Group Demands Closure of Kiddie Beach Until It’s Safer

Alarmed by the county’s on-again, off-again warnings about pollutants at Oxnard’s Kiddie Beach, an environmental group is calling for officials to keep the area closed until the water is cleaner.

“Opening Kiddie Beach based on a few days [of] meeting minimum state standards plays a game of Russian roulette with the health and safety of children,” officials from the Beacon Foundation said in a written statement Thursday.

Swimming was banned at the beach--recently named the second-most contaminated beach in Southern California by the environmental group Heal the Bay--for nearly two years because of poor water quality.

A site study found a variety of causes, including bird waste and bad circulation, pushed bacteria levels above state safety levels.

But the beach was opened May 18 and the no-swimming signs were removed. Those signs were re-posted just four days later when, during weekly testing, county environmental workers found high bacteria levels once again.

A new round of tests followed and the signs were removed Thursday, meaning the beach will stay open through the holiday weekend.

The Beacon Foundation contends that the opening and closing of the beach will only result in “public confusion.”

William Stratton of the county’s Environmental Health Division agreed that the tests provide only a snapshot of the ocean’s bacteria levels.

“We take a sample and put signs up or down based on that one sample,” Stratton said. “After we drive away, anything can happen. But we don’t have the resources to test every hour. This is the best we can do.”

Stratton said his agency is simply trying to give the public as much information about the water quality as possible. It’s up to beach-goers to decide if they are comfortable going into the ocean.

“Given the history of this beach, people should consider that when making their decisions,” Stratton said.