Project to Redirect Polluted Runoff Is Delayed

A project to protect ocean bathers near Santa Monica Pier from polluted storm drain runoff has been delayed because bids on the project were too high and city officials did not want construction to interfere with the busy summer beach season, county officials said.

The county Department of Public Works is scheduled next Tuesday to open a second set of bids from contractors to extend the Pico-Kenter storm drain from the beach 600 feet into the ocean. The project was to be completed by this past Memorial Day, but now may not be finished until March, 1991, unless officials reconsider a policy against performing beach work during the summer, said Jim Noyes, deputy director of public works for the county.

The storm drain pours water contaminated with fecal bacteria and viruses onto the beach at the foot of Pico Boulevard. From there, the stream runs across the beach into the ocean just south of Santa Monica Pier.

Government officials said the decision to postpone the drain extension project was made in June, before the release of a study that shows the drain water is polluted with sewage containing human viruses.

The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project study, released in late June, said the storm water contains viruses that can cause illnesses ranging from upset stomachs to hepatitis. The organization’s report speculated that the pollutants get into the stream because of illegal sewer connections to the storm drain, leaking sewer lines or because homeless people may be using the drain as a toilet.

Santa Monica officials banned swimming within 100 yards of the stream’s mouth after the report was released.

Santa Monica officials first discussed diverting the storm water from swimmers in 1985, after earlier tests detected that bacterial levels in the drain exceeded state bathing water standards.

The proposed drain extension would redirect the storm runoff from the concrete channel into a two-foot-wide plastic pipe that will be buried in the sand and extended onto the ocean floor. At the drain mouth, 600 feet offshore, viruses and bacteria will be far from most swimmers, planners say.

Santa Monica, the county and the city of Los Angeles agreed to share the cost of the project because the county maintains the drain and it flows through both cities.

But the project has been mired in bureaucratic tangles from the beginning, officials said.

The most recent delay came late last year. When bids were opened in December, only two companies sought to build the drain and were asking for 57% and 80%, respectively, over the $272,000 that the county estimated the project should cost. The low bidder, Drainage Construction Co., also failed to meet all of the county’s specifications, Noyes said.

Nonetheless, the county and the two cities agreed to go ahead with the project by accepting the high bid of $489,000 by Healy Tibbitts Builders Inc.

Santa Monica officials had only one caveat: They did not want construction to begin until Sept. 15, after the end of the crowded summer season.

“We have a policy direction from our City Council not to get involved in construction during peak beach periods,” said John Jalili, Santa Monica city manager. “We have had real problems in the past with our pier reconstruction and beach work. . . . It is not only inconvenient but it becomes a safety hazard.”

County officials agreed that the project should be postponed until the end of summer and decided to take advantage of the extra time to solicit new bids, Noyes said. The bids will be opened Tuesday.

But given the new information on viral pollution, county and Santa Monica officials said they might consider going ahead with the work during the summer.

Noyes conceded there is “a certain illogic” to posting signs on the beach warning swimmers to stay out of the water around the drain, but then postponing the construction project because it would close a portion of the beach.

Jalili said he is skeptical that contractors would be able to begin work before the end of summer, but he said he may ask the council to consider the question.

“There is their policy of no construction (during summer) on one hand and, on the other hand, the urgency of making the improvements,” Jalili said. “It’s a trade-off between affecting a lot of beach-goers with a much larger section of beach. But it could be positive if we can get started earlier.”