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By Martha Groves
Los Angeles Times
October 5, 2006
Malibu's
coastline is considered the Riviera of California, but the
celebrity-studded city's famed beaches are often among the
most dangerously fouled in the state.
Over the years, officials have blamed the primordial stew of
surf contamination on a variety of causes: storm runoff, a
wastewater treatment plant, horse manure, bird droppings.
But officials also suspect that some of the septic tanks that
handle the household sewage of Malibu's multimillion-dollar
canyon homes are spilling pollutants into the oak-shaded
creeks that tumble down to Santa Monica Bay, tainting
Surfrider and other famous beaches.
FOR THE
RECORD:
Malibu pollution: An item in Thursday's A2 Briefing about
water pollution in Malibu said authorities hoped to test
septic tanks in the hills above Malibu. As the full article in
the California section stated, they plan to take samples from
the streams behind houses, not from septic tanks. —
At the urging of Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky,
officials have begun trying to identify the sources of the
fecal matter and other waste — using a novel approach
borrowed from law enforcement.
The county plans soon to begin using DNA testing of sea water
off Escondido and Ramirez canyons. The goal will first be to
discern whether the waste is human or animal. Officials say
they then plan to follow the trail wherever it leads, even if
that means to the backyards and horse stables of well-heeled
beachside and canyon residents.
Officials say they are developing a testing method and plan to
begin taking samples this fall, first from the ocean and then
farther upstream as needed.
Other possible sources, they note, are restaurants and
commercial facilities. The Paradise Cove mobile home park, for
example, is upgrading its septic system after officials found
that it was polluting the water off that private beach at the
foot of Ramirez Canyon.
"What we intend to do is look at specific locations where
counts have been high and, with the permission of property
owners, take samples from the streambeds behind their
homes," said Mark Pestrella, assistant deputy director of
the county's Department of Public Works.
If property owners don't grant permission, Pestrella said, the
county is prepared to seek inspection warrants.
Owners of suspect systems will be required to upgrade them or
face fines as high as $10,000 a day.
Steve Cain, a spokesman for the California Regional Water
Quality Control Board, the enforcement arm in such cases, said
it wasn't about the money.
"We're interested in correcting the problem," he
said.
In Malibu, talk of septic tanks, leach pits and the ubiquitous
foul stench known as the "Malibu smell" is hardly
new. After rainstorms, officials often must post signs on
Malibu beaches urging swimmers and surfers to steer clear
because of health dangers.
Celebrity residents Pierce Brosnan and Ted Danson are among
many who have championed the cause of better water quality.
Malibu was incorporated in 1991 and became a city with its own
local government because residents feared that a county
proposal for a sewer system would open up the area to the kind
of large-scale subdivisions and commercial development that
its residents had fled.
In recent years, the community has come under increasing
pressure from regional, state and federal officials to clean
up its creeks, Malibu Lagoon and Santa Monica Bay.
The city recently paid $25 million for the so-called Chili
Cook-off site near the civic center. It plans to spend $5
million to build a storm water treatment center there.
In May, Malibu suffered a black eye in the annual statewide
beach survey released by Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay.
Escondido Beach "was the most polluted beach in the
history of our report card," said Mark Gold, Heal the
Bay's executive director.
Heal the Bay, which has published its report for 16 years,
made strong recommendations to the county about how to pursue
a solution. "It became a top-shelf issue," Gold
said.
The development was overdue, many residents said.
"We're getting to a critical point," said Kelly
Meyer, who with her husband, Universal Studios President Ron
Meyer, lives at the beach near the areas targeted for testing.
"We're all part of the problem, so we can all be part of
the solution."
Meyer acknowledged that there are probably "a few people
who think it's not my fault and want to look the other way.
But, as a community, everybody is ready and willing to look at
solutions."
Judy Villablanca, treasurer of the Winding Way-DeButts Terrace
Home and Land Owners Assn. in Escondido Canyon, said she
applauded the program but worried that it might be hard on
older canyon residents who have lived in Malibu a long time
and "don't have the income to upgrade." A
state-of-the-art upgrade for a septic system can cost as much
as $100,000.
Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley said the city spent $900,000
studying contamination in the civic center area and found that
85% of the bacterial pollution resulted from surface runoff
from streets, parking lots and roofs; 15% stemmed from septic
systems.
He said he welcomes the county's DNA testing.
"If the DNA shows it's human, we'll have to do
something," he said. "If it's animal, we'll have to
do something. Either way, we'll have to fix it."
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