Padilla, Carbajal Introduce Legislation to Investigate Toxic Waste Dump Off California Coast

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24) introduced the Ocean Protection and DDT Reduction Act, new legislation aimed at addressing the toxic industrial waste and pesticide pollution dumped off the Southern California coast.

DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) is a synthetic pesticide that was widely used in the United States beginning in the 1940s to control agricultural pests and disease-carrying insects. In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned most uses of DDT in the United States because of its adverse environmental effects and potential risks to human health.

For decades, industrial waste - including the pesticide DDT - was disposed of in ocean dump sites off California's coast, particularly in the San Pedro Basin. The Ocean Protection and DDT Reduction Act establishes a structured federal study to assess the damage to the local marine ecosystem and develop comprehensive solutions to clean up the waste.

"Our communities deserve to know what's in the water off of the coast of San Pedro and what it means for our health, our fisheries, and our future. By putting NOAA's scientists and our leading research institutions to work mapping the contamination, tracking how it moves, and exploring cleanup through bioremediation, we can finally address this problem head-on," said Senator Padilla.

"The San Pedro Basin has long been the site of an underwater toxic waste dump. This toxic waste - which includes the pesticide DDT - has been very harmful to the health of local marine life and poses a risk to people who live and work near these waters," said Representative Carbajal. "As the representative of California's Central Coast, I know firsthand how much our communities depend on a healthy ocean - from our fishermen and maritime workers to our tourism and coastal economies. We have a responsibility to protect these waters. I thank Senator Alex Padilla for joining me in introducing this bill as a first step in fixing this environmental tragedy."

Recent studies have revealed tens of thousands of barrels of DDT and hazardous waste off Southern California, posing potential risks to marine life, fisheries, and public health. For decades, no federal agency has taken responsibility for assessing these dump sites. The Ocean Protection and DDT Reduction Act would provide the federal coordination and scientific investment needed to address this issue.

"For decades we used the ocean as a dumping ground for all manner of wastes including deeply-concerning industrial byproducts from DDT manufacturing. This proposed legislation takes an important step to address fundamental issues around the disposition, impacts and remediation options for those wastes. While California may be ground zero for this issue, the legislation provides a needed path to take lessons learned off California's coast and apply them to waste disposal sites that occur along all our Nation's coastlines," said David Valentine, Norris Chair and Distinguished Professor of Earth and Marine Science at UCSB.

Specifically, the bill would:

• Direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor waste sites in the San Pedro Basin;
• Study how toxic chemicals like DDT spread into the ocean food web; and
• Build scientific tools to track ocean dumping.

NOAA, in coordination with the EPA and Department of Defense, may award grants to academic and research institutions to study:

• Spatial mapping of contamination
• Co-contaminants and chemical mixtures
• Movement, fate, and breakdown processes
• Bioaccumulation and biomagnification in ecosystems

The bill also authorizes $6 million annually from Fiscal Year 2026 through Fiscal Year 2032 to carry out these critical activities.

Padilla has been a strong advocate of protecting California's coast. Last month, he led House and Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief challenging the Trump Administration's efforts to restart the Sable oil pipeline off the Santa Barbara coast. In June, Padilla and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to establish strict standards for offshore oil and gas operators and set requirements to hold them responsible for decommissioning and cleanup efforts off the coast. In April, Padilla pressed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, highlighting that the Trump Administration's plans to drill off of California's coast coupled with proposed cuts to funding for environmental programs and enforcement will endanger the coastline, the people who live there, and coastal economies.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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