Forum Set on Future of Coastline : Environment: The GeoSurf Symposium will bring together surfers, ecologists and developers with a vested interest in the ocean and beaches.

Surfers, environmentalists and others who want to save the waves and beaches will meet July 10 at Pepperdine University for the GeoSurf Symposium 1990.

According to organizers Glenn R. Hening and John Van Hamersveld, the conference will be the first to bring together all groups that have a vested interest in the health of the coastline, from wave riders and makers of wet suits to ecologists and developers.

“The symposium is an event where professionals will share and acquire new knowledge concerning the issues, the sciences and the magic of waves and beaches,” the men said. They said the symposium was designed to provide a forum “outside the contests and trade shows of the surf industry” to address such questions as: What is the current status of the coastline, and what legacy will be left for future generations?

Hening, who founded the Surfrider Foundation, a surfer activist organization, and Van Hamersveld, a graphic designer whose work includes the classic poster for the surfing film “The Endless Summer,” said they hoped the symposium would function as a leadership seminar for all those concerned about the future of waves and beaches.

According to Hening, a major focus of the event will be Malibu Surfrider Beach and Lagoon as a microcosm of the issues facing coastlines worldwide.

“Malibu beach is a natural treasure as far as surfers are concerned, like Old Faithful,” Hening said.

Hening said he and other surfer activists are especially concerned about the recent decision of the California Coastal Commission to allow the Tapia Reclamation Plant to expand its capacity from 10.1-million gallons a day to 16.1 million.

GeoSurf and others fear the release of more effluent from the sewage treatment plant into Malibu Creek will increase pollution at the beach, Hening said. Greater flow could also change the shape of the beach, affecting its world-famous waves, he said.

The symposium will include presentations on the Coastal Commission’s decision and the medical risks linked to marine pollution.

A highlight, Hening said, will be the announcement of the formation of the Malibu Sewage Surveillance Project. The project’s first order of business, Hening said, will be to establish a rapport with Tapia officials and to begin regular testing of water quality in Malibu Creek and the Lagoon.

The afternoon program will include a presentation on the birth of surfing, featuring a video interview with writer Thor Heyerdahl, who has been studying the remains of an ancient coastline culture in Peru.

Hening, who met with Heyerdahl in Peru recently, said Heyerdahl believes surfing started at least 2,000 years ago among the Chimu people, who rode the waves on reed crafts. Similar surf crafts are still used today, said Hening, who noted that Peruvian surfers are faced with serious sewage pollution problems, just as their counterparts in Malibu are.

GeoSurf is the name of a company founded last year by Hening and Van Hamersveld that disseminates information to surfers and others concerned about the oceans. Other organizations participating in the symposium include the Surfrider Foundation, American Oceans Campaign, Heal the Bay, the Environmental Protection Center in Santa Barbara and the Surf Industry Manufacturers Assn.

Tickets are $95 for the general public, $70 for members of participating nonprofit organizations and $35 for students.

For more information, call the GeoSurf office at (213) 457-0747.