TASTYBABY DOESN'T LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER

- John Desmond

Don’t go in the water ... or at least not until three days after it rains.  For years this has been the mantra all over California and especially in L.A. County.  We have all had to smell the filthy runoff and see the beautiful beaches turn brown with waste after a rainstorm. In 2001, for example, there were 1,046 beach closings and advisories due to pollution runoff in Los Angeles County, and 1,592 in Orange County. According to the National Resources Defense Council, overall beach closings in California increased 85% from 1999 to 2001.  However, swimmers and surfers need fear no more, as the state of California and the Natural Resources Defense Council recently won a suit against Caltrans that had been ongoing since 1993.

“This represents a major step forward in the control of storm water runoff – the largest source of water pollution in the state,” said David S. Beckman, a defense attorney. In fact, polluted runoff is the No. 1 water pollution problem in America.  Beckman added that “Caltrans deserves credit for blazing a pathway that other agencies and cities should now follow.”  Douglas R. Failing, Caltrans District Director for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, said the settlement meshes with the agency’s goals.

California highways have been a source of toxic contaminants such as petroleum products, metal shavings, trash, solvents, fertilizers and pesticides, as well as both human and animal waste.  These roads are designed to disburse water quickly, which ensures that the pollutants move quickly to rivers, lakes and the ocean. These contaminants have been shown to harm not only critters like fish, sea urchins, shrimp and birds, but humans as well.  These beach closings, which have been happening more and more frequently each year, indicate that the water has been dirty enough to cause many diseases in human, including gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments and other serious health problems. The NRDC issued a report in 2006 that documented 4,644 closing and health advisory days in 2006 for California beaches, and studies show that these water-borne diseases have cost Californians tens of millions of dollars each year in health care and lost work.

The California Planning and Development Report explains the details of the settlement: Caltrans is required to reduce runoff pollution from its 1,000 miles of freeways in Los Angeles and Ventura counties to 20% less than 1994 levels by 2011. The decision does not spell out exactly how Caltrans is to make these changes, but it does indicate that roadside sand traps, catch basins and porous concrete are all viable options to reducing runoff and absorbing contaminants.  

The California Planning & Development Report estimates that full implementation of the settlement will prevent 6 million pounds of pollutants, including 24,000 pounds of toxic metals, from flowing into waters that drain into Santa Monica Bay.

The new act won’t go into effect immediately.  First, Caltrans must conduct surveys to determine the proper methods to control the pollution.  However, these surveys must be completed by 2011, at which point measures must be in place.  

California’s runoff problem is on its way to being solved, but other states’ bodies of water are in similarly polluted.  The NRDC is committed to curbing this contamination of our waters.  If you want to help or learn more, visit their website at www.nrdc.org/  or email them at nrdcinfo@nrdc.org  

Sources:
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/19/caltrans-to-reduce-runoff-from-freeways/

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BYL/is_/ai_n25408704

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/19/local/me-caltrans19

http://wwn-online.com/articles/57975/

http://www.acfnewsource.org/environment/beach_pollution.html