L.A. County Replete With State’s Dirtiest Beaches

Summer beachgoers should pack caution along with sunscreen and towels now that an environmental group has rated Los Angeles-area shores the most polluted coastal waters in California.

In an annual statewide beach survey released Wednesday by Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay, most of the 10 most polluted beaches are in Los Angeles County, including the five worst in the state.

The survey found that contamination occurred at more beaches in Los Angeles County than previously thought, in part because bacterial samples are now being collected closer to storm drains and creeks -- considered a better method for determining health risks to swimmers. The waterways flush motor oil, pesticides, trash and human and animal waste to sea.

Health officials recommend that people avoid swimming within 100 yards of a flowing storm drain or for up to three days after a storm.

Exposure to contaminated ocean water can increase the risk of stomach flu, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and skin rashes.

Although some notoriously contaminated shores appear on the list of “beach bummers,” some unexpected sites are also included: Will Rogers State Beach at Chautauqua Boulevard; the Santa Monica Municipal Pier area; Cabrillo Beach on the harbor side at the lifeguard tower; Surfrider Beach in Malibu; Topanga State Beach; Avalon Beach on Catalina Island; Doheny Beach in Orange County; the Tijuana River mouth near San Diego; and Pillar Point Harbor beach at Capistrano Avenue in San Mateo County. Those sites had the most frequent violations for bacteria levels.

But the most polluted beach in California is a stretch along northern Santa Monica Bay, including Escondido Beach, Puerco Beach at the Marie Canyon storm drain, and Castle Rock Beach at the Castlerock and Santa Ynez storm drains near Pacific Palisades. Escondido Beach failed to meet water quality standards 95% of the time -- the worst score for a California beach in nearly two decades.

Although urban runoff is the chief source of coastal pollution, leaky sewage pipes on Catalina Island and septic tanks and horse corrals in Malibu probably account for contamination at those beaches, said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay.

John Schunhoff, chief of operations for the L.A. County Department of Health Services, said water quality along the shore is not as bad as the report indicates. He said some of the most polluted beaches include 14 sites tested for the first time.

“The new sites are smaller beach sites where there’s primarily private homes and not much public use or access,” Schunhoff said. “So the exposure is less.”

Environmentalists and recreational users faulted county health officials for failing to post warning signs at all contaminated beaches.

The Heal the Bay beach report card, now in its 16th year, is prepared using data from state and local agencies. The group analyzed fecal coliform, total coliform and enterococcus -- indicators of disease-causing viruses or protozoa -- in tests conducted between April 2005 and March 2006 at 450 beaches from Oregon to Mexico. It assigns a grade, A being the best water quality, based on how often bacteria limits were exceeded.

The good news is that 85% of the state’s beaches scored an A or B in dry weather. Vast stretches of the Southern California coast received an A, including much of Ventura County, the South Bay, Palos Verdes, Seal Beach to Huntington Beach, Newport Beach to San Clemente, and nearly all beaches in northern San Diego County.

The worst beach water quality occurs during rainy weather. All told, 80% of the beaches in Southern California received an A grade during dry weather, but in wet weather just 37% did, with 31% receiving an F.