A Sewerless Malibu May Be Fouling Its Own Beaches

Home to movie stars and other millionaires, Malibu seems to be the perfect spot to escape urban ills. It’s so close, yet so far.

But urban runoff and perhaps sewage leaking from nearby multimillion-dollar homes have turned Surfrider Beach at Malibu Lagoon State Beach into one of the unhealthiest strips of sand in the United States. This famous, picture-perfect beach often flunks its bacteria tests. Tests last year found giardia and cryptosporidium--pathogens from human or animal waste that can cause gastrointestinal disease--in the Malibu surf.

Placards permanently posted on the beach proclaim in two languages: “Warning! Storm Drain Water May Cause Illness. No Swimming.” But people routinely ignore the warnings. On one recent sunny day, one surfer found a valuable use for one of the signs--she leaned her surfboard on it as she rested.

Children and parents with toddlers also gravitate to this beach, which welcomes more than a million visitors a year.

Towering, perfectly shaped waves roll for hundreds of yards through the teal-colored water, and the sand looks so clean it sparkles. But the illusion vanishes if you turn your back to the ocean and take a close look at the lagoon on the other side of the strand. It brims with runoff carried by Malibu Creek from the streets and yards of 110 square miles of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The polluted water drains straight to Surfrider Beach.

Malibu itself could be contributing bacteria from its toilets. The city, prizing its isolation and restricted growth, has refused to tie into county sewers. Instead, all property owners have underground septic systems where waste is supposed to decompose.

Water quality officials say septic tanks are usually acceptable in rural areas but are questionable in a city of 12,000 people like Malibu.

“Some of them are right on the beach, so you have a direct pathway to the beach,” said Dennis Dickerson, executive officer of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

After refusing for years, the Malibu City Council, under an order by the water board, reluctantly mounted a project in July to see if the tanks are leaking bacteria onto Surfrider Beach. Some results could be ready this year.

City Council members blame runoff from inland areas and insist that they will never hook up to the county sewer system--a step they fear would prompt more residential or commercial development.

Meanwhile, at the beach, it’s not unusual to count 200 surfers in the water, even midweek. Some don’t believe the health warnings; others think their sport is well worth the risk, even as they trade stories of surfers who have become ill.

“This is probably the most famous surfing beach in the world,” said Dr. Gordon LaBedz, a physician and environmental activist. It is also, he said, “one of the dirtiest.”