Mailbag - May 16, 2002

Outfall is the sanitation district’s Smoking gun

So there’s 240 million gallons of sewage a day released 4 1/2 miles

offshore, with repeated beach closures of unknown source of

contamination? There are 16,000 U.S. sanitation districts and only 30 or

so have waivers to not fully treat the sewage (Orange County is the

biggest and hardly poor compared to the Alaskan villages that have the

waivers). Gosh, maybe it’s the bird droppings in the wetlands that’s

causing the problem (as if the birds were cleaning up after themselves

before 1999). Are these people dense or what?

Steve Bolton’s Orange County Sanitation District smoking gun cartoon

(Community Forum, May 2) fits oh, so perfectly.

Thank you for summing up our thoughts to a tee. That picture was

awesome.

BRUCE WAREH

Huntington Beach

Districting will give voters an even playing field

Recent letters submitted by readers, question who ispaying for the

signatures to place districting of the City Council on the ballot.

To those posing this question I can easily assure them it is not the

same group that paid signature gatherers to put the anti Wal-Mart issue

on the ballot. Two of our current council members, Connie Boardman and

Debbie Cook, went absolutely ballistic to secure and encourage others to

sign petitions to put the defeated Measure I on ballot. Their argument

was to preserve “open space,” which was grossly misleading. If Wal-Mart

had been defeated, a housing project would have taken its place to

further burden our city’s support services.

Are these two council persons, joined at the hip, afraid that Scott

Baugh’s proposal to have representation by district might erode their

backers control of our city, the Bolsa Chica groups and Huntington Beach

Tomorrow.

It is well known that they were steamrolled into their council seats

by these well-organized groups that want Huntington Beach preserved for

the birds and completely ignore our city’s sad infrastructure and

economic future.

Representation by district will give all the voters an even playing

field and wrest control of our city’s future from these special interest

groups.

Who cares who is paying for the effort to put this issue on the

ballot? The voters, just as we did on the Wal-Mart issue, will have the

final say with their ballots. Could certain groups be running scared?

BOB POLKOW

Huntington Beach

Enough with the studies let’s stop polluting

County officials should act on combating the gross pollution of the

Pacific Ocean.

Five years ago is not too soon. This scenario requires no training in

rocket science. We the public, now know Orange County Sanitation District

officials prefer saving a buck to protecting the public’s health.

Dumping 240 million gallons of half-treated sewage 365 days per year,

finally amounts to billions of gallons of pollution -- all deposited

barely five miles off shore. This is criminal, in my opinion.

Cognizant county officials responsible for this disastrous condition

on our beaches have earned their day in court. Grand juries should

recommend individual indictments. County health officials could be

empowered to take over the sanitation operations immediately. Their

mandate would be to upgrade the discharge, the effluent, into the ocean

is which is clean, clear and clarified. Nothing less will do.

A.J. SPIEGEL

Huntington Beach

Sanitation district and city officials should stop studying the

contaminated ocean water and start actively combating it.

On my daily walk to the beach, as soon as I hit Main Street, I get

this awful smell permeating from the gutters. After I settle down with my

morning coffee down there it smells like the sewer. I just wonder where

is it coming from and why, after all these years, we still have this

problem? I wish they would hurry and fix it.

ICEY CINOCCO

Huntington Beach

I am calling about the Orange County Sanitation District’s failure to

take care of the contaminated waters off of Huntington Beach.

It’s pure negligence on their part to not do something about it, and

to continue stonewalling us with study after study when it’s clear that

the access release of untreated bacterial waste into the ocean is causing

this.

Soon we’re going to have the same problem with Bolsa Chica with the

PCBs that are going to be floated out into the ocean as they dig up and

restore the Bolsa Chica. There just seems to be a complete disregard for

the ocean in this city, yet the city wants to continue calling it Surf

City and capitalize on the ocean.

DAVID MCGORRIN

Huntington Beach

A fond farewell to a friend

I would like to wish my friend, roommate, and 75-year Huntington Beach

resident, Ruben J. Alvarez a happy farewell. He passed away April 30,

2002, in his sleep. His service was held Friday, May 10th at 11:30 am at

Saint Bonaventura Catholic Church with a grave site service to follow at

Good Sheppard Cemetery.

A. JEFF JOHNS

Huntington Beach