Well our oceans may be getting better BUT they are throughout California and we’re still the worst in the state. Technically they are safe for swimmers and surfers, but they’re still not great. With Catalina’s Avalon Harbor leading the way in most bacteria-laden beaches, Santa Monica Pier, Poche Beach and North Beach Doheny in South Orange County, Marie Canyon at Puerco Beach in Malibu, Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro and various locations in Long Beach are not far behind.
Drier-than-average weather helped keep most ocean waters cleaner; in rainy conditions, however, more than half of Southern California beaches tested fair to poor for traces of fecal bacteria.
“For storm water pollution, we’re not doing a good job at all,” said Mark Gold, president of the Santa Monica-based nonprofit Heal the Bay, which compiles the report. “The beaches are just as polluted today during rainstorms as they were 15 years ago.”
No matter how much Heal the Bay seems to be doing the runoff seems to be getting the best of them.
Runoff can contain trash, toxic heavy metals, pesticides, fertilizer, petroleum byproducts, animal waste and human sewage.
“It’s not surprising — it’s just frustrating,” Gold said. “We’ve had so much progress in so many other, different areas of coastal protection [yet] our beaches still look like landfills after every rain.”
So are our beaches safe? It depends on when you ask. Beware of the grades that Heal the Bay give to beaches. They test the water daily and/or weekly for coliform which comes from soil, plants, animals, and humans, and fecal coliform also known as E. coli. Bacteria pollution can cause stomach flu, ear infections, and rashes to swimmers.
This year, 87% of beaches statewide and in the Southland received A or B grades during dry weather; only 71% of beaches in Los Angeles County alone scored that high. Santa Monica Bay, long the subject of environmental and government scrutiny for pollution problems, is cleaner, Gold said. At the same time, Long Beach, at the terminus of the Los Angeles River, has developed as a new trouble spot, with particularly dirty water two years running.
The full report card, with county-by-county grades, can be found at www.healthebay.org/brc.
Here is a list of the worst 10 beaches in the state, according to the report, were:
– Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island
– Santa Monica Municipal Pier
– Poche Beach (Orange County)
– North Beach Doheny (Orange County)
– Marie Canyon Drain at Puerco Beach
– Cabrillo Beach harborside
– Long Beach, multiple locations
– Campbell Cove State Park Beach (Sonoma County)
– Clam Beach County Park near Strawberry Creek (Humboldt County)
– Pismo Beach Pier (San Luis Obispo County)
Photo by ngaderÂ
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1 Bobbie // May 23, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Yikes! I always thought the water in Avalon Bay was clean but I guess I haven’t been there in a while.
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