Warnings Posted as Storm Runoff Taints County Beaches

An unusual August rain that sent bacteria-tainted street runoff into the ocean off Los Angeles County this week prompted scattered warnings to swimmers Friday just as thousands head to the beaches.

More than 1 million people are expected at county beaches this weekend, one of the three busiest holidays of the year, lifeguards said.

On Friday evening, however, county health department officials ordered signs posted at Dockweiler State Beach from Ballona Creek to Grand Avenue, Will Rogers State Beach near Santa Monica Canyon Creek, the Santa Monica Pier and Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

The signs have a no-swimming symbol and warn: “Bacteria Levels Exceed State Standards,” but their posting does not constitute beach closures, said Jack Petralia, director of environmental protection for the county Department of Health. They mean the ocean may be tainted by rotting vegetation and animal waste that flows from storm drains. Beach closures are ordered only if there is a true health hazard, such as a sewage spill, he said.

However, swimmers this weekend enter the water at the risk of rashes, eye and nose irritation and gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, he said.

“The signs are meant to say: ‘You can get sick. But if you want to go, you go,’ ” he said. “The surfers do it all the time.”

Sunny skies and warm temperatures Friday attracted hundreds of people to the beaches carrying the warnings, lifeguards said.

Since the warnings usually extend to waters within 100 yards of a storm drain, it’s relatively easy to avoid the tainted area, Petralia said.

“People don’t have to go very far to find clean water,” he said.

Longtime Playa del Rey resident Howard Bennett, 70, said the warning posted at Dockweiler State Beach kept him from taking his usual morning swim.

“It’s a feeling of anger and frustration, because after all these years, we shouldn’t continue to have that [pollution],” Bennett said. “Kids are going back to school and they should be able to swim in the water.”

It was at Dockweiler State Beach last Sunday that metal debris fell from an Amsterdam-bound 747 KLM after it blew an engine. The pilot was forced to dump thousands of gallons of jet fuel to prepare for an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. But Petralia said fuel generally rises to the surface and evaporates quickly.

“It really comes down to the great science of how good is your nose,” he said.

But the storm runoff problem could be an unwelcome surprise for families with plans to barbecue and swim at Dockweiler State Beach and Cabrillo Beach, the only two beaches in the county with concrete areas for fires.

But Hermosa Beach lifeguard Capt. Bob Schroeder said he’s optimistic the tides will quickly carry away the tainted waters.

“I’m hoping a lot of these warnings have been very temporary and that mother nature cleanses itself,” he said.