By Daily Press staff
The clean-up was done by the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Surf Club and Santa Monica Mission of Scientology in honor of Earth Day. They covered a quarter-mile along the beach near Bay Street, a popular surfing stretch.
“I recall the first day I fell in love with surfing,” said Rob Hoover, president of the surf club, who grew up in Hermosa. “The water was perfectly clear, the sky bright blue and white fluffy clouds overhead. It was an absolutely beautiful day. The pristine conditions and the exhilaration of surfing influenced me to become a surfer. But conditions have changed. I’d like to see nature returned to what it is supposed to be.”
Hoover has organized more than 40 beach and city clean-ups for Earth Day 2002, in a dozen countries on nearly every continent.
Hoover started the surf club in 1997 with a single beach clean-up three times a year in Malibu as part of the California Coastal Commissions “Adopt a Beach” program.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 29, 2002. Read the original PDF.