Background

In 2016, the Port established a Blue Economy Incubator to assist in the creation, early development, and initial scaling of new Blue Economy business ventures in San Diego Bay. The incubator is acting as a launching pad for sustainable aquaculture and Port-related blue tech ventures by removing barriers to early-stage entrepreneurs and providing key assets and support services focused on pilot project facilitation. The vision for the Blue Economy Incubator is for the Port to act as a catalyst for aquaculture and blue tech, and to build a portfolio of new businesses and partnerships that deliver multiple social, environmental, and economic benefits to the Region.

As part of the Blue Economy incubator, the Port approved an agreement with ecoSPEARS for a pilot project. ecoSPEARS is the exclusive licensee of the NASA-patented SPEARS technology, which was invented by a team of NASA environmental scientists as a green remediation solution. Shaped like spikes, the ecoSPEARS in-situ technology is deployed into contaminated sediment, or around challenging or sensitive wetland areas, where dredging isn’t a feasible option such as bridges, docks, or pylons. Once settled into the sediment, the spikes act like sponges, passively absorbing chlorinated toxic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and dioxins (see infographic below)