ANGIE LEVINE Many Southern California beaches, including
Malibu, have been closed this summer due to water pollution.
By Arj Arjunan
Daily Bruin Contributor
While Los Angeles County has experienced fewer beach closures
than Orange County, this summer L.A. swimmers may still be at
risk.
Orange County’s record 41 beach closures last year and 30
this year have prompted investigations as to whether sewage
discharged miles off the coast of Orange County beaches flows back
into near-shore waters.
The Surfrider Foundation has tracked 600 complaints of surfer
illness from Southern California ocean waters over the past five
years, leaving some students afraid to swim in Southern California
ocean waters.
“I keep learning about surfers getting sick with bacterial
infections,” said Rob Sarkar, a third-year law student.
“Every once in a while, the water gets bad for whatever
reason. and I don’t think the city or the county is effective
in warning citizens.”
Differences in topography distinguish the placement of the L.A.
County sewage outfall pipe with that of Orange County’s, said
Dave Montagne, a senior environmental scientist with the L.A.
County Sanitation District.
The shelf off Palos Verdes is narrow, making it less likely for
the sewage outfall to move back toward the coast, Montagne said.
Meanwhile, the shelf off Orange County is shallow with a gentle
slope. This difference may account for the relatively fewer beach
closures in L.A. County this year, he said.
To keep the sewage from returning to the coast, scientists must
study the topography and ocean current patterns to determine the
specific depth and distance of discharge sites, Montagne said.
While there is little risk that sewage discharged off Palos
Verdes will return to the coast, storm drain runoff in L.A. and
Orange Counties also pose an increasing health risk for swimmers as
the region’s population grows, said Steve Bay, a toxicologist
with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project.
“Dry weather flow through storm drains has a high
concentration of bacteria and pollutants that threaten human
health,” Bay said.
The passage of Assembly Bill 411 by the California State
Assembly in 1999 has led to weekly monitoring of contaminant
concentrations near the coast. When concentrations exceed quality
standards, closures and warnings are issued to protect
swimmers.
But to keep beaches open, storm drain runoff containing elevated
levels of bacteria, chemical contaminants and petroleum byproducts
must be addressed, Bay said.
Anna Bevernick, a third-year microbiology student, said L.A.
pollution keeps her from swimming in the ocean.
While beach closures have occurred all summer, water quality
worsens during rainy months. The large volume of storm drain runoff
during steady rain makes treatment efforts difficult.
Storm water treatment is not a widespread practice because it is
extremely expensive, requires huge areas of land and may not be
feasible from an engineering perspective, according to SCCWRP.
But dry weather flow, the waste material that travels through
storm drains during the dry summer months, could be diverted to
existing sewage treatment facilities, Bay said.
Knowledge about the dangers posed by storm drain runoff to ocean
water quality should prompt people to modify their everyday
activities, Bay said.
“There is a toxicity associated with common
pesticides,” Bay said. “People need to stop
overwatering and overfertilizing their lawns.”
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.