Surf’s Clear, but Bacteria’s Source Isn’t : Environment: Health officials reopen most of Huntington Beach shore, saying pollution levels have dropped dramatically.

Health officials Thursday reopened all but a small stretch of the Huntington Beach surf that has been closed by pollution for much of the summer, leaving anxious city officials and merchants hoping that crowds will return for the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

The Orange County Health Care Agency took the action after tests of ocean water over the last week showed a rapid and continuing reduction in bacteria levels. Although the source of the contamination remains a mystery, sanitation officials said that storm-drain runoff and water from a downtown construction site might have contributed to the problem.

“There’s been a dramatic improvement in the test results starting last Saturday, and we have been monitoring that very frequently,” said Dr. Hildy Meyers, interim county health officer.

County officials were lobbied heavily by businesses and government officials to lift the closure, which has kept crowds away from a city synonymous with summer fun and surfing. But officials said the decision was based on purely scientific evidence.

“We aren’t out to impoverish people who make their livings off of tourism,” Meyers said. “But our charge is to protect the public’s health to the best of our abilities with the tools we have available. . . . We feel we’re doing our jobs.”

Only time will tell, however, whether the public is willing to test the waters.

“I ain’t going in,” said Mike Tamaki, a 36-year-old Fountain Valley resident, as he watched lifeguards remove the red tape from along the shore Thursday. “I think they just opened it because of Labor Day pressure.”

Other beachgoers, however, wasted little time dipping into the waves.

“If it wasn’t safe, they wouldn’t let us in because of lawsuits,” said Michelle Torrez, a Claremont teacher, watching her children splash through the waves.

The Labor Day holiday typically draws 250,000 people to the pier area, and downtown merchants see their sales rise by 50% or more. But the closure has cut beach attendance to as low as 2,000 people even on the sunniest days.

Michael Ali, owner of Zack’s concession stands along the beach, estimates that he’s lost $20,000 since the first stretch of shoreline was closed in July and hopes Labor Day weekend will be a busy one.

“This is a great day for me,” Ali said Thursday. “Hopefully, this will save Labor Day weekend.”

A 4,000-foot section of beach remains closed because of the high bacteria count level, but it is located near the mouth of the Santa Ana River, away from the Huntington Beach business district.

Water quality testing will continue, and lifeguards will be carefully watching currents and tidal movements to ensure there is no drift from the closed area to open swimming areas, officials said.

If people come in contact with the bacteria, they might experience eye, ear and nose infections, breathing troubles and headaches. The contaminated water can carry pathogens that cause diarrhea, respiratory infections and other health problems.

Teams of engineers have been working for weeks to determine the source of the pollution in a more than $400,000 search using drills, offshore sonar and ground-penetrating radar.

Charles McGee, a microbiologist for the Orange County Sanitation District, said that high bacteria levels in July were definitely caused by sewage. The somewhat lower pollution levels in August likely came from water flowing from streets, gutters and lawns into storm drains. This water, known as urban runoff, is usually less polluting than raw sewage but is considered a growing source of ocean contamination.

In an effort to combat that problem, highly polluted runoff from pump stations was diverted to a sewage treatment plant this week.

Officials also believe a construction project that is draining up to a million gallons of water to sea a day might have caused polluted runoff. Water from the downtown hotel construction project was tested by officials and determined to be clean. It is now also being diverted through the sewage treatment plant.

Officials stressed that the decision to reopen most of the shoreline means it’s safe to go in the water.

“My feeling is that people may still be concerned, that in the back of their minds they’re going to think it’s polluted,” said Don Ito, state parks supervisor for Huntington Beach. “But in fact the water is clean.”

Joe Keith, a 22-year-old Phoenix light designer on tour with the rock band Pelvic Meatloaf, couldn’t help but go wading knee-deep in the water shortly after it reopened. But he still expressed doubts.

“OK, instead of 10 million microbes they opened it because there are 9,999,000 instead? I guess it’s safe to go in,” he said. “It’s just a little cold. But when you live in the desert any ocean, even a polluted one, is a good one.”

Some environmental activists expressed similar concerns and hope pressures to reopen the beach for the holidays won’t hinder the investigation into the cause of the contamination.

“I just hope we’re not putting profits over public health,” said Don Slaven of the Surfrider Foundation.

Slaven, however, said he trusts county health officials and acknowledged he would probably hit the waves himself this weekend, “although I probably will stay away from the Santa Ana River.”

A busy weekend is just what merchants are hoping for.

Tina Oh, 24, who works at her parents’ store, Beach Island, on Main Street, has great hopes for the weekend after a dismal summer.

“Sales could be up 100%. . . . Business has been better today than earlier this week,” she said. “We’re still selling Boogie boards, so I think the people are still going to go to the beach.”

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Most of Coast is Cleared

The Orange County Health Care Agency has reopened all but a 4,000-foot stretch of Huntington State Beach.

Sources: Orange County Health Care Agency; California Department of Parks and Recreation