News

Newport Beach City Council members, joined by state and county elected representatives, held a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Friday, March 7 to celebrate construction of the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor. This innovative, sustainably powered system will collect hundreds of tons of floating trash and debris every year before it enters the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve, Newport Harbor and beaches.

The $5.5 million system is strategically positioned in the San Diego Creek about 800 feet upstream from the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve. It is expected to capture 80 percent of the floating trash and debris from the San Diego Creek. Depending on the amount of rainfall, between 100 and 500 tons of trash reaches the Upper Newport Bay via San Diego Creek every year.

The Trash Interceptor, inspired by a similar project in the Baltimore Harbor, sits on a floating platform that rises and falls with the tide. The platform is secured to the creek bottom by guide piles. The platform holds a large, 14-foot wheel that spins using power from the river current or solar panels to move a conveyor belt.

Trash floating downriver is then collected in four steps:

1. A boom system directs floating trash toward the Interceptor.
2. A spinning rake moves trash from the boom area to the conveyor belt.
3. Trash is deposited from the conveyor belt into a collection container.
4. When full, the container is moved by a short rail system to be transferred to a standard trash truck.

The Trash Interceptor will complement other City trash-reduction efforts already in place, such as trash booms, catch basin collection systems and floating skimmers.

Project partners recognized at the event included:

• District 47 Congressional Rep. Dave Min
• District 72 State Assemblymember Diane Dixon.
• District 5 Orange County Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Katrina Foley.
• State of California Dept. of Water Resources
• Ocean Protection Council
• Orange County Transportation Authority
• Help your Harbor/Surfrider Foundation.

The contractor is Brea-based Jilk Heavy Construction, Inc.