Plastics Industry Pumps $100,000 Into L.A. River Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 28, 2010

Media Contacts:
Monica Valencia, Press Deputy, Councilmember Ed P. Reyes, (213) 473-7001

American Chemistry Council: Press Hotline, (866) 922-7165
Viki Goto, Los Angeles Conservation Corps: (213) 362-9000

Plastics Industry Partners with L.A. River Students to Promote a Cleaner L.A.

Councilmember Ed P. Reyes joined inner-city students and officials today at Río de Los Angeles State Park to announce a $100,000 contribution from the American Chemistry Council to the Los Angeles River Keepers.

"This generous donation from the American Chemistry Council pumps much-needed dollars into two of the City's most valuable resources--our youth and our environment," said Reyes, who spearheaded the City's Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan to transform the concrete-corseted L.A. River into a continuous greenbelt linking communities. "The L.A. River Keepers, mostly inner-city young adults, pick up trash, remove bulky items and provide an ongoing presence at the River as it undergoes revitalization. I thank the plastic industry partners for believing in our youth and for working with me to renew the L.A. River."

The LA River Keepers is a young adult program that combines classroom education with outdoor work to help clean and green the L.A. River. This LA Conservation Corps program provides watershed education, native plant landscaping and weekly restoration work including removal of debris and illegal dumping, removal of graffiti and recycling.

“Thanks to this new partnership, the LA River Keepers program will be able to continue its efforts to remove and recycle litter and debris from the beautiful LA River and promote environmental education, as well as provide ongoing opportunities for job skills training for our area youth,” said Bruce Saito, Executive Director of the LA Conservation Corps.

“The LA River Keepers program will help increase recycling, improve environmental education, and keep litter out of our waterways, which are goals we all share” said Sherri McCarthy, Manager, State Affairs, American Chemistry Council. “We’re very pleased to support this program and to help increase awareness of the many plastics that can be recycled in Los Angeles.”

During the course of a year, the LA River Keepers have removed more than 400,000 lbs of trash and debris from the river (along with more than 26,000 square feet of invasive plants), and removed more than 27,000 square feet of graffiti near the LA River shoreline.

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