Sanitation district program to test ocean for bacteria

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- As beach goers start to unpack the folding chairs,

public agencies have begun work to help avoid a replay of earlier summers

marred by a rash of closures and postings.

In 1999, a fecal bacteria scare turned the Huntington Beach shoreline

into a near ghost town. That same year, Newport Beach registered 256

closures or posted warnings.

The postings continued last summer, though at a far less frequent

clip.

To answer lingering questions about an underwater bacteria plume four

miles offshore, the Orange County Sanitation District launched a

$4.1-million summer testing program May 21.

The district, along with other public agencies, has already completed

the first round of testing off the Newport Beach coastline.

“The agencies are very concerned about finding the problem so that

that area of the beach can remain open for the community to use,” Lisa

Lawson, a spokesperson for the Orange County Sanitation District.During

the initial round of testing, the district collected more than 2,100

samples from the shoreline and offshore of Newport Beach and Huntington

Beach. During a 24-hour testing program Wednesday, the district collected

more than 200 water samples from the Newport Beach shoreline.

A second round of testing, between Santa Ana River and Newport Pier,

has been scheduled for late June.

The results, which measure bacteria counts of three state-mandated

microorganisms, could result in more postings or closings if they don’t

meet state standards.

Much of the pollution is found in urban runoff, waste water that

washes down gullies and channels and in to the ocean. However, many beach

goers ignore signs posted by the Orange County Heath Care Agency.

“I see kids out there on the beach playing in gutter water,” said Bob

Caustin, founder of Defend the Bay. “People don’t know what pollution is,

what’s in the runoff, because they can’t see it. They think it’s clean.”

The agency closes the beach only when sewage has spilled into the

harbor or into the ocean. A posted warning sign goes up when bacteria

levels exceed the maximum state-permitted level.

Currently, the agency has five postings in Newport Beach. The three

long-term postings are at Harbor Marina, 43rd Street beach and the 33rd

Street channel from 33rd to 37th streets.

The two temporary postings are at Grant Street, at the Newport Slough,

and Sapphire Avenue, on the south shore of Balboa Island.

The danger of more postings, or even beach closures, still persists,

Health Care Agency spokeswoman Monica Mazur said.

Mazur pointed to the district testing program as an indication that

the bacteria problem still exists.

“Yes, we will see postings,” Mazur said. “If people didn’t think

something was happening, they wouldn’t spend $4 million to figure it

out.”