Sewage Treatment Plan Applauded

Re “Sewage to Be Fully Treated,” July 18:

Congratulations on achieving your objective. Orange County should be very proud for setting an example to all of the other polluting cities in the country. The cost is minimal compared to the payoff.

Nothing should be dumped in our oceans, and I hope to see urban runoff soon diverted to treatment. Why not catch the first two days of rain? After that, the pollution levels would be greatly decreased.

Cleaning up our mess is the future. Thank you for giving this issue the coverage it needed. Shame on you, Orange County Sanitation District board members who voted against a cleaner ocean environment. We must start somewhere.

Thomas Baugh

Solana Beach

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I’m so happy to hear that the Orange County supervisors are siding with the environmentalists and vowing to clean up the sewage. I’m an old lady on a fixed, small income and am in favor of cleaning up the sewage. I can spare the $16 that it will add to my taxes. This is a rich county and we’ve been acting like a Third World country by polluting the ocean. Go for it, supervisors!

Mary C. Thomas

Garden Grove

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Re “The Choice: Cleaner Sewage or Lower Taxes?” July 16:

I lived in Orange County for over 20 years before pursuing a career in marine biology, which allowed me to travel the world studying the ocean. The tiny country of Bonaire, in the Netherland Antilles in the Caribbean, is on the verge of investing millions of dollars to treat its sewage. Bonaire recognizes the primary importance of protecting its most precious resource--its magnificent coral reef.

The wide, sandy beaches and clean, cold surf of Orange County are among the county’s most precious resources, fueling the powerful economic engine of tourism as well as providing spiritual nourishment and a playground for millions of harried working people. The EPA’s waiver is a good example of poor environmental policy, one that reinforces the status quo instead of providing incentives for improvement.

The auto industry complained about the high costs of fuel efficiency and safety belts, but ultimately figured out cost-effective ways to provide these societal benefits. Let’s harness American ingenuity to figure out a cost-effective way to responsibly keep sewage out of the ocean.

Rod Fujita

La Jolla

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Re “State OKs Bleach Use for Ocean Sewage Line,” July 20:

I share the concerns expressed at the end of the article on use of bleach to treat sewage, as bleach has been shown to react with sewage to form toxic and carcinogenic byproducts, such as chloroform. While the Orange County Sanitation District should be encouraged in its efforts to reduce existing biological hazards associated with the discharge of sewage, it is important that new chemical hazards not be introduced.

James S. Nowick

UC Irvine professor of chemistry

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Re “ ‘Dr. Sewage’ Pushes Treatment of Water With a Practiced Approach,” July 8:

I have had the privilege of working with Jan Vandersloot, a.k.a. “Dr. Sewage,” and the Ocean Outfall Group since March 2001. During this time I have been a constant observer of Jan’s leadership style. I was impressed and intrigued in how he was easily able to enlist support from people and build his team, and how he interacted with his peers, elected officials and staff members on the Orange County Sanitation District.

His leadership skills, patience, knowledge of the issues and keen ability to work with a full spectrum of individuals have contributed to the huge success and respect he enjoys today. His ability to unite a broad group of people says a lot about Jan as a person. He was always open-minded, welcomed ideas and encouraged everyone to participate. He recognized that it was through the collective hard work of the Ocean Outfall Group and countless others who joined the do-us-a-favor, get-rid-of-the-waiver effort that resulted in the historic vote by the sanitation board. The world is a better place because of “Dr. Sewage.”

Theresa Sears

Orange