Pollution Stifles Work of Oyster Farmers

Martin Strain leaned over the side of his boat to check his oyster crop one day recently during a rare break in the rains. The sea gulls and cormorants swooped by and the seals popped up out of Tomales Bay.

The peaceful scene belied a long-simmering controversy over the condition of the waterway.

Oyster farmers have been forced to cease operations for days at a time this winter as runoff from dairy ranches in the hills has polluted the bay, considered one of the cleanest bodies of water in the state.

“We were open one day in December” and 11 days in January, Strain said. “It makes it hard to maintain staff. Your cash flow is interrupted.”

Strain is one of six oyster farmers -- the largest concentration of shellfish growers in the state -- on Tomales Bay in western Marin County. There are only four bays left in California -- Tomales, Drake’s Estero, also in Marin, and Humboldt and Morro bays -- where shellfish are grown commercially.

State health officials require oyster farmers to stop harvesting for four to seven days any time it rains more than half an inch in 24 hours. Officials have determined that it takes that long to reduce fecal coliform bacteria to acceptable levels in the water, which oysters filter in prodigious amounts.

“It’s basically an unfair situation,” Strain said. “The majority of the pollution comes from the dairy farms.”

Strain, 46, who has run Point Reyes Oyster Co. for 19 years, said he has been trying to persuade the ranchers to clean up their operations for years.

“Some of them have improved their processes,” Strain said. “Some who haven’t just thumb their noses at us.”

Strain said another factor contributing to the high fecal coliform count was failing septic systems from homes lining the bay. Birds and other wildlife are another source.

Strain said local and state officials had done little to enforce rules to stop the pollution and that Marin County, considered one of the most environmentally sensitive places in the state, had a poor record as far as cleaning up Tomales Bay.

A leading dairy rancher and county and state officials disagreed with Strain’s assessment. They said much progress had been made in the last few years in getting ranchers to prevent cow waste from entering the bay, although more still needed to be done.

In addition, officials said repairs to septic systems were being made and so-called septic socials were being held by the county to educate homeowners on maintaining their wastewater systems.

Bob Giacomini, who runs a dairy ranch with 280 cows and a blue cheese operation in Point Reyes Station, said dairy ranchers formed a group specifically to work on preventing animal waste from entering Tomales Bay.

He said ranchers had built fences to keep cows from wandering into or near creeks leading to the bay. They also have erected “loafing barns” for cows to use in the winter. Waste is then collected in ponds and held until it can be sprayed on pastures in the summer. Giacomini takes it a step further by aerating his land so the waste is more readily absorbed.

“The dairy ranchers have been here 150 years,” Giacomini said. “We want to stay here. We want the next generation to farm here. We also want to see the oyster farms prosper here.”

Strain was one of the leading proponents behind the state’s 1993 Shellfish Protection Act, which required technical advisory committees to be set up in growing areas closed for more than 30 days in any season due to pollution. Such groups are required to examine reasons for the closures and develop remedies.

Dale Hopkins, who heads the Tomales Bay technical advisory committee and is an official with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, said an extensive study conducted with state health officials in 1995 and 1996 confirmed that high levels of fecal coliform bacteria from streams flowed into the bay during storms.

Water testing at 10 sites began anew this winter.

“Everybody thinks the regulatory agencies aren’t doing enough,” Hopkins said. “A lot has been happening in the last few years. It’s hard for the shellfish growers because a lot doesn’t translate to water impacts they can see.”

Hopkins said a regional board representative had visited the dozen or so dairy ranchers in the Tomales Bay area to discuss water quality issues and how they could contain waste in ponds and use it for fertilizer.

Hopkins said most ranchers were complying with state water quality laws, although she said that didn’t mean streams were free of bacteria.

Marc Commandatore, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Health Services in Richmond, said his agency planned to begin a study next month to determine if the rainfall closure rules for oyster farmers could be reduced by one day.

But he said health officials must keep in mind the serious consequences of oyster contamination.

In May 1998, more than 170 people got sick after eating raw oysters from Tomales Bay. Although the source of the problem was never pinpointed, the Norwalk-like virus that sickened people could only have come from human waste.

State health officials believe the outbreak was caused by a boater who dumped waste overboard, a camper who improperly handled waste, or a leaking septic system.

Since then, efforts have been made to educate fishermen and others about the problem and more portable toilets have been placed around the shoreline.

Phil Smith, environmental health services director for Marin County, said his agency has advised homeowners on how to maintain septic systems.

In addition, the county plans to build a new treatment system for at least 20 homes along Tomales Bay with $1 million in state and federal grants.

Smith also plans to continue the popular “septic socials” to help homeowners better understand their septic systems. People competed for reservations to attend one of the earlier events.