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# Law forbids dumping on beaches
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/law-forbids-dumping-on-beaches/
- Published: 2003-09-06T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:51:43.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

After a contractor last year dumped glass, metal, concrete and broken pipes at Will Rogers State Beach, a new law was passed this week that puts heavy scrutiny on companies who dump sand along the coastline.

Because sand washes away with the normal ebb and flow of the tides, sand must be replenished periodically.

Last October, 20,000 cubic yards of sand was brought from the Westport Beach Club development site in Playa del Rey to be spread on the beach behind Gladstone’s restaurant. But the beach became a dumping ground for construction rubble and debris that a contractor allowed to be mixed with the clean sand that should have been used.

That prompted Assemblymember Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) to introduce a bill mandating that no coastal development permit for sand replenishment can be issued without the applicant providing a plan for on-site monitoring and supervision during the project.

“As a state legislator, I felt an obligation to ensure that this never happens again anywhere along our beautiful California coast,” Pavley said. “California’s 1,100 miles of magnificent coastline are of enormous recreational and economic value to the state.”

Several Pacific Palisades residents first noticed the debris, which included fist-sized boulders, concrete slabs, sheet metal, nails, rusted iron spikes, tile shards and broken glass. They immediately held a press conference to expose the dumping.

“We are grateful to Assemblymember Pavley for carrying this important legislation to address the contamination that took place on one of our local beaches,” said Barbara Kohn, president of the Pacific Palisades Residents Association.

A similar situation occurred in San Diego in 1997 when sand from the dredging of a harbor was used to replenish nearby beaches. The sand contained World War II munitions that had been dumped overboard by American ships as they came into port.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 6, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)