Murky Waters : Environment: A new study finds human viruses at Malibu Lagoon and near storm drains. Beach-goers and experts ponder whether the waves are worth the risks.

On summer evenings after returning home from work, environmental lawyer Bob Sulnick and several of his Santa Monica Canyon neighbors would tramp down to the beach for some body surfing.

Today, the group that called itself the Dolphin Club is disbanded, done in by concern about the pollutants that storm drains and sewer lines pour into Santa Monica Bay.

“After we started finding out what was going on in the bay, it was a real shock, let me tell you,” said Sulnick, 49. “We all stopped. I just won’t swim anymore off these urban beaches.”

Compare Sulnick’s view to that of lifeguard Steven Wood of Manhattan Beach. Wood, also 49, has swum and surfed in Santa Monica Bay since the seventh grade. He said he stays at least 100 yards away from flowing storm drains and doesn’t swim at all after heavy rains--but otherwise sees no reason to stop going in the ocean.

“The only scientific evidence I have is myself,” Wood said. “I rarely get infections. My eyes and ears work perfectly. I might be a perfect example that the water quality here is not that bad.”

Witnessing a tide of troubling reports about marine pollution in recent years, Santa Monica Bay beach-goers increasingly find themselves weighing whether or not to swim.

More such information emerged late last week with the release of a study by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, a publicly funded consortium comprising environmentalists, government regulators and sewage officials.

The study detected viruses that confirmed the presence of human feces in Malibu Lagoon and at two storm drains: the Herondo Street drain at the south end of Hermosa Beach and the Pico-Kenter drain in Santa Monica.

Faced with such news, some people, such as Sulnick, think that local waters are not worth the risk, forswearing swimming except in less populated places. Others, such as Wood, believe that precautions suffice.

Whatever the decision, it is clear that for many, environmental worries have intruded on the once-pristine experience of an ocean plunge.

“I think it’s fine to swim occasionally, but I don’t feel as safe as I used to,” Susan Pearce, 30, a Torrance hospital worker, said as she watched a niece and two nephews playing at the water’s edge in Hermosa Beach recently. “Everybody I know is tentative about it. It’s sad.”

That sentiment stems partly from the growing attention paid in recent years to the disposal of treated sewage in Santa Monica Bay. But the biggest focus of concern is runoff, the grisly mix of water and urban detritus that flows into the bay through storm drains extending as far as Agoura Hills.

Experts say the runoff, which is untreated, carries contaminants ranging from animal droppings to anti-freeze to pesticides--pollutants that become especially worrisome when rains wash large amounts of them into the sea.

In the study by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, scientists found evidence suggesting that human feces might also be entering numerous storm drains. The information is significant because human feces sometimes contain enteric, or intestinal, viruses that can cause health problems ranging from stomach flu to dysentery and respiratory problems.

In two previous Restoration Project investigations, enteric viruses were detected in only one place: the Pico-Kenter drain. But in the latest study, biologists with the City of Los Angeles, the Orange County Sanitation Districts and the environmental group Heal the Bay, tested three drains--and found the human viruses in all three.

“This shows that Pico-Kenter is not the black sheep storm drain,” said Heal the Bay biologist Mark Gold, a co-author of the report. “In fact, this might be indicative of the storm drain situation throughout the region.”

Because the study could not gauge what quantities of human waste are entering the drains, the magnitude of the public health risk posed by the runoff is uncertain. But the mere presence of the viruses is cause for concern, the study’s authors said.

Charles McGee, a biologist with the Orange County Sanitation Districts, said: “The problem with viruses is that it only takes one to cause an infection.”

Sulnick, executive director of the American Oceans Campaign, a Santa Monica environmental group, said the virus study reinforces his resolve to swim only in ocean waters beyond Malibu Lagoon.

With Los Angeles County already subject to toxic chemicals in the air, he said, swimming where toxins may be present in the water could add to long-term health risks. Then there are the short-term health problems, he added, saying his group receives calls from many people who blame the bay for a range of ailments.

“We hear about skin rashes, earaches, eye infections,” Sulnick said. “What I say is that they have to make their own decision. It’s sad, but we all have to.”

A poll released last week suggests that for many Angelenos, the decision is to stay out of the water. In a survey of 500 Los Angeles County residents, the Restoration Project found that 55% of bay visitors said they do not enter the water, mostly because of pollution concerns.

However, many experts said residents do not have to give up swimming off local beaches--among them, Los Angeles County health officials and experts from the Bay Restoration Project and Heal the Bay.

Paul Papanek, a county epidemiology expert, said that by staying at least 100 yards from flowing storm drains and not swimming for three days after heavy rains, people face the same risk of ingesting a harmful virus as they would “going to the corner diner.”

“It’s not like people should say, ‘Oh my God, the minute I put my toe in the water or dunk my head in, I’m in trouble,’ ” Papanek said. “This beach protocol gives people a reasonable protection from risks.”

Even some of those who claim that the bay affects their health say they are reluctant to leave the water. One is Andrew Gushiken of Redondo Beach, co-chair of the South Bay chapter of Surfrider Foundation, an environmental group made up of surfers.

“I have the occasional eye infection and the occasional ear infection and some fevers that don’t seem to make sense,” said Gushiken, a 34-year-old engineer. “But I love surfing, and I guess that’s the price I have to pay.”

Gushiken said staying out of the water amounts to throwing in the towel. “One response is to say, ‘Oh, this beach is dirty, I won’t go here anymore,’ ” he said. “But a better one is to say, ‘I’d like to continue going here and make sure it’s clean enough to do so.’ That makes a statement.”

Numerous experts said a key step toward addressing the beach pollution issue would be to launch an epidemiological study to determine how the ocean affects the health of those who swim in it.

The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project is looking into the feasibility of such a study. But some in the group said they question whether the study could produce statistically valid information--and believe that the $1 million to $2 million it would cost could be put to better use, said Catherine Tyrrell, the project’s director.

Other steps that must be taken, Tyrrell said, include new studies to find the sources of storm drain pollution and projects to prevent the contamination.

Some of these projects are under way. Since Memorial Day, for instance, Santa Monica has been sending runoff from the Pico-Kenter drain to the Hyperion sewage plant in Playa del Rey for treatment. This will only take place during dry times, however, when flows are not too heavy for Hyperion to handle.

The Bay Restoration Project said more than 60% of those interviewed in its poll said they would back a bond issue to finance coastal pollution control projects. On the Hermosa Beach shore last week, Torrance resident Chaim Palman offered cautious support for that view.

“If I was sure it would be managed well, I’d probably say yes,” the 37-year-old engineer said, eyeing the surf as he sat on a beach towel. “I feel we really should do more, because this is a wonderful resource.”