8 Beaches Get Clean Bill of Health : Pollution: An environmental group that tested the water at popular recreation areas said only Surfers Knoll had a higher- than-acceptable bacteria level.

A local group of environmentally concerned surfers, which has promised to protect the ocean from pollution, reported Wednesday that eight of nine popular beaches in Ventura County this summer averaged bacteria levels below those that pose a risk to human health.

Of the nine locations tested, only Surfers Knoll near the Santa Clara River mouth was found to have higher-than-acceptable levels of bacteria associated with raw sewage, according to the ocean water test results released by the Ventura County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Authorities acknowledge that the coliform bacteria level of several beaches rises during the winter months when rainstorms often flush untreated sewage and other contaminants down creeks and rivers and ultimately into the ocean.

Last year, for example, health authorities closed beaches near Point Mugu for several days after February’s heavy rains ruptured pipes releasing about 6 million gallons of raw sewage that spilled into the Arroyo Simi flood channel near Moorpark. The channel feeds into Calleguas Creek, then Mugu Lagoon and into the ocean.

Tests for coliform indicate likely bacterial contamination from human or animal wastes, said Richard Sweet, who heads Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force, a water-quality testing committee.

Sweet said the large number of birds in the Santa Clara River bed and some runoff from storm drains are sources of coliform found in the water near Surfers Knoll.

The Surfrider Foundation began the tests in response to complaints from surfers and other beach-goers about contracting sore throats and nose and ear infections from polluted seawater near rivers and other waterways discharging into the ocean.

“Just remember that if the river is flushing the ocean water will be contaminated for a while until it gets diluted,” he said.

But at least one city official questioned the value of the water-quality test results. “We’ve gotten the understanding that some of the people in Surfrider don’t know what they are looking at,” said Robert B. Montgomery, acting waste water superintendent in Oxnard.

The local Surfrider chapter is part of a national foundation that has promised to protect the nation’s coastline from pollution and development. The Ventura County chapter is one of many Surfrider branches that have begun assessing the water quality at local beaches on a weekly basis.

The results released Wednesday of the water quality at the nine local beaches were compiled by Surfrider volunteers and Ventura city officials.

Volunteers for Surfrider collected the water samples at Rincon Point near Carpinteria, Surfers Point in Ventura, Silver Strand near Oxnard and the beach at the Los Angeles-Ventura county line.

As required by the state’s Regional Water Quality Control Board, the city of Ventura tested the waters at five sites located between the south jetty of the Ventura Harbor to Edison’s power plant near Mandalay State Beach.

Oxnard also tests 15 locations for coliform and other contaminants. But the results of those tests, which are compiled in a monthly report, were not included in the Surfrider report because they were too old to be useful to the public, Sweet said.

“We’ll work with them and try to persuade them to release their results weekly also,” Sweet said.

The Surfrider chapter plans to release its water-quality report on a weekly basis to make the health data available to the public, Sweet said.

Under Sweet’s direction, Surfrider volunteers test the samples in Environmental Protection Agency-approved test kits. Sweet is a waste management analyst with the county’s Solid Waste Management Department. He said he is certified by the Regional Water Quality Control Board as a waste-water treatment plant operator.

Measuring the samples against standards set by the 1990 California Ocean Plan, the level of coliform is rated on a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 meaning no coliform detected and 5 meaning the water is heavily contaminated.

“If it’s 3 or more, it’s questionable whether or not you should go in (the ocean),” Sweet said.

Surfers Knoll was tested eight times between July 11 and Aug. 29. On four occasions, bacteria levels registered a 3, or higher, posing a risk of ear, nose and throat infections among people who come in contact with the seawater, Sweet said.

In contrast, the Silver Strand beach area in Port Hueneme was tested five times during that same period, never yielding any significant levels of bacteria.

But Montgomery said Oxnard pays more than $250,000 to have the pollution in its ocean water tested, and he doubted if the Surfrider volunteers could accurately collect samples for testing the water.

Also, he said while Surfrider is testing for runoff from storm drains, Oxnard tests primarily to make sure discharge from its sewage treatment plant is not adversely affecting the ocean.

Montgomery said Oxnard has the only sewage treatment plant in Ventura County that discharges directly into the ocean. Its discharge point is more than 500 feet offshore.

He said Oxnard only discharges its effluent into the ocean from May through November because the city does not want discharge to be mistaken for the storm-drain runoff that pollutes the ocean so pervasively during winter months.

Throughout the county, gutters and parking lots loaded with trash, street oil, tire particles, paint, dog droppings, leaves and other pollutants pour into storm drains and ultimately into the ocean.

“We don’t want to be accused of messing up the surf zone when it’s actually the runoff from the storm water,” he said.

Sites of Bacteria Testing Coliform Bacteria Ratings 0 None detected 1 Below the shellfish standard 2 Above the shellfish standard 3 Near the body contact standard 4 Above the body contact standard 5 Very high counts *

Location Week of. 8/29 8/22 8/15 8/8 8/1 7/25 7/18 Rincon Point 0 N/A 2 0 0 0 N/A Surfers Point 1 N/A 3 N/A 0 1 N/A South Jetty 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Surfers Knoll 1 5 4 1 1 5 2 McGrath 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 Gonzales Road 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Mandalay Edison 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Silver Strand 0 0 0 N/A N/A N/A 0 L.A. County Line N/A 2 1 2 4 N/A 2

Source: Surfrider Foundation of Ventura County