Sewage Fears May Close Beach Again

Orange County’s public health officer said Tuesday he is considering closing a stretch of Huntington Beach’s shoreline this summer because treated sewage released four miles offshore may be drifting back toward the beach.

In a separate move, the Orange County Sanitation District on Tuesday announced a $4.1-million project to determine whether the treated sewage from its outfall was the cause of the devastating closures of much of Huntington Beach’s shoreline in the summer of 1999.

If there is a connection between the outfall plume and pollution at the shoreline, the waste water treatment agency could be forced to spend millions to further reduce bacteria levels in the effluent it pipes offshore.

Public Health Officer Mark Horton said he soon may make a “semi-permanent” decision to close the beach or possibly post health warning signs alerting swimmers. Another option would be to continue making decisions based on regular water-quality samples.

Through much of last summer, closures continued to plague a stretch of beach a quarter to a half mile on either side of Magnolia Avenue.

“It boils down to what do we feel we need to do to maximize protection of public health,” Horton said. “We’re considering the options.”

Horton said the amount of money allocated for the study reflects how seriously officials are taking the possibility that effluent is migrating back to shore.

Past closures have affected only portions of the city’s shoreline, but the stakes still are enormous. Huntington Beach’s 8.5 miles of beach attract an average of 10 million visitors a year. But the persistent closures in 1999 kept crowds away, hurting the city’s economy and tarnishing its reputation as Surf City.

City officials reacted cautiously to the prospect of beach closures order by the health department.

“They need to follow the law, and they need to do their job,” Huntington Beach city spokesman Rich Barnard said. “I’m surely not one to tell them how to do their job.”

He added, however, that “if they’re going to take those kinds of drastic actions, they need to be based on some data--either scientific data or testing data.”

Horton said that he’ll probably make a decision “before the swim season gets too far along” but that any decision could change based on the results of future studies.

Under state law, health officials must close beaches if they know sewage is present. If bacteria levels are high because of runoff, beaches generally are posted warning swimmers about potential risks.

But in cases like Huntington Beach when health officials only suspect sewage is present, they have discretion in how to respond.

In July 1999, a mile of shoreline was closed in Huntington Beach after a water sample recorded extremely high bacteria readings. Health officials suspected the bacteria came from raw human sewage reaching the beach.

By late August, more than four miles of ocean from Goldenwest Street to the Santa Ana River mouth was declared off-limits because of the persistent contamination.

Later after leaking sewer lines were ruled out as the cause, local authorities and researchers suspected urban runoff flowing from Talbert Marsh and the Santa Ana River. Last summer when bacteria levels were high, the beaches were posted warning that the water may be tainted.

Alarming Theory

In November, UC Irvine scientist Stanley Grant offered a theory: the Orange County Sanitation District’s treated sewage that is piped four miles offshore is being carried back to the surf zone by a combination of tides, underwater waves and a local power plant’s ocean-fed cooling system.

The sanitation district and others will test Grant’s theory during one 24-hour scientific survey in May and five 48-hour surveys from June to September.

Researchers will take water samples every five meters from the surface to the ocean floor. Tests for salinity, bacteria and sewage markers such as ammonium will help determine whether the sewage plume is present and determine its location. Sediment will be trapped using funnel-like devices and tested for a common chemical found in laundry detergent.

Devices will measure currents, water temperature and meteorological conditions. An “acoustic Doppler current profiler” mounted to a vessel will transverse the 35-square-mile ocean study area and measure current speed and direction.

Talbert Marsh and Santa Ana River researchers also may conduct a dye study to track how runoff disperses after entering the ocean. Last year a similar study turned the ocean off Huntington Beach a frothy fuchsia.

The sanitation district is paying $2.6 million to $2.9 million of the study costs; the National Water Research Institute, Orange County, the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Southern California will pay the remainder.

AES Corp., whose power plants are cooled by sea water that is then pumped back into the ocean, has pledged to pay $350,000. The California Energy Commission may require the company to pay $1 million if the agency approves a plan to restart two mothballed, gas-fired generators at the plant to boost the state’s electrical supply.

The sanitation district money is coming from its capital improvement projects budget. The district’s ratepayers will not see a tax increase, officials said.

Added Costs

Lisa Lawson, spokeswoman for the sanitation district, said that if the study determines the sewage plume is responsible for the water contamination, the agency would have to change operations.

Possible solutions include disinfecting the sewage with ultraviolet light, which would cost $30 million, or building a new secondary treatment facility, which could cost as much as $400 million.

Study results are expected next spring, but health care officials will receive a stream of data this summer. Health Care Agency spokeswoman Monica Mazur said she won’t try to predict how the agency will react but added that the agency tends to prefer the side of caution.

County health officials were praised by environmentalists for resisting pressure from local politicians to reopen the beach in late summer 1999.

“Based on our experience in 1999 and since then, I have complete faith in the county health officer in Orange County to make the call,” said Christopher J. Evans, director of the San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation.

“The county health officer has demonstrated a conservative and consistent approach. I think we’re in pretty good hands.”