Public Warnings About Pollution

Re “Sounding the Alarm,� Ventura County editorial, Dec. 19.

This editorial stated that health officials were not consistently warning the public to stay out of polluted waters. In support of its criticism, The Times contrasted two sewage spills.

One occurred Dec. 13, 1999, when “about 600 gallons� of untreated sewage discharged from a Ventura line and flowed into the Ventura Keys. The other occurred Oct. 1, 1998, when a flow initially estimated at 1,500 gallons of untreated sewage discharged from an Ojai Valley Sanitary District (OVSD) line into Canada Larga Creek.

The alarm was sounded for each incident. However, it should be pointed out that the OVSD initially reported a 1,500-gallon spill to the county Environmental Health Division (EHD). Not until the California Regional Water Quality Control Board administered a fine of $233,000 to OVSD on Dec. 9, 1999, was the county made aware of the magnitude of the release. Had a 1.2-million gallon spill been reported, the EHD would have indeed sounded a three-alarm bell. County health officials rely on accurate reports from public agencies and private utilities to protect public health.

In the other incident, The Times reported that the city of Ventura sounded the alarm when in fact it was the county EHD that notified more than 50 news agencies and directed city officials to post signs and notify Keys residents. In this case, based again on information provided by a private agency, alarm bells were sounded loud and clear because of the risk of exposure to nearby residents.

A more recent 500-gallon spill reported by the Ventura Regional Sanitation District caused contamination in Medea Creek. Because of nearby residents and the fact that Medea Creek flows through a park, warnings were posted, a press release was issued and Los Angeles County health officials were notified. Once again the alarm was sounded.

The editorial states that “county environmental officials consider marine spills . . . to be much more serious than those upstream.� This is incorrect. The EHD evaluates all sewage spills in the same manner and determines a response based on quantity of sewage released, potential for public exposure, possible threat to drinking water supplies, etc. Moreover, there are state laws that establish health standards and posting requirements for ocean water recreational areas but not for rivers or lakes.

The water quality standards for the Ventura River are enforced by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. Those standards, however, only focus on the quality of waste water permitted to be discharged into the river. We agree with The Times that there needs to be explicit health standards that protect recreational users of the Ventura River.

The staff of the EHD applies its skills and knowledge daily to situations that affect the food we eat, the water we drink, public beaches, clean and sanitary housing, public swimming pools, day camps for our kids, controlling disease-transmitting mosquitoes and rodents and protecting the public from hazardous materials. The laws are in place for health officials to take appropriate action to protect the public.

Unfortunately, in the case of OVSD, there was a failure to make a complete report. As such, The Times is justified to criticize, albeit not the county public health officials.

DONALD W. KOEPP

Director

Ventura County Environmental

Health Division