Council skeptical of clean-water report

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A report proclaiming that the Back Bay and Newport

Harbor are safe for swimmers may soon be released, but city officials

aren’t exactly buying it.

And tonight, the City Council will decided at its meeting whether to

send a letter to the Regional Water Quality Control Board saying that the

results of a health risk assessment of the city’s waters are “fatally

flawed” because they are based on “poor science.”

The study, conducted by the Irvine Ranch Water District and the Irvine

Co., has drawn fire from the environmental group Defend the Bay and has

drawn skepticism from city officials who fear its science could set a bad

precedent.

“I believe this study shouldn’t be used to make policy,” Assistant

City Manager Dave Kiff said.

The study considers health risks to swimmers in the bay by measuring a

bacterium called “f specific coliphage.” A draft of the report shows that

the bay is clean of this microorganism. It recommends that water-quality

agencies focus their resources on public education, especially for

boaters who may dump their vessels’ sewage into the bay.

But Defend the Bay Director Bob Caustin said coliphage is a useless

measure. Waters clean of this bacteria can still contain viruses and

pathogens that make swimmers and surfers sick, he noted.

“They need to start looking to the sources of the pollution and

correcting those problems -- whether it be human and animal waste or

whatever the cause,” Caustin said.Councilman Tod Ridgeway said he plans

to vote in favor of sending the letter to the water-quality board.

“It’s not an appropriate scientific way to measure these things in our

waters,” he said.

Norris Brandt, assistant to the general manager for the water

district, agreed that the coliphage study should be reviewed by other

scientists to determine its usefulness.

“We’re not saying the study is good or bad,” said Brandt, who

described the coliphage study as one of many potential tools to assess

water safety.

If the council, as expected, approves the measure, the city will send

a letter to the water-quality board. The letter will propose that the

study is scientifically unsound and that it should not be used to create

policy. Some environmentalists fear that the study could result in

relaxed water-quality rules for developers such as the Irvine Co.

Many of the contaminants that end up in the Upper Newport Bay and

Newport Harbor begin as urban runoff from throughout the county --

everything from dog droppings to pesticides that wash into storm drains.

Sewage leaks can also contaminate the bay, as well as boaters dumping the

sewage from their vessels.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board helps determine acceptable

levels of certain contaminants and which ones will be used as measures of

“safe water.”

In a letter to the county, Joanne Schneider of the water-quality board

said the study should be taken “with caution” until its results can be

reviewed. Schneider was unavailable for comment Monday.