New toll-free line to report marine debris

Photo by Stiv Wilson

State announces toll-free line to report marine debris on beaches

Washington State has a new toll-free reporting and information line – 1-855-WACOAST (1-855-922-6278) – to report marine debris on our coastal beaches.

People who call 1-855-WACOAST can:

·       Report oil and hazardous items to the National Response Center and Ecology by pressing “1.”
·       Report large floating debris items that might pose a boating or navigation hazard by pressing “2.”
·       Get instructions for reporting debris that is not large or hazardous.

The State is encouraging everyone visiting coastal beaches to remove and dispose of small debris items such as Styrofoam, plastic, bottles, other synthetic materials, glass and metal.

If an item appears to have sentimental value to those who owned it, NOAA requests that people move the item to a safe place and email the information to disasterdebreis@noaa.gov.

More about tsunami debris

• Widely scattered debris has been arriving intermittently along Pacific Northwest shorelines. For more information, go to: http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/japanfaqs.html#FAQs. 
• Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/tsunami-debris-coming-to-a-beach-near-you
• NOAA is actively collecting information about tsunami debris and asks the public to report debris sightings to disasterdebris@noaa.gov.