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  ANGIE LEVINE Many Southern California beaches, including Malibu, have been closed this summer due to water pollution.

By Arj Arjunan

Daily Bruin Contributor

While Los Angeles County has experienced fewer beach closures than Orange County, this summer L.A. swimmers may still be at risk.

Orange County’s record 41 beach closures last year and 30 this year have prompted investigations as to whether sewage discharged miles off the coast of Orange County beaches flows back into near-shore waters.

The Surfrider Foundation has tracked 600 complaints of surfer illness from Southern California ocean waters over the past five years, leaving some students afraid to swim in Southern California ocean waters.

“I keep learning about surfers getting sick with bacterial infections,” said Rob Sarkar, a third-year law student. “Every once in a while, the water gets bad for whatever reason. and I don’t think the city or the county is effective in warning citizens.”

Differences in topography distinguish the placement of the L.A. County sewage outfall pipe with that of Orange County’s, said Dave Montagne, a senior environmental scientist with the L.A. County Sanitation District.

The shelf off Palos Verdes is narrow, making it less likely for the sewage outfall to move back toward the coast, Montagne said. Meanwhile, the shelf off Orange County is shallow with a gentle slope. This difference may account for the relatively fewer beach closures in L.A. County this year, he said.

To keep the sewage from returning to the coast, scientists must study the topography and ocean current patterns to determine the specific depth and distance of discharge sites, Montagne said.

While there is little risk that sewage discharged off Palos Verdes will return to the coast, storm drain runoff in L.A. and Orange Counties also pose an increasing health risk for swimmers as the region’s population grows, said Steve Bay, a toxicologist with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project.

“Dry weather flow through storm drains has a high concentration of bacteria and pollutants that threaten human health,” Bay said.

The passage of Assembly Bill 411 by the California State Assembly in 1999 has led to weekly monitoring of contaminant concentrations near the coast. When concentrations exceed quality standards, closures and warnings are issued to protect swimmers.

But to keep beaches open, storm drain runoff containing elevated levels of bacteria, chemical contaminants and petroleum byproducts must be addressed, Bay said.

Anna Bevernick, a third-year microbiology student, said L.A. pollution keeps her from swimming in the ocean.

While beach closures have occurred all summer, water quality worsens during rainy months. The large volume of storm drain runoff during steady rain makes treatment efforts difficult.

Storm water treatment is not a widespread practice because it is extremely expensive, requires huge areas of land and may not be feasible from an engineering perspective, according to SCCWRP.

But dry weather flow, the waste material that travels through storm drains during the dry summer months, could be diverted to existing sewage treatment facilities, Bay said.

Knowledge about the dangers posed by storm drain runoff to ocean water quality should prompt people to modify their everyday activities, Bay said.

“There is a toxicity associated with common pesticides,” Bay said. “People need to stop overwatering and overfertilizing their lawns.”

With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.