If It’s Posted, Is the Ocean Safe?

* Re “It’s a Dirty Shame About the Beach,” Aug. 27 Orange County Voices:

Lorraine M. Scott’s frustration in regard to contaminated ocean waters is quite poignant.

Here in Southern Orange County, the Clean Water Now! Coalition has continually protested the grievous disparity between postings and closures.

Combine her comments with the recent findings of human viral matter in Back Bay of Newport Beach and the dilemma is clear: The state of California saves you from yourself when it requires a riding helmet for two-wheeled vehicles, yet does not restrain residents from entering waters that have acknowledged bacterial and viral pathogens.

Orange County health officials admit that some viruses, like hepatitis, can live viably for 90 days in water 60 degrees or warmer, so who knows if little Johnny got the sniffles at school or in the ocean?

Scott is correct; in legalese, these polluted creeks and ocean are an “attractive nuisance,” with the almighty dollar the bottom line.

ROGER VON BUTOW

Laguna Beach

*

I can understand why surfer and lifeguard Lorraine Scott alleged that Huntington Beach’s beach postings last year had a political twist to them, but a few points deserve clarification.

State law determines when a beach is posted versus when it’s closed. This law, lobbied by surfers and environmentalists, is called the “Right to Know” law.

A high reading of one or more of three bacterial indicators (total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus) will cause a posting, but only a suspected or actual sewage leak will cause a closure.

Postings mean that waters exceeded the state bacterial standards and that people can decide whether to go in. Closures mean no swimming at all.

Because we can’t tell the source of the bacteria, a variety of “natural” things could result in a posting, including bird droppings (one dropping can contain about 2.4 million fecal coliforms), garden fertilizers, and decomposing organic matter. That’s the weakness of this well-meaning state law: The water may be quite safe for humans to swim in but can still show high bacteria counts.

Huntington Beach officials had no say over when the beaches would open last year. It was entirely up to the public health officials at the county to test the water, read the data, and see if the data met state standards for safe, swimmable water.

Around Labor Day 1999, the closure went to a posting after a two-month (and $2-million) intensive survey (cameras, dyes and lots of other tests) of the sewer system in the area.

The survey allowed health officials to determine with near certainty that sewage wasn’t the problem in Huntington. Scott can look at Orange County Health Care Agency’s 1999 records to see where, when and how the data caused the closure and then led to its removal.

The most meaningful thing for which to test--actual human viruses--involves a science so young (and tests that are so expensive) that we’re stuck with this somewhat inaccurate attempt to measure human health risk via bacteria that may merely indicate the presence of the virus.

Scientists across the nation--especially here in Southern California, thanks to groups like the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project--are working on better testing methods.

Here in Newport Beach, we’ve got a costly study underway that looks for viruses and relates their presence (or absence) to the indicator bacteria. While the study results are not yet complete, some of our tests have shown an absence of a virus even when the waters are chock full of the indicator bacteria.

So in defense of Huntington Beach officials (and given that a good northerly swell would have put Newport Beach in a similar predicament), the closures and postings were fully out of their control.

But all of us, from Scott to any resident of Orange County who cares about water quality, can do our part to keep coastal waters clean. That means remembering that the ocean truly does begin at our front door.

Use a broom, not a hose. Pick up after your dog. Limit irrigation overflow. Don’t dump anything into the gutter or storm drain. Together we can solve the same problem that together we’ve caused. Pass the word!

DAVE KIFF

Deputy City Manager

Newport Beach