Avalon Fines Boat Owners for Pollution

In its continuing effort to clean up its harbor, the city of Avalon has levied $500 fines against the owners of six boats--including the 730-passenger cruise ship Southward--for illegally discharging human waste into the harbor, city officials said.

The fines were issued over a two-month period beginning in early June, but the Southward, a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, was cited Saturday when harbor officials on a routine patrol saw waste in the water near the ship, said Mary Salisbury, a city harbor administrator.

The six citations resulted from increased enforcement by city officials of an Avalon ordinance prohibiting the discharge of waste into the harbor.

City and county health officials began monitoring bacteria levels in the harbor in July, shortly after 3,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the harbor from a leak near the Casino Ballroom.

County officials closed the beaches for a week after that leak, but the beaches will be open for the Labor Day weekend, city officials said. One higher-than-normal bacteria count was found during testing last week in the harbor.

Dye Tablets Used

In July, the city also began requiring boaters who moor in the harbor and owners of beachfront buildings to use dye tablets in their sewage systems. When inserted in sinks or toilets, the tablets leave red stains in waste water, allowing health officials to detect sewage sources.

The Southward had not been given dye pellets because the ship has its own water-treatment facility and normally does not discharge into the harbor, Salisbury said.

City officials said the waste may have spilled accidentally while the ship was switching from discharging sewage outside the ship (the method used at open sea) to its on-board waste treatment system, she said.

“We don’t believe it was an intentional discharge at all, but it’s still a violation of the ordinance,” Salisbury said.

‘Technical Malfunction’

Fran Sevcik, a spokeswoman at Norwegian Cruise Lines’ main offices in Coral Gables, Fla., said the cause of the discharge was “some kind of technical malfunction” of the ship’s sewage treatment system and that the problem was being corrected.

“It’s very regrettable and we’re very sorry that it happened,” Sevcik said. The company will pay the fine, and the ship’s captain, Tor Dyrdal, has apologized to city officials, she said.

All boats entering the harbor, including cruise ships, are warned of the ordinance “every time they come in,” Salisbury said. The city issues warning leaflets to boaters who moor in the harbor and transmits the warning over the Coast Guard radio frequency.

With more than 400 boats moored daily in Avalon Harbor, Hamilton Cove and Descanso Cove, city officials consider the six citations a low number, Salisbury said.

“There’s been extremely good cooperation,” Salisbury said. “People have the option to refuse the dye tablets and moor elsewhere, but no one has refused.”

County health officials have conducted weekly tests of waste water from buildings near the shore and of water near the beaches at Pleasure Pier and the Casino Ballroom to ensure the continued safety of the harbor for swimming, said Thomas Barnett, a county environmental health services manager.

In tests at eight sites last week, one higher-than-normal bacteria count was taken, Barnett said. County officials do not consider it a cause for concern because readings taken in that area have shown fluctuations, he said. The county has also expanded its testing of land-based sewer systems to include buildings within 200 feet of the beachfront. Previously, only buildings within 60 yards were tested.

The county’s tests will continue into November, Barnett said.

The city’s tests will continue indefinitely, even if bacteria counts are lower, City Manager John Longley said.

“A lot of (the water) is very, very clean,” and bacteria counts have “dropped measurably,” Longley said. “But even if it abates, we believe it will be a recurring phenomenon at levels we experienced this summer.”

The city has submitted a plan of study to county health officials outlining its long-term measures for enforcing anti-pollution restrictions, Longley said.