The Ocean Is Not a Sewer

For those who thought last year’s beach closings in Orange County were disastrous, this year has been worse. By the middle of the summer there had been 30 occasions to declare beaches off limits because of pollution.

The beaches and the ocean are a major factor in the good quality of life in Orange County. They are a magnet to residents and visitors alike. They are too important to be treated in such a cavalier fashion.

It will cost money to repair the pipes to stop the sewage spills, but acting now will be cheaper than waiting. Besides the economy, of course, there’s also the basic fact that this is a public health issue.

The importance of clean ocean waters is apparent to most county residents, a fact made clear by the results of a poll released last week by Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Public Policy and the Orange County Business Council. The survey found that more than 80% of residents rated beach closures a serious or very serious problem.

Last summer’s problems struck especially hard at Huntington Beach, where sections of the beach often were closed because of high bacteria levels. The source was never pinpointed despite extensive investigations. Animal waste, human waste, soil and decaying vegetation were among the possible culprits.

This year county officials diverted and treated millions of gallons of urban runoff a day and piped it five miles out to sea. That has brought only a temporary fix.

To solve the problem, all of the county’s cities and sewer districts will have to recognize that sewer pipes built decades ago must be repaired or replaced. That’s part of the infrastructure that cities and agencies exist to maintain. Just as potholes get filled and street lights get replaced, the sewers need to be cleaned of tree roots and trapped grease.

The job is complicated by the excessive number of different agencies. Two regional boards and 34 local agencies oversee sewage collection in Orange County. All have different maintenance policies and capital improvement budgets. Some pipes are clay, some concrete, some plastic. They are subject to different problems.

Garden Grove took over its sewers three years ago from an independent district, but received no maps showing where the hundreds of miles of lines are buried. Experts say medium-sized pipes should be cleaned every year; the schedule in Garden Grove had been every seven years. The city’s mayor said some pipes disintegrated. Now the City Council plans to spend more than $1 million this year on its sewers and will clean the entire system every two years. That’s recognition of the importance of fixing the problem.

In Huntington Beach, where residents and city officials should be all too aware of the fragility of the beach, the City Council refused to ask voters for money to improve the city’s sewer system. Council members said the public did not understand sewer problems well enough for the measure to pass.

What will it take? A permanent closing of all the city’s beaches? It’s up to the city to let residents know the importance of their major asset, the dangers it faces and the solutions at hand.

At least the council mustered the votes to put an advisory measure on the November ballot. A committee that inspected the city’s streets and sewers pointed to nearly $90 million in needed repairs and replacements. For a community that calls itself “Surf City,” the problems of beach closures have to be solved.

But inland cities can force communities next to the ocean to post “beach closed” signs as well. Officials said three of the four beach closures in Seal Beach this year were due to sewer pipe blockages and breaks inland.

Last week’s survey results found residents saying everyone should pay to solve the problems of polluted waters, not just beach communities. That indicates a realistic assessment of the threat to one of Orange County’s premier assets.