VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY -- THE NATURAL PERSPECTIVE

The headlines scream: “Marsh may be cause of beach closure.”

Recent press reports would have you believe the ducks and gulls of

Talbert Marsh are responsible for last summer’s crisis of beach

contamination. The headlines are dramatic, but are they accurate?

Two UCI researchers, Stanley Grant and Brett Sanders of the School of

Engineering, have just released a detailed and professional report on

their studies of bacteria in the Talbert flood control channel. One

aspect of their data is, in fact, consistent with wildlife being a source

of measurable amounts of bacteria. But Grant and Sanders have stressed

that this point is not proved by their data and that other explanations

are equally plausible.

Their data does, however, provide positive proof of two other points,

neither of which received the coverage it deserved in initial news

reports -- even the report in this fine newspaper. One point was missed

almost universally by the press.

Grant and Sanders have proven decisively that the city and county flood

control pump stations do, in fact, produce coliform bacteria that go down

the channel and out to sea. This conclusion is both certain and

significant. It is proof positive of the benefit of storm water diversion

to the sewer system. This diversion is not free, but it definitely does

keep bacteria from urban runoff out of the ocean.

The city and the county owe it to the public to make permanent their

program of temporary diversion and to expand it to all of their pump

stations.

Another point that Grant and Sanders proved conclusively is that large

amounts of bacteria are getting into the ocean from some source other

than the Talbert Marsh.

Just what this other source (or sources) might be remains a mystery, but

the Santa Ana River is one likely suspect. This is the point that Grant

was trying to make to the press with his “smoking gun” metaphor. He said

that there is a “smoking cannon somewhere out there” that we haven’t

identified yet. He called the Talbert Channel a mere “smoking BB gun.”

Fortunately, Grant and Sanders plan additional studies that will try to

locate the really big source that still needs to be tracked down.

The bad news is that, at the moment, there is only one substantial

measure that is being taken to reduce the likelihood of future beach

contamination problems. That measure is storm drain diversion to the

sewers. That isn’t enough.

One comment of Grant’s didn’t get any news coverage.

Grant is adamant that society must find better ways to clean up urban

runoff. The pump stations are only a part of the problem. They service

only the most low-lying areas. Runoff from most of Orange County never

passes through a pump station. Diverting pump station flow is a good

thing, but it’s only a first step on a long journey. Keeping trash and

dog droppings out of the gutters is the only way to keep them off our

beaches. This is an enormous undertaking, but it is one we must accept.

We also have to continue our efforts to trace the flow of contaminants

from our city streets out into the ocean. The city plans further

research. That research needs to focus again on Talbert Marsh and

determine whether it generates bacteria or removes it from the water. Is

there a higher bacterial count in the water before it enters the marsh or

after it leaves the marsh? We’re confident that careful research will

prove the former.

Blaming the birds is not going to solve the problem. What it might do is

distract us from the problem and keep us from doing anything.

Wetlands are known to clean the water that flows through them of many

types of pollutants. Wetlands are of benefit to society in many ways, and

restoring more wetlands in Huntington Beach is sure to improve our

environment, not make it worse.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

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