Storm drain to get stepped-up pollution enforcement

June Casagrande

A pollution-prone storm drain that may have contributed to the 1999

beach closure in Huntington Beach doesn’t have to be shut down and

the flow diverted into the sewer system, but the city must take other

measures to stave off hazards posed by the Caltrans-owned drain. And

neighbors are sure to feel some of the effects.

City officials say they plan to step up enforcement of

water-quality rules in the Seashore Drive watershed, an area between

61st Street and the Santa Ana River on the south side of Coast

Highway. Residents of the area will receive letters in the mail

sometime in the next few weeks telling them of the city’s plans to

increase pollution control in the area.

“We’ll probably be sending the water-quality police out there more

to make sure that people are picking up after their dogs, things like

that,” said Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff, who added the area

would be considered a “special enforcement zone.”

The city will also post “Don’t Pollute” signs in the area and

distribute pet waste bags throughout the area.

The storm drain is particularly problematic to ocean waters

because it is almost completely clogged and is in the tidal zone,

which means that ocean water floods in during high tide. The stagnant

water trapped inside might be providing a breeding ground for

bacteria. Silt backed up into the storm drain might also contain

pollutants.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board was considering

forcing the city of Newport Beach to spearhead an effort to shut the

storm drain and find some creative way to get the water out and into

the sewer system.

“We decided it was appropriate to give the city some time to try

this approach,” said Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer of

the water quality board.

The city wasn’t too keen on the idea for a number of reasons. For

one, it’s not the city’s storm drain. The city is responsible for

fixing the problem because, though it’s Caltrans’ storm drain, most

of the runoff in it comes from Newport Beach, Berchtold said.

Moving the contaminated water posed some serious logistical

challenges, in part because the tides that force ocean water into the

storm drain system would have added to the difficulty and expense of

treating the water as sewage. The city was considering using tanker

trucks to move the water into the sewers.

Now the board has approved the city’s proposal to work to reduce

the pollutants that enter the storm drain. Over the last two weeks,

city workers have installed filters at the storm drain entrances at a

cost of about $30,000. Enforcement and the campaign to educate the

public will cost about $12,000 a year.

Kiff said that the city would have preferred to spend these

resources throughout the city on a number of different water-quality

problems.

“It’s a priority for us because it’s a priority for the board,”

Kiff said.