With the roar of the San Gabriel River headwaters in the background, federal and state environmental agencies announced a $3.5 million grant to rid the river of trash, debris and pollutants at an event held near the entrance to the Angeles National Forest on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The White House, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State Water Resources Control Board teamed up to provide grant dollars to fund a stalled project that will add access trails, picnic structures, trash bins and designated parking to the heavily used East Fork river area in the Angeles and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (SGMNM).
“Today we are announcing new funding to address the long-standing problem of trash pollution in the East Fork of the San Gabriel River,” began Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “It is a really important start,” she said.
Mallory, who came from Washington D.C. to the Angeles, said the money is not a panacea to solve a protracted problem of too many people crowding the East Fork, about 18 miles from Azusa off Highway 39. For years, visitors have polluted the location by leaving behind dirty diapers in the river, as well as trash along its banks that can include barbecues and beach chairs. River boulders are often marred by graffiti. Makeshift sand-and-rock dams in the river place the rare, threatened Santa Ana sucker fish in danger.
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