Sharp Park Golf Course before I was against it."
I fixxy Pacifica February 17, 2013 at 12:02 am
dated 4/7/11:
Editor: I finally got to ask the question, face to face, about WEI/CBD's new report being accepted as "the primary scientific reference on Sharp Park." This widely circulated, and as yet unsubstantiated, claim appeared most recently in the invitation to last Thursday's Wild Equity Institute presentation at the Hilton library that was announced in last week's Pacifica Tribune and posted in John Maybury's Pacifica Riptide blog, and was signed by John Bowie. I spoke during the brief question and answer period following the two-hour tightly choreographed dog and pony show. The three presenters of the evening's program quickly backed away from the "primary scientific reference" claim, and I asked if John Bowie, whom I had never met, was in the room . . .
I fixxy Pacifica February 17, 2013 at 12:02 am
A young fellow in a seat near the front half-rose and waved at me, and sheepishly admitted in an "Ah shucks" sort of way that San Francisco had NOT accepted the report as the primary anything. As he spoke, Brent Plater stood about 10 feet away, completely unfazed at this revelation. Ian Butler was filming everything, so maybe we'll all get to see it on public TV. Ian also asked a question about the "peer-review" claim, and the presenters, seemingly on safer ground, fell over each other in proclaiming this is the way it was done in the enviro world, completely above board, always did it this way, etc. I tried to comment that this was not what the general public considers to be "peer-review," but I was told to sit down.
Paul Slavin Fairway Park
I fixxy Pacifica February 17, 2013 at 12:08 am
"My Turn: Making the case for restoring the lagoon"
By Ian Butler http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13954873
I fixxy Pacifica February 17, 2013 at 01:31 pm
Ian has a TV show and writes for the paper. People with that big of a media market do not lie. That is a proven fact that Brent Plater told me.
spanky February 17, 2013 at 01:58 pm
Probably because he has the courage to stand up publicly to state his beliefs, and use his real name.
Vanessa Castañeda (Editor) February 22, 2013 at 12:44 am
Okay, guys. Let's keep this family-friendly.
I fixxy Pacifica February 24, 2013 at 02:28 pm
still waiting for Ian to name the creek where he picked up "hundreds" of plastic bags
Bag Lady February 24, 2013 at 02:32 pm
that would be the Safeway in Walnut Creek...
Dan Underhill February 24, 2013 at 04:44 pm
To Steven Joseph: I would have to say: Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah. The rest of us aren't getting paid to participate in this blog. You have said what the plastic bag industry is paying you for, so your job is done unless, of course, you are being paid on a per-word basis.
Dan Underhill February 24, 2013 at 05:09 pm
It is probably true of any and all of our creeks that hundreds of plastic bags land in them. The creeks that are easiest to get to are more easily cleaned by our responsible citizenry. The particular creek that Ian has adopted arrives at the Ocean by way of a large diameter pipe from Daly City and it requires a more intrepid volunteer than some of the other creeks do to even get there. The fact that they aren't all overflowing with plastic bags is not an indication that we don't have a plastic bag problem but rather is testimony to the instruction, organizational skills, and good will of people like Lynn Adams and Ian Butler who teach and encourage all Pacificans to act responsibly with regard to our environment . Social responsibility and environmental responsibility are contagious.
Dan Underhill February 24, 2013 at 05:16 pm
Plastic bags are more hazardous to wildlife and easier to do something about than some of the other items you mentioned.
Pacificat February 24, 2013 at 05:17 pm
Editor: please remove the obvious and irrelevant personal attack comments that have nothing to do with the topic of this thread.
ian butler February 24, 2013 at 05:53 pm
I literally "named" it the Secret Waterfall a few years ago and now that's it's unofficial name:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UOZZYCQBY8
Christa Bigue (Editor) February 24, 2013 at 05:56 pm
A few of the comments have been deleted for violating Patch's Terms of Service.
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Steve Austin February 24, 2013 at 06:37 pm
The arguments for plastic bags all seem very hollow. As a dog lover I know full well that you can buy inexpensive bio-degradable poop bags. I have to remember to take my reusable bags into the grocery store, but I already remember to take my money ... and my pants. In the Bay Area, we live an a boom and bust jobs market and we all know that companies need to adapt their strategy to changing market condition to survive. Lastly, if you need to hide behind aliases and a bunch of alts in order to make invective comments about somebody, you are nothing but a coward. Evolve a spine and use your real name or go away.
Steve Austin February 24, 2013 at 06:52 pm
Ian has been involved in a number of environmental cleanup projects in the Pacifica area. It could be any one of these. He's best know for cleaning up the "hidden waterfall" area http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Cleaning-up-litter-bugs-trash-can-3194822.php#photo-2333491
The waterfall picture in that area looks like it was taken after Ian, together with his friends and eventually the city, worked on cleaning it up. When we first started working on it, it was ghastly, and yes, there were a lot of plastic bags in there.
KellyG March 15, 2013 at 12:00 am
I prefer to bring my own bag to the store so this doesn't change much for me. As long as someone can buy a bag if needed, it's all good in my book.
Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Vanessa Castañeda (Editor) June 14, 2013 at 01:28 pm
Good question, cipiazza. This is probably related to a sewage pipeline replacement project takingRead More place nearby.
Alison Madden June 16, 2013 at 07:33 pm
Vanessa and ctpiazza, Buckley Stone at Pete's Harbor says it is because some time ago the CityRead More dredged near muni and ran a pipe under to spill it out at Bair Island, so it is actually the remains of rotting sea life. He knows so much about this area having been at Pete's for 20 years and knowing so much about the area the tides and the nature and land around here.