Bacteria Levels Resurge off Huntington Beach

Frustrated officials were back at it again Monday trying to find a reason why bacteria levels have shot up again in the ocean off Huntington Beach.

“It’s baffling, it’s just totally baffling,” said Michelle Tuchman of the Orange County Sanitation District.

Tests taken over the weekend showed elevated levels in the ocean north of the Santa Ana River, prompting worried health officials to post new warnings about potential risks of swimming or surfing from the state beach to the city pier.

Results from a new round of tests taken Sunday showed levels of the enterococcus bacteria more than four times the safe level. Coliform bacteria levels reported Monday also crept dangerously high at one site.

Swimmers and surfers can experience digestive problems, cramping and other symptoms if exposed to the tainted water.

The sanitation district will conduct a $100,000 dye test this week to determine if a sewage outfall pipe that releases treated waste water five miles into the ocean is contributing to the problem.

The district stressed that ongoing regular testing showed no problem from the outfall and, moreover, that a task force concluded two weeks ago that currents would not carry the waste-water plume back toward land and north, where the bacteria have been found.

“But we want to be able to say definitively that is not the problem,” Tuchman said.

But the sanitation district was grasping Monday at any idea that could explain the new bacteria. Tuchman said officials even made calls to Chicago--so far inconclusive--after being told “somebody’s mother heard they were having a similar problem” in the Windy City.