More testing of Surf City beach waters ordered

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange County Sanitation District is preparing

for more testing of city beach and ocean waters in the summer to clarify

whether its partially treated sewage discharge contributed to high levels

of bacteria along the shore.

District officials are investigating if an interaction between a

discharge pipe that extends more than four miles out to sea and the AES

Corp.’s cooling water intake lines provides a means for bacteria and

waste water to creep back toward the beach. The sanitation district pumps

about 240 million gallons of waste water into the ocean daily, while the

AES power plant typically collects about 300 million gallons of sea water

for cooling purposes.

The interaction between the two systems was one of three possible

causes identified last year by UC Irvine scientists. The other two were

urban runoff and waste from water birds at the Talbert Marsh.

Sanitation district scientists conducted preliminary tests Nov. 27 to

iron out proper sediment and water collection techniques before a full

testing program is begun in April. District officials will then be able

to study the thermocline, a blanket of warm water acting as an inversion

layer to suppress the effluent.

During the test, water samples from the area surrounding the outflow

pipe were collected in the morning, with additional samples taken hourly

along the beach.

District officials said the test found waste water traveling up to

within 1.5 miles of the shore, closer than previously seen, with a

finger-shaped plume pointing toward the power plant on Newland Street.

“We’d expected to find that bacteria surged inward toward the beach

around high tide and then naturally receded back out with the water as

the day went on,” said Charles McGee, a microbiologist and lab supervisor

for the sanitation district. “But our beach tests found bacteria in

ankle-deep water in the afternoon, at low tide.”

The results, he added, raised more questions than answers because the

beach-side bacteria did not come from the waste-water plume, which never

reached the shore. Ocean water testing is now planned for the afternoon

as well.

One factor, whose effect remains to be seen, is AES’ water

intake, which collected only about 2,000 gallons in November. But

district officials take heart in the fact that now there is a measure of

the waste-water field while the plant’s intake is minimal, which will be

useful during later tests when the pipe is working at full tilt.

“This month, we’re pulling together an external Technical Advisory

Committee made up of scientists, community and city officials, as well as

a steering committee, to be sure that all the players are involved,” said

Lisa Lawson, spokeswoman for the district. “We’re hoping to schedule our

initial meeting at the end of the month or first part of February.”

AES President Ed Blackford did not return phone calls.

Huntington Beach spokesman Rich Barnard said city officials will be

involved as the sanitation district testing continues.