Water contamination still a mystery

Paul Clinton

Scientists are no closer to answering the question of what causes

persistent beach contamination, at the conclusion of a $5.1-million

study, than they were in 1999 when high bacteria levels closed Huntington

Beach’s shoreline for months.

At a special Orange County Sanitation District board meeting last

week, a panel of scientists who took ocean water samples during the

summer of 2001 said they have no evidence that the district’s sewage

plume is the primary culprit.

Scientists later said they also could not rule it out as a

contributor.

“The contamination problem is complex,” said District Technical

Services Director Bob Ghirelli. “It’s made up of multiple sources that

all contribute to the problem.”

Ghirelli, and several of the scientists hired by the district to

complete the study, said the plume isn’t the sole cause of the high

bacteria readings that have caused surf zone contamination in Huntington

Beach.

The district pumps 240-million gallons of partially treated sewage

each day out of an outfall pipe on the ocean floor. The pipe releases the

sewage about 4 1/2 miles out to sea.

Mayor Debbie Cook said she was not surprised by the study’s

inconclusive finding. The city is one of several in Orange County pushing

to a higher level of treatment for the sewage.

“They’re going to drag their heels,” Cook said. “This is not the way

to spend $5 million.”

During the study, the team of scientists collected samples of water at

both the shoreline and at offshore testing stations.

Environmentalists, who have been calling for more comprehensive

treatment of the sewage dumped offshore, weren’t convinced the sewage

plume should be taken off the hook.

Jan Vandersloot, one of the leaders of the Ocean Outfall Group and a

local dermatologist, said that the study hasn’t solved the mystery of

just what role the plume plays in the beach contamination. Instead, it

has raised more questions, he contends.

“They’re looking at the beach contamination as opposed to the movement

of the sewage plume,” Vandersloot said. “They ought to study the plume.”

Vandersloot and other environmentalists have led the charge against a

federal waiver that allows the district to dump sewage not treated to the

standards set out by the Clean Water Act of 1972. The waiver was first

granted in 1985 and renewed in 1998. It is up for renewal again later

this year.

During Wednesday’s four-hour session, a string of scientists who

collected data mapped out preliminary results of what they found. The

final report will be released in October.

The team of scientists studied summer weather conditions as a “worst

case scenario” when contamination is at its highest levels, district

spokeswoman Lisa Murphy said.

The scientists mapped out a “Newport Canyon Hypothesis,” which

suggests sewage from the plume could travel toward shore in an underwater

channel and head north about one-half mile off shore to contaminate

Huntington Beach.

Scientists also said their data shows that bacteria contamination

further offshore is not traveling to the shoreline.

Instead, they pointed to a bevy of onshore factors, including leaky

sewer lines at beach restrooms, city storm drains, an RV park, bird

droppings in the Santa Ana River and dead seals washing ashore.

Council woman Connie Boardman, who sits as an alternate on the board

for Mayor Debbie Cook attended the meeting, said she was troubled by the

findings.

“I think they’re still trying to point away from their sources,”

Boardman said. “I don’t buy that.”

Boardman and Public Works Director Robert Beardsley also said the role

of the AES power plant was not adequately studied.

The plant, when operating, sucks in cold water to cool the plant, then

releases warm water. It has been theorized that the temperature changes

disrupt the ocean’s thermocline, the ocean’s layering of warm and cold

water. Once disrupted, bacteria and viruses trapped in cold water on the

ocean floor can reach the beach.

In a letter to Ghirelli, Beardsley issued a 15-point critiques of the

study. Beardsley lamented the omission of the city’s $4-million effort to

clean up the storm drains, leaking restrooms and beach showers.

“The critique I have with the report is that they didn’t indicate the

issues that are being worked on,” Beardsley said.

After receiving the comprehensive study last week, the district must

now decide whether to continue its operations status quo or increase

treatment of the sewage.

One option on the table is to disinfect the sewage with

industrial-strength bleach. That would kill the bacteria, but not the

viruses.

At a June 26 meeting, the district will consider other treatment

options. The cost of stepping treatment up to what is known as “full

secondary” -- which renders the treated water clear -- is approximately

$400 million.

* PAUL CLINTON is a reporter with Times Community News. He covers City

Hall and education. He may be reached at (714) 965-7173 or by e-mail ato7 paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .