Public Safety

Funky Sand At Mission Beach

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published November 1, 2010 at 3:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

Army Corps of Engineers dredge and fill project at Mission Beach, just north of Belmont Park.

Funky Sand At Mission Beach

Construction crews are dredging the Mission Bay channel to make it safer for boaters. The sand is being redistributed on a nearby beach. But it's not just sand being spread along the shoreline.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the dredging project in the Mission Bay Channel.

The dredging will increase the depth of the channel to reduce the breaking waves during large ocean swells making it safer for boaters.

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The sand dredged from the channel is pumped through black pipes to parts of Mission Beach.

"Overall the sand seems compatible and fairly clean but there have been some sharp metal objects popping up that could pose a safety hazard to beachgoers," said Bill Hickman with the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Hickman said he has talked with the Army Corps of Engineers about sifting the sand more thoroughly.

"So it does seem to be getting better but we're still concerned with what might be buried in certain areas," said Hickman.

He said some of the objects he found sticking out of the sand included old aluminum cans and fishing gear.

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Hickman said while the screening process has improved he will continue to monitor the project.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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