RUNNING TO THE SEA; FAIR CARRIES MESSAGE ON STORM WATER.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

Calabasas city officials and environmental groups gathered at Juan Bautista De Anza Park Saturday, to teach people that a drop of oil in a driveway or a cigarette in the gutter can cause beach closures miles away.

The city's second annual Pollution Prevention Fair drew small crowds at the park, but officials said the message they carry is especially important as the small city grows in population.

``You look around us and you see all the beautiful hillsides,'' said Heather Merenda, Calabasas storm water program manager. ``It's all becoming more and more developed and when you have more people, unfortunately, you have more pollution.

``Anything people throw in the streets or on the sidewalk - no matter how dry it may be that day - if someone doesn't pick it up, it's going to eventually end up in our storm drains and creeks,'' she added.

De Anza Park itself is bordered on one side by the Las Virgenes Creek, which empties out into the ocean at Surfrider Beach and the Santa Monica Bay.

To help keep that creek clean, Boy Scout Troop 22 from Woodland Hills has adopted it and is expected to clean it out four times over the next year. Their first opportunity to clean came on Saturday during the fair.

``Lots of the boys live near here and they want to help the community,'' said Thomas Hazard, an 11-year-old Agoura Hills resident who spearheaded the effort with his troop. ``When you go out to the creek there's lots of trash and stuff. So if we clean it, people can enjoy it.''

Also on hand at the fair were KROQ-FM (106.7) radio, Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, and a representative of the city of Westlake Village. Calabasas also used the fair as a backdrop to film an environmental public service video aimed at children, to air on its cable access channel.

The exhibitors had information about recycling, the proper way of disposing household hazardous waste - not in the trash or storm drains - and about the city's mandatory curbside green waste recycling program.

Merenda said that many people think that since grass and most soap is biodegradable, it would not hurt the environment to allow it to go down the drainage system.

But she said those things add nutrients to the water, which allow algae to bloom and take up a greater share of the oxygen in the water - leaving less oxygen for fish.

Shelly Magier, who helped man the Heal the Bay table, said the group attends as many of these fairs as possible to spread the word about the importance of paying attention to what is dumped in gutters and streams.

``Anything that goes into our streams and storm drains goes straight to the ocean,'' she said. ``It doesn't go through a treatment plant like the material that goes through your sinks and drains.''

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Photo

PHOTO (color) Hector Castro, left, and Kathleen Sherman of Hillside Rubbish take care of hazardous waste during the Pollution Prevention Fair.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News