Locals call foul on channel
A sulfur-producing natural phenomenon in the Talbert Channel is
stinking up a southeast Huntington Beach neighborhood.
A lingering red tide, coupled with low tides and
higher-than-expected August heat is decaying microorganisms in
nutrient rich mud in the channel. A by-product of the reaction is the
emission of sulfur gases that pack a powerful odor.
Anyone who’s ever visited a hot spring like Old Faithful at
Yellowstone National Park has likely smelled the pungent odor, which
some residents living along the Talbert Channel have confused with a
possible sewage spill.
Muds and sentiments in the channel are teeming with
microorganisms, Orange County storm water official Richard Boone
said, that feed and breathe on the nutrients in the storm water and
ocean tides that go through the channel. During some of the lowest
tides of the summer, especially negative tides when the water level
gets below standard sea level, water to the mud and sediment is cut
off and the materials are left to dry in the summer heat.
The lack of water means a lack of oxygen for the microorganisms,
initiating a decay process in the mud that produces sulfur. Making
the situation worse is the lingering red tide this summer that has
kept swimmers and surfers out of the water.
Red tide occurs during an unusually large phytoplankton algae
bloom in the ocean, emitting a blood-colored substance that discolors
the water. Red tides flow back into the canals during high tides,
bringing additional organic matter into the canal muds and sediments
using up more precious oxygen and further accelerating the decay
process.
Boone said the problem became more pronounced around 1999 when the
county’s first began diverting storm water in the channel into the
sewage system for treatment. Much of the water, which came from
inland cities, was polluted with urban runoff and bacteria. The water
was released in the ocean near Huntington State Beach.
After a rash of beach closures in the 1990s, county officials met
with the Orange County Sanitation District and agreed to divert the
water into a treatment facility in the hopes of removing the toxins
and bacteria before they were released into the ocean. But the
diversions have also meant less water in the canal, which in turn
means less oxygen for the organic matter in mud and sediment and more
sulfur emissions.
“One of the unforeseen consequences has been an occurrence of
odors being in the channel,” Boone said. “Those channels are used to
a flushing.”
But the neighbors aren’t used to the smell. Some residents living
directly behind the channel have been calling Orange County flood
control to complain about the odor.
“It smelled like sewage,” neighbor Becky Weinthal said, describing
severally discolored water during the smelliest episodes. “It was
really bad the last couple of evenings when the tide was the lowest.
My husband thought there might have been sewage backing up into our
house and I thought the cat might have had an accident.”
To help suppress the smell, county officials regularly monitor the
channels during low tides and have even begun spraying an odor
suppressant.
“That is the only channel that seems to be having a problem right
now,” Boone said.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Have you ever noticed a foul smell in southeastern Huntington
Beach? Call our Reader’s Hotline at (714) 966-4691 or send e-mail to
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