Fish Die-Off: Bad for Marina, Good for Composting Firm

What might smell awful to anyone near the Redondo Beach marina is a welcome scent for a Victoville compost facility

The massive fish die-off in Redondo Beach stinks for anyone near the marina, but it's the smell of success for a Mojave Desert composting firm.

The company is  recycling the odorous haul for use as fertilizer.

Trucks took about 75 tons of rotting sardines to Victorville's American Organic site in the first four days of the cleanup at King Harbor in Redondo Beach. The city said cleanup of 140 tons of dead sardines was completed Sunday.

A box of sardines fell off a truck Friday, spilling thousands of fish on the 215 Freeway. The spill caused a 10-mile backup.

The American Organic general manager tells the Victorville Daily Press that the fish will be used as fertilizer.

Biologists from the University of Southern California and the state Department of Fish and Game say critically low oxygen levels in the water caused the sardines to suffocate on March 7.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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