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By Seema Mehta and Jennifer Delson
Los Angeles Times
September 9, 2006
Fears
that major fireworks shows may be polluting the Pacific Ocean
could dampen pyrotechnics displays along the California coast.
A threatened lawsuit by an environmental group prompted
SeaWorld San Diego to scrap its fireworks shows for the rest
of the year, and beach cities are wondering if heightened
scrutiny by state regulators will make fireworks for the
Fourth of July and other traditional celebrations too
expensive to support.
Environmentalists "are pushing the envelope and, yes, it
will be troublesome for any agency firing over water,"
said Dusty Crane, spokesman for the Los Angeles County
Department of Beaches and Harbors, which shoots fireworks off
Marina del Rey for Independence Day, the annual Christmas boat
parade and New Year's Eve.
Any new fireworks regulations are "definitely going to
make it more difficult, and it's going to be more costly, and
it could end them," Crane said.
Federal and state environmental regulators said they know of
no previous regulatory efforts regarding fireworks and water
pollution, aside from a 2003 study of Lake Tahoe that resulted
in no action.
"It's an unusual circumstance," said Nancy Woo,
associate director of the water division for the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's regional office. "On
first blush, I was, like, 'Whoa, that's a good question.'
"
SeaWorld amusement park has more than 120 fireworks displays
annually, shot off a barge in Mission Bay.
San Diego Coastkeeper has grown increasingly concerned about
the displays' cumulative effect on the water and the sediment
in the bay, said Marco Gonzalez, attorney for the
environmental organization.
On June 26, Coastkeeper notified SeaWorld that it intended to
sue the park for violating the federal Clean Water Act,
alleging that its fireworks displays shower harmful heavy
metals and chemicals into the bay, and that it never applied
for a state permit to discharge such pollutants into the
water.
"The incremental impacts from long-term fireworks
displays are something we know nothing about," Gonzalez
said.
SeaWorld decided Aug. 20 to suspend its fireworks and plans to
apply for a discharge permit from the San Diego Regional Water
Quality Control Board by month's end, said SeaWorld spokesman
Dave Koontz. He said the park does not agree with the
allegations or the contention that a permit is required under
the Clean Water Act.
"But in light of the fact they intended to file a lawsuit
against us, we decided the most appropriate course of action
was to suspend the fireworks," he said.
Koontz said the park takes steps to deal with pollution,
sending out a crew in a boat after each display to pick up
paper debris. The next morning, workers scour the beaches off
SeaWorld and Fiesta Island for debris that may have washed
ashore.
Additionally, he said, the California Coastal Commission has
required the park to monitor the waters of Mission Bay for the
past five years, and the data show that the fireworks have not
had an impact. "We feel we're extremely responsible in
how we conduct our fireworks operation," he said.
Fireworks also release metals such as copper — which creates
the color green — and chemicals such as perchlorate, which
is used in detonation.
John Robertus, executive officer of the regional water board,
said a review of SeaWorld's permit application would take six
months to a year. As part of that review, the agency will
investigate the bay's water and sediments to ensure that
pollutants from the fireworks are not affecting the ecosystem
and will look at the effects of the sound on birds that nest
in Mission Bay, a stopover on the Pacific Flyway.
If the agency determines that fireworks over the ocean should
be regulated, Robertus envisions a multitiered approach.
Cities and organizations that shoot off fireworks once or
twice a year might receive a waiver; a general state permit
might be issued to those who sponsor several shows a year; and
entities that hold them frequently, such as SeaWorld, might be
required to apply for a permit that includes extensive
environmental monitoring.
"The SeaWorld problem is perhaps a little more unique
than other fireworks displays because it occurs 120 times on
an annual basis," Robertus said, "and it takes place
over the water in Mission Bay, and Mission Bay does not have
good circulation and it's quite shallow."
Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal
Commission, said his agency also could require those who put
on fireworks displays to obtain a coastal development permit.
Though regulatory agencies had not considered fireworks in the
past, he said, they ought to, given the increased knowledge
about the cumulative impact of pollutants. "We have to
elevate our level of concern," he said.
Coastkeeper hopes the action brings increased scrutiny to all
fireworks celebrations in the state.
"The Clean Water Act is very clear: Any discharge of
pollutants … into waters of the United States requires a
permit, and the mere fact that fireworks are tied to our
patriotic Fourth of July celebrations is not an exemption
under the Clean Water Act," he said.
Julie L. Heckman, executive director of the American
Pyrotechnics Assn. in Bethesda, Md., called the possible
regulatory action "absurd," and said fireworks pose
little environmental risk.
"Fireworks are designed to burst and be consumed in the
sky. They burn by combustion. We are not directly discharging
or emitting chemicals into the water stream," Heckman
said. "This is another attempt of the environmentalists'
extreme let's-just-ban-everything. This industry has been
under such regulatory scrutiny since 9/11. At some point, it
has just got to stop or Americans are not going to see
fireworks ever again."
Cities that play host to fireworks displays also are concerned
that more bureaucracy means more costs.
Renee Dunn, spokeswoman for the Port of San Francisco, which
hosts a handful of fireworks annually in the bay, said permits
"would be a huge problem for us. It would create quite a
glitch for festivities in San Francisco."
Laurie Payne, community information officer for Huntington
Beach, said that volunteers were already stretched thin,
raising $50,000 annually for the Fourth of July display off
the pier. "It sounds like an additional expense. Any
added expense would be difficult because … it would be more
of a burden on the volunteer group," she said.
In San Diego, Alex Raugust said he learned that SeaWorld's
fireworks were halted as he was waiting for the show in his
Point Loma backyard with his young cousins.
"I thought, 'What a nice treat for these young kids.'
Instead, what they learned about was our litigious society. I
was kind of disgusted," he said. "The SeaWorld
fireworks are like a summer tradition in San Diego, and it's
kind of a perk of living in this area. It's like a nightcap at
the end of the evening."
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