TERRANCE PHILLIPS -- The Harbor Column

The city of Newport Beach doesn’t own the ocean in front of our sandy

beaches. Newport Beach doesn’t even own the harbor. For example, there

are no fences saying, “On this side, it’s Newport’s ocean and on the

other it’s Huntington Beach’s ocean.” Water isn’t like fenced-in cattle

we can control. It seeks its own level. Unless it’s contained in a cup, a

bottle or behind a dam, it usually goes anywhere it pleases and so does

its passengers.

Around here, an ocean-going passenger can be a Styrofoam cup, a dirty

diaper, an old beer can, trash or health-threatening bacteria. Therefore,

when a plume of sludge emanating from Huntington Beach appears off the

coast, we cannot ignore it. The plume’s passengers just might say, “hey,

let’s go down and visit Newport for a while,” and they do.

Mayors from seven coastal cities were invited to attend the Orange

County Coast Assn.’s annual state-of-the-environment luncheon this past

Thursday. Newport Beach Mayor Gary Adams was unable to attend due to a

bout with the flu. It made me wonder if he just happened to have taken a

swim in our ocean the day before.

Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood represented Adams, reading from his

prepared statement: “It’s not that the ocean water in this area is

dirtier than the rest of the state, it’s just that we test more than

other areas.” To me this sounded exactly like a movie where the mayor of

a small, tourist-type city ignored inherent danger to avoid scaring away

the tourist trade. He (the movie mayor) ignored a danger that cost people

their lives. The movie was set in a town named “Amity,” and the film was

“Jaws.”

I realize our mayor and City Council cannot be held responsible for

any potential contaminated water off our coast. However, we must police

our own contribution to the polluting of our oceans. It is paramount that

our city become more assertive in protecting the water. A parking meter

violation gets more attention than a threat that can devastate the reason

Newport Beach is known as a resort town. We have lots of sand, but let’s

not bury our heads in it.

It is interesting that on the same day I read the mayor’s statement in

the newspaper, I observed the following articles: “Sewage Spill Closes

Portions of Dana Point Harbor,” (L.A. Times 2/9/01 page B3) and “Swimmers

Warned of Contaminated Water at 4 Beaches (Ventura County),” (L.A. Times

2/9/01 page B9). Why downplay an inherent risk?

The problem we have cannot be corrected by a whiskey-drinking sea

captain named “Quint.” We can’t stick a harpoon in it and the problem

goes away. Our threat is more than a 25-foot long movie star and will

take more than a wooden boat with a scientist, a police chief and an

Irishman aboard to fix.

This will take each of us, the entire town, state and country. Mr.

Mayor, you are doing a great job on many programs that stand before us as

the number of parking citations the city writes will attest. Now let’s

tackle some issues with a little more teeth.

* TERRANCE PHILLIPS is the Daily Pilot’s boating writer. You can reach

him via e-mail at o7 [email protected]