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A SOILED STATE OF AFFAIRS
SoCal.'s most popular beaches flunk the pollution test |
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May 29, 2002 Once upon a time, America's many bodies of water were merely huge, open toilet bowls. Wetlands were disappearing at an annual estimated rate of about 460,000 acres, sewage treatment plants served only 85 million people, and runoff was choking inland and coastal waters with massive amounts of pollutants. Then, in 1972, Congress decided to actually do something for the Nation's future and passed the Clean Water Act. From that point forward, U.S. water quality only improved, and it still is today as many new programs are successfully tackling one hell of a foul problem.
But there's still a long way before we're out of the bowl -- especially at some of California's most popular beaches. According to Heal the Bay's latest Beach Report Card, several of the Golden State's shores are less than sanitary. Among the environmental organization's "Beach Bummers" list are -- surprise, surprise -- some of the State's most popular coastal spots, including Surfrider Beach in Malibu, Doheny and Baby Beach in Dana Point, Campbell Cove State Beach in Sonoma County, Channel Island Harbor Beach in Ventura, and Mission Bay in San Diego. And over all, a total of 26 beaches -- or seven percent -- failed the test completely.
All of this information comes courtesy of Heal The Bay's 12th annual report, which grades most of the beaches in the Golden State the old-fashioned way: "A" through "F," where "A" verifies the best, "F" indicates the worst and the other letter grades fall in between. But don't let the failing 7 percent fool you; the Beach Report Card's numbers show that California's statewide overall scores were better this year than last. Between April 2001 and March 2002, 83 percent of 394 testing sites pulled As and Bs, which is a great improvement from 2001's update. In fact, James Alamillo, spokesperson for Heal the Bay, assures that nearly 95 percent of the Golden State's beaches are more than safe, and concerning pollution, the State's monitoring and public notification procedures are top in the Nation.
However, the problem lies in the fact that California's 83 percent of 'good grades' are the result of a dryer than normal 2001. According to Mark Gold, Heal the Bay executive Director, "Many counties severely reduce or discontinue their water-quality monitoring program between November and March. This means that in the rainy season, when pollution is generally at its worst, we have very little water-quality data from these counties." And the areas that received such low marks have high concentrations of storm water runoff and poor water circulation, causing a grave danger to the large amount of visitors frequenting the adjacent waters.
Despite the sometimes-discouraging data, one thing's clear: we've come a long since '72. And, although frolicking in raw waste may still be on the agenda for certain California surfers, Gov. Gray Davis and Golden State residents are committed to improving all beaches by earmarking billions of dollars for cleaning up the affected ocean, rivers and streams. In addition, organizations like Heal the Bay and Surfrider are continuing to release annual beach reports that keep their politicians on track and constituents informed. Let's hope that by next year the combined efforts of the California entities can flush all the mess and pull straight As across the coast. ���Andrew Lewis
For the ABC's of California's beach pollution, log onto www.healthebay.org.
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