Beach ‘Grades’ Improve for 2nd Year

Santa Monica Bay has improved as a place to swim for the second year in a row, according to a report to be released today by a local environmental group that monitors the bay’s water quality.

“There are by far more places that are clean than places people should avoid,” said Roger Gorke, science and policy analyst for Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization that promotes the health and safety of area beaches.

The group’s annual report card of beaches between Malibu and the Palos Verdes Peninsula--the only comprehensive review of water quality at Los Angeles County beaches--is the most optimistic since the group began grading the beaches four years ago.

Despite overall improvement, however, its authors cautioned against reading too much into the report, saying that more needs to be known about the human health risks of contaminants in the bay.

“This isn’t meant to suggest that the bay isn’t polluted,” Gorke said. “It tells us that the worst problems are concentrated in relatively small areas.”

The report cites major improvements at several beaches, including the area near the Redondo Pier and Mother’s Beach at Marina del Rey, previously regarded as among the most polluted in the county.

But there are also gloomy spots.

In its grading scheme from A to F, the group singled out the beach at the mouth of Ballona Creek as the “class troublemaker,” saying the storm drain continues to be the largest single source of pollution in the bay.

And it takes a swipe at Los Angeles officials for having discontinued their regular monitoring of pollution levels there.

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City sanitation officials announced in July that as a practical matter in trying to detect sewage spills into the creek, they would no longer monitor pollutants at the Pacific Avenue Bridge--where the creek empties into the ocean--in favor of a sampling site a mile up the creek at Centinela Boulevard.

The report questions the decision, decrying the fact that there is no longer a sampling site at the bay’s most notorious pollution point, where people swim, fish, use Jet Skis and row crew.

The Heal the Bay report also cites two popular state beaches--Malibu Lagoon and Will Rogers--as among the most contaminated areas in the bay.

Other areas that show relatively high levels of so-called indicator bacteria--total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus--include the Santa Monica Pier and Cabrillo Beach in Los Angeles Harbor.

Beach pollution in the county is largely the result of urban runoff--an accumulation of domestic and commercial waste dumped or inadvertently washed into storm drains and swept into the bay.

Pollutants include pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, animal waste, oil from leaking cars and many other contaminants that make their way into gutters and eventually end up in the ocean--especially during rainy weather.

In compiling the report, Heal the Bay used data collected by the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. It makes separate water-quality analyses for dry days--which account for about 300 days of the year--and rainy days.

Despite the improved water conditions, the environmental group said that bathers should still take precautions when they go into the water.

“They should never enter the water during a rainstorm, and should wait at least three days after the storm has ended before going into the bay,” Gorke said.

Bay Watch These are grades given by Heal the Bay in its report card for dry weather. Bathers are warned to stay away from storm drainsf and piers and not to swim for three days after a rain. An “A” grade would indicate the cleanest sectors of the bay, “F” areas should be avoided. Heal the Bay uses data collected by the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation and the county Department of Health Services.

Water Testing locations Point Dume Mailbu Topanga Pacific Pallsades Santa Monica Marina del Rey Venice Playa de Rey Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant El Segundo Manhattan Beach Hermonsa Beach Redondo Beach

Grade 1. Zuma Beach: A 2. Latigo Shore Drive: A 3. Mailbu Lagoon, west side: B 4. Mailbu Lagoon, east side: F 5. Mouth of Las Flores Creek: B 6. Topanga Beach: A 7. Santa Monica Canyon, 50 yards south: D 8. Santa Monica Pier, 100 yards south: C 9. Ashland storm drain, 50 yards south: C 10. Venice Beach: A 11. Marina del Rey Beach: A 12. L.A. County Fire Dock: B 13. Ballona Creek: F 14. Imperial Highway storm drain: A 15. Redondo Pier, 100 yards north: B 16. Redondo Pier, 100 yards south: B