Under the microscope

Bryce Alderton

Early on a Sunday morning this month, Randy Seton helped scoop tiny

bits of sediment from the bottom of Huntington Harbour.

He filtered out worms, crabs and shrimp, leaving just two to six

centimeters of sand and water, which went into a jar to be inspected

later.

“I couldn’t wait to see what was in the sifter,” Seton said.

Seton, program director for Orange County CoastKeepers, a nonprofit

environmental organization, is in charge of organizing volunteers for a

water-quality study of Huntington Harbour.

The study, headed by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control

Board, is required by the Clean Water Act. Every two years, the state is

required to prepare and submit a report to the Environmental Protection

Agency on the state’s water quality.

Samples were taken on Aug. 7, 8 and 12. Two more sampling sessions are

scheduled for this weekend.

This month’s data won’t be available for about six months.

Another series of samples will be taken in February or March. Taking

samples from different times of the year will allow the board to see

differences in the dry season versus the wetter, rainy season.

Those results will take about six months to put together. The

completed study should be finished in about a year’s time.

“We want to see what’s [in the harbor] and discover any correlation to

Huntington Harbour regarding where certain pollutants may be coming

from,” Seton said.

The board will conduct samplings at 30 sites in both Anaheim Bay and

Huntington Harbour.

As part of the statewide study, regional boards prepare water-quality

assessments that identify possible pollutants and the potential sources

of pollution.

Under the Clean Water Act, water bodies not supporting one or more

“beneficial uses” are placed on a list of impaired water bodies.

Beneficial uses include navigation and biological habitats of

significance, including habitats for rare wildlife, endangered or

threatened species, marine habitat and fish spawning.

Huntington Harbour was on the list for containing pathogens, metals,

and pesticides.

Pavlona Vitale, environmental specialist for the board, said the areas

chosen for study would provide enough data for a representative sample.

“Thirty sites were selected so we could be 95% confident that the data

were within the range of the valleys of the true pathogen population,”

Vitale said. “The sites tell us how close we are to the true population

mean.”

Vitale said board officials also hope the study will get members of

the public involved.

“This study is the first of its type to get the public involved and

help us out, “ Vitale said. “We want to educate the public about

pollution prevention.”

The samples will be analyzed by two different companies.

CRG Marine Laboratories, which provides the containers for the samples

as well as training to regional board and volunteers for sample

collection, will check the samples for sediment and water chemistry.

ABC Laboratories will analyze water and sediment toxicity, plus check

to see what is living in the harbor. It will look specifically for kelp

germination and growth, red abalone larval development and purple sea

urchin fertilization.

Vitale said data will come in sporadically for different samples.

“It all depends how quickly the lab works,” Vitale said. “Water

toxicity will probably come in by September, with sediment toxicity

possibly coming in a month after that, and data from animals living in

the sediment four months after that.”