Edison Volunteers Join the Great L.A. River Cleanup

Employees remove a stunning array of pollutants, including cigarette butts and microplastics, from a river estuary to benefit climate adaptation.

After rappelling down a 40-foot concrete wall into the Los Angeles River’s Willow Street Estuary, then spending the next few hours filling bag after bag of trash, you might expect expressions of relief that the ordeal was over.

“What a great way to spend a Saturday morning with teammates from Edison International and Southern California Edison,” said President and CEO Pedro J. Pizarro, who joined dozens of Edison volunteers in the Great L.A. River Cleanup, which took place at 15 sites over eight weekends in June and July. Edison International has helped fund the effort through Friends of the L.A. River since 2012.

“It was awesome to see Edison employees coming together toward a common goal. By the end, we had pulled two full truckloads of garbage out of the L.A. River,” said Nolan Kelleher, an SCE employee and community service chair of EcoIQ, an employee resource group.

Among the trash removed during the clean-up: a car bumper, a flat-screen TV, a microwave oven, and perhaps more importantly, endless tiny wildlife killers such as cigarette butts, hypodermic needles, bottle caps, foam packaging pieces and microplastics.

Edison volunteers remove a mangled shopping cart from the Willow Street Estuary in Long Beach.
Edison volunteers (left to right) Andrew Wang, his son Andrew, Phil Schofield and Wei Zhou remove a mangled shopping cart from the Willow Street Estuary in Long Beach.

“These small objects are the ones that will cause severe damage to the environment, animals in the ecosystem and even humans. It was crucial for us to find and remove these items from the estuary,” said Jennifer Conde, a resource optimization specialist with SCE Energy Procurement & Management.

The cleanup and a $5,000 grant to Friends of the L.A. River was organized by SCE's Energy Procurement & Management team as part of its 2022 Season of Service.
The cleanup and a $5,000 grant to Friends of the L.A. River was organized by SCE's EcoIQ and Energy Procurement and Management teams.

The effort helps boost the Friends of the L.A. River’s vision of a verdant Los Angeles River that supports vulnerable communities in climate adaptation.

“The event demonstrates the large impact that a group of dedicated people, from many companies, including Edison, can have on the community that we live in and are a part of,” said Alejandro Esparza, SCE principal manager of Philanthropy and Community Engagement.

Caroline Choi, SCE and Edison International senior vice president of Corporate Affairs, joined colleagues at all levels of the company in the Great L.A. River Cleanup.
Caroline Choi, SCE and Edison International senior vice president of Corporate Affairs, joined colleagues in the Great L.A. River Cleanup.

Edison employees removed 90 bags of debris, or two full truck loads, from the L.A. River.
Edison employees removed 90 bags of trash, or two full truckloads, from the L.A. River.

The Willow Street Estuary is just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. Freshwater mixes with saltwater here, providing a home for a wide variety of shorebirds.
The Willow Street Estuary is just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. Freshwater mixes with saltwater here, providing a home for a wide variety of shorebirds.

Scraps of plastic foam packaging material present a pervasive threat to wildlife that live in the L.A. River basin.
Scraps of plastic foam packaging material present a pervasive threat to wildlife that live in the L.A. River Basin.

Edison volunteers traverse the L.A. River's Willow Street Estuary with the Port of Long Beach in the background.
Edison volunteers traverse the L.A. River's Willow Street Estuary with the Port of Long Beach in the background.