Signs OKd to Warn Swimmers : Environment: Postings will be made near the mouth of at least eight storm drains that flow into Santa Monica Bay. Agreement ended months of debate.

After months of debate between environmentalists and county health officials, a committee directing cleanup of Santa Monica Bay has recommended posting signs warning swimmers not to “swim or play” near storm drain water.

The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project management committee--a coalition of government, business and environmental groups--agreed on the wording for the signs at its monthly meeting Thursday.

The committee said signs should be posted near the mouth of at least eight storm drains--stretching from Malibu to Redondo Beach--that flow year-round into the bay. The recommendation to the county and cities that own the drains does not say how far swimmers should stay from the outlets.

The bay cleanup committee will vote next month whether to jazz up the signs--perhaps using foreign languages and symbols--to make sure that the warnings are not ignored.

Suggestions for increasing the impact of the signs have ranged from the aggressive--a skull and crossbones--to the benign--a friendly message from television cartoon star Bart Simpson.

Thursday’s vote was a compromise between the wishes of county officials and environmental groups such as Heal the Bay.

The county Department of Health Services had argued for several months that it is not proper to post signs declaring a health risk without proof that the runoff from city streets makes swimmers sick.

“If we post the signs, it puts us in an untenable position,” said Jack Petralia, the county’s director of environmental protection before the compromise. “We haven’t identified any known risk. There is no justification for it.”

But environmentalists said it is better to post the signs until the health impacts of the storm waters are clear.

Calls for warning signs intensified in July, when the city of Santa Monica banned swimming within 100 yards of a storm drain below Pico Boulevard after the discovery that the drain was polluted with sewage. Sewage in ocean water has been proven to cause stomach flu and other illnesses.

County officials agreed to post signs as long as they do not mention specific health risks and are placed only on drains that flow in summer and winter.

The county officials said those limitations are important because the public could be unduly alarmed or desensitized by the posting of the more than 60 drains that empty into the bay.

Officials with the county Department of Beaches and Harbors noted that beaches already have so many signs--warning against littering, marking surf zones and prohibiting fishing in some areas--that the public does not pay attention.

The result is the recommendation to post signs reading: “This is storm drain water. Do not play or swim in or near it.”

The drains recommended for posting are Malibu Creek, Santa Monica Canyon, Pico Boulevard, Ashland Avenue in Santa Monica, Ballona Creek in Marina del Rey, Imperial Highway in Playa del Rey, Herondo Street in Redondo Beach and Avenue I in Redondo Beach.