A Vote for the Beaches

The bankruptcy recovery plan selected by the county avoided the stiff medicine of a sales tax in favor of strategies that included user fees and cuts in services. One of the most difficult sacrifices in the quality-of-life arena was disbanding the county’s pollution testing team. In its place came voluntary and limited testing by harbor patrol officers, sanitation workers and others. The county now concedes the testing was not always reliable.

This cutback came at a bad time. The Orange County Health Care Agency reports that beach closures from water pollution last year hit a record high. After only seven closures in 1993, the number jumped to 17 in 1994 and then, in the post-bankruptcy years of 1995 and 1996, to 22.

The good news as this summer season arrives is that the Board of Supervisors recently voted to resume the pollution testing program for beach and bay waters. They and county health officials properly recognized that this program was needed to ensure the public’s health and safety. The decision reestablished a three-member monitoring team that will test the waters from Seal Beach to San Clemente. It also will determine whether pollution levels are severe enough to shut down beaches. This is $121,000 well spent.

A more lasting question is what we all can do about the sources of pollution. The new pollution testing is likely to target petroleum and pesticides in addition to sewage. Individual choices in handling such wastes can make a difference.

Beach closures are a dramatic reminder that the wonderful resource at our doorstep is fragile and vulnerable. The advent of the summer season ought to be a reminder of the part we all play in keeping the ocean enjoyable.