Surfing on a wave of microbes

NATURAL PERSPECTIVES

Summer is nearly upon us. It’s time for picnics, ice cream and a swim

at the beach. Unless, of course, the beach is closed due to

pollution.

It seems that every week, some beach somewhere in the Southland is

off limits because of high bacterial counts. It’s high time something

was done to end this nonsense.

We know where the pollution is coming from and we know what it

does. We know that urban runoff -- the water that trickles off our

lawns and driveways -- carries high levels of bacteria, pesticides,

herbicides, heavy metals, oils and other noxious substances. Unless

it is diverted to the sewage treatment plant, this toxin-laden water

flows down storm drains and straight out to the ocean where people

play and surf.

Viruses are another component found in this witch’s brew. Let’s

say someone clears their throat and spits on the sidewalk or out the

car window. That happens every day in every city thousands of times a

day. Who clears their throat? Usually it’s people with a respiratory

problem. That sputum just sits there until a good storm washes it

into the storm drain. And out to the ocean. That’s just one potential

source of viruses that lurk where urban runoff meets the ocean.

A study from UC Irvine found 880 to 7,500 human adenovirus

particles per liter of ocean water at four out of 12 sites sampled.

Adenoviruses can cause a variety of upper respiratory tract

infections. The most surprising finding of the study was that the

presence of viruses did not correlate with the presence of bacteria.

A beach may have a bacterial count that is low enough to render it

safe for swimming, but that doesn’t mean that the viral count is also

low. We wouldn’t know if a beach was free of viruses, because our

public health guys don’t even test for them.

The scientists at UCI found three types of viruses -- adenovirus,

enterovirus and hepatitis A -- in half of the waterways that they

tested. The latter two viruses cause gastrointestinal distress.

Whether or not the viruses were still viable and capable of causing

infection wasn’t examined in this study, but we know that people who

swim in the ocean regularly contract a wide range of respiratory,

ear, and gut infections. The UCI scientists concluded that urban

runoff is a significant source of human viruses at the beach.

With major apologies to the Beach Boys, let’s all sing together.

Let’s go surfin’ now, everybody’s learning how, go on a safari

without us.

At Huntington and Malibu they’re shooting the pier, through

bacteria and viruses and debris far and near.

It doesn’t need to be like this. Pollution from urban runoff

wrecks our health and our economy. It has made Huntington Beach the

butt of jokes. “Come swim in our sewage.” That makes a catchy city

slogan, don’t you think? Adding chlorine to the millions of gallons

of sewage that are dumped off our shores every day is only a tiny

part of what could be done. Actually, we believe that full tertiary

treatment is the right way to handle the sewage issue, but that isn’t

really our hot button for today.

Cities and counties need better tools to combat the very real

problem of urban runoff. Fortunately, Assemblyman Tom Harman has

proposed legislation that will give cities such a tool. Harman’s

bill, ACA 10, would amend Proposition 218 and add coping with urban

runoff to the same category as three other essential governmental

services: water, sewage treatment and trash collection. Cities

currently may levy fees to pay for these three essential services

without an approval by two-thirds of the electorate. Harman’s bill

would add storm water and urban runoff to that short list.

Certain services, such as providing clean safe drinking water,

dealing properly with sewage and hauling trash away, are deemed so

essential to our health that a two-thirds vote is not necessary to

levy fees to obtain the necessary funds to provide these services. We

agree with Harman that dealing with urban and storm runoff should

fall into this category.

This bill would not add additional regulation, dictate the manner

in which agencies manage urban runoff, or even require them to deal

with it. There would still be public hearings about any changes in

fees. The bill would simply give agencies a mechanism by which they

could reasonably obtain funding to solve the very real problem of

this major public health hazard.

Solutions to pollution are available. Agencies only need a way of

funding them. Harman’s bill would provide a tool that is desperately

needed so that agencies can cope with this crisis of confidence in

our beaches. We all contribute one way or another to beach pollution.

It is only by acting together as an organized and responsible society

that we can deal with it.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].