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New Swimmer Health Effects Study
This summer, Heal the Bay will join the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, UC Berkeley, the Orange County Sanitation Districts and others in the initiation of a three year, $4.5 million health effects study on swimmers at runoff contaminated beaches. The study, funded by the State of California, National Institute of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the city of Dana Point, will focus on two chronically polluted beaches: Doheny Beach in Dana Point and Surfrider Beach in Malibu. Both of these beaches are perennially on Heal the Bay’s annual list of Beach Bummers on the Beach Report Card.
This isn’t Heal the Bay’s first involvement on a critical health effects study. We participated in the 1995 Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission epidemiology study led by Dr. Robert Haile at USC that found that one out of every 25 people that swam in front of a flowing stormdrain came down with stomach flu or an upper respiratory infection. This study will follow a similar design comparing the health risks of swimming in polluted water near a fecal bacteria source (creek or stormdrain) versus swimming at a clean beach nearby. Also, the incidence of illness in swimmers compared to non-swimmers at the same beach will be analyzed. Beachgoers will be interviewed three times: 1) as they arrive, 2) as they are leaving and 3) 10 to 12 days after their visit to the beach. From this, we will assess whether there were any adverse health outcomes such as stomach flu, upper respiratory infections, ear aches or skin rashes during that time period.
This study will be the most comprehensive health effects study ever undertaken in terms of the number of microbes that will be analyzed. Currently, up to 30 analytical techniques could be used to analyze beach water for over a dozen different microbes. Nearly all of these microbes have never been used before in a health effects study. Researchers from around the country will analyze samples from water at Doheny and Surfrider beaches.
The study will begin at Doheny Beach this Memorial Day and is scheduled to continue through the end of the Labor Day weekend. Next year, the study will occur at both Doheny and Surfrider Beaches. The potential ramifications of this study could be enormous because the EPA is currently developing new national beach water quality criteria by 2012. The results of this study could have a tremendous influence on the development of national criteria that will drive beach water quality monitoring, health warnings, discharge permit limits, water quality assessments for impaired waters, and Total Maximum Daily Loads for decades to come.
Ramirez and Escondido Creek Study
Over the past several years, Heal the Bay has observed that two Malibu beaches have continual, persistent bacteria pollution problems. Paradise Cove and Escondido Beach both scored poorly on this year’s Beach Report Card — Escondido Beach, in fact, was the most polluted beach in California in 2005–2006, and Paradise Cove was one of the most polluted beaches in Los Angeles County.
Under AB 539, counties must take steps to identify and stop sources of persistent bacterial pollution. When faced with lasting and slightly mysterious bacterial problems at local beaches, municipalities are required to undertake a Source Identification Study, which helps pinpoint the source of bacteria and provide some insight on how to end it. The County of Los Angeles, responsible for both of these beaches, decided to try to end the pollution problems at Paradise Cove and Escondido Beach once and for all. Beginning in March 2007, the County of LA, working with SCCWRP and Heal the Bay designed and began implementation of a Source ID study at each of these creeks.
Teams from Heal the Bay and LA County have been collecting water samples from numerous sites in both watersheds. Samples are analyzed for fecal indicator bacteria in Heal the Bay’s laboratory, and processed for future viral and DNA research that will narrow the potential sources.
Heal the Bay is happy to be a part of this project, and we commend the County for taking steps to identify and stop this pernicious pollution.
A Victory for Clean Beaches?
Epidemiological studies show that swimming in ocean waters with high amounts of bacteria can cause gastrointestinal, respiratory and other illnesses. In fact, a recent UCLA-led study published in Environmental Science and Technology estimates that between 750,000 and 1.5 million people get sick swimming in polluted water at Los Angeles and Orange County beaches each year. The study also concludes that poor beach water quality costs Orange and Los Angeles County residents and businesses at least $20 to $50 million a year in health expenses for stomach flu alone.
In order to address bacteria pollution impairments, in 2003 the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (“Regional Board”) adopted bacteria pollution limits for Santa Monica Bay beaches during dry weather. These limits are known formally as the Santa Monica Bay Beaches Dry Weather Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load, or “Bacteria TMDL” for short. Cities and other dischargers were given three years — until July 15, 2006 — to meet the Bacteria TMDL pollution limits making all of Santa Monica Bay beaches safe for beachgoers in the dry season (April 1st to October 31st).
Unfortunately, the compliance deadline has come and gone and many of Santa Monica Bay’s beaches still have elevated bacteria levels (above the TMDL limits) that can make people sick! Our most recent data show that more than 30% of the Santa Monica Bay beaches have exceeded limits and have been in violation of the law at some point since the July 15 deadline. Marie Canyon at Puerco Beach in Malibu, Surfrider Beach, Topanga Beach, Castlerock stormdrain near Topanga, Santa Monica Pier, Dockweiler State Beach at Ballona Creek mouth, and Redondo Beach near the pier are among the repeat offenders.
In order for the Bacteria TMDL pollution limits to be easily enforceable, the Regional Board needed to incorporate them into the actual language of the LA County Storm Water Permit. The critical decision by the Regional Board occurred on September 14th, 2006.
In preparation for the hearing, Heal the Bay released an Action Alert to ask our supporters to take action for the September 14 hearing. In response, hundreds of concerned citizens sent letters to the Regional Board members asking them to vote to incorporate the Bacteria TMDL pollution limits into the Storm Water Permit and to support clean beaches. Of note, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Association of Volleyball Professionals and the Surf Industry Manufactures Association also sent letters in support of this action.
The September 14 hearing drew a large crowd of supporters from many facets of the community such as surfers, beachgoers, doctors, parents, and children. The Regional Board heard testimony in strong support of the action from Heal the Bay staff, NRDC, Santa Monica Baykeeper, and the concerned public. Representatives from cities and LA County testified in opposition saying among other things that alternate enforcement mechanisms were more appropriate and numeric limits shouldn’t be in stormwater permits. In the end clean beaches prevailed, and the Regional Board courageously voted to incorporate the bacteria pollution limits into the LA County Storm Water Permit. Cities and other dischargers are now subject to fines of more that $10,000 per day per violation.
So what is next? Heal the Bay anticipates that enforcement of the Bacteria TMDL by the regional board is imminent. Instead of facing heavy fines for each bacteria limit violation, we are hopeful that the cities and Los Angeles County will take appropriate actions to ensure that bacteria limits are not exceeded and that Santa Monica Bay beaches are safe for beach-goers in the dry season. The Beach Report Card will continue to identify beaches that exceed bacteria limits and track compliance efforts.
On a related issue, Heal the Bay is concerned that the San Diego Regional Board is not adopting the Santa Monica Bay approach to their beaches and creeks fecal bacteria TMDL. Instead, the San Diego Regional Board has proposed an annual fecal bacteria load approach that is impossible to quantify or enforce. HtB is working with the San Diego Baykeeper to try to get the region to adopt the Santa Monica Bay approach because it is far more protective of public health, focuses on the frequency of days that exceed standards, and is far more enforceable. The San Diego Regional Board will make a decision this summer.
Santa Monica Pier Study
As part of the Santa Monica Bay Beaches Bacteria TMDL monitoring requirements, the ocean water quality monitoring location at the Santa Monica Pier was moved from 50 yards southeast of the pier to directly in front of the pier stormdrain. Despite the diversion implemented to eliminate flow from the stormdrain to the beach during the summer months, water quality has chronically exceeded state water quality thresholds at this location. Exceedances at this location have been of such frequency and magnitude as to result in the Santa Monica Pier having the fifth worst water quality in the state according to Heal the Bay’s 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 Annual Beach Report Cards. In order to determine the sources and possible remedies to such poor water quality at the pier, the City of Santa Monica partnered with Heal the Bay to conduct this bacterial source identification study. The five week study was designed to determine if fecal bacteria sources were offshore or onshore, were related to tidal cycle or current direction, and/or were localized near the stormdrain, leaky pipes, bird populations, or other sources.
The study concluded that the predominant source of fecal bacteria to the Santa Monica Pier beach is the pond in front of the pier stormdrain. Although pigeons and leaky pipes are potential fecal bacteria sources, Heal the Bay believes that the extremely high bacteria densities in the pond, the impact of a high-high tide on the pond size and depth, and the fecal bacteria gradient in the sand from the pond to the mean high tide zone, demonstrated that the pond is the most likely major source of fecal bacteria to the beach. Heeding Heal the Bay’s main recommendation, the city of Santa Monica filled in the pond area with sand. Santa Monica is also completing a more thorough assessment of their stormdrain infrastructure near the pier. It is highly likely that runoff is leaking though the diversion structure to the pier stormdrain and pond. A special thanks to professor Jenny Jay and her students for doing the sand samples and analysis. Currently, she is doing some follow-up work for Santa Monica on this chronic problem.
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