The cross-department effort by city of San Diego departments required multiple days and much equipment.

The city of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department removed about four tons of waste from an “inactive homeless encampment” in a canyon between the Torrey Pines Gliderport and the Torrey Pines Golf Course over a few days beginning March 24, the city reported.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, Police Department’s Neighborhood Policing Division and Park Rangers supported the effort.

“This is a very sensitive habitat over here,” Franklin Coopersmith, ESD deputy director, said in a statement. “We’ve got the cliffs, we’ve got the waterway going right into the ocean, so we really wanted to get the waste out of there.”

San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, praised the “extraordinary example” of cross-department collaboration.

City code officers ensured the encampment site was abandoned prior to the waste removal, visiting the site in previous weeks and posting 24-hour notices for the planned abatement.

The steep terrain of the cliffside and canyon area were difficult to access with heavy equipment needed, so SDFD deployed its rescue helicopter to carry the trash and debris from the cliffside into nearby dumpsters.

The SDFD contribution also fulfilled required training hours for the department. 

Further reports of debris or illegal dumping can be made on the city’s Get It Done app. 

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