County Poised to Launch Cleanup of Most Polluted Beach

OXNARD —  As a coalition of environmental groups kicks off a campaign to protest the slow cleanup of Southern California’s most polluted beach, county officials say they have pinpointed the source of the problem and are prepared to begin cleanup of the once-popular children’s spot.

Several local environmental groups encouraged residents to send postcards to the Board of Supervisors, Oxnard City Council and the Oxnard mayor’s office to complain that the county is dragging its feet in dealing with pollution at Channel Islands Harbor Beach Park.

They argue that the wading area, which locals call Kiddie Beach because of its still waters and popularity with picnicking families, is not adequately guarded--neither by signs warning of pollution nor by lifeguards. They also contend that the public bathrooms are dilapidated and that there is no timetable for cleanup.

“We don’t want them announcing a wish list of things that might be done some day,” said Lee Quaintance, a member of the Beacon Foundation, one of the groups involved in the campaign. “We want them to act immediately in time for the summer.”

County officials wouldn’t disclose the results of the water quality study, expected to be presented at a public meeting March 28, but “No Swimming” signs will likely remain at the beach through summer, said Malcolm Walker, vice president at Larry Walker Associates, the Thousand Oaks firm the county hired last year to conduct a comprehensive study of the water.

“It’s a complex, multiple-cause issue,” Walker said. “We may be able to solve part of the problem by April. There are other parts that will take more time.”

The entire study was expected to be done at the end of 2000, but additional tests required more time, said Vicki Musgrove, water quality manager in the county’s flood control department.

Musgrove would not disclose the results of the study, but confirmed that at least one of the problems was a lack of circulation in the shallow band of water along the coast.

In addition, there is already a plan in place to renovate the bathrooms and replace some sewer pipes at Channel Islands Harbor Beach Park, she said.

She added that the county would have a timetable for those enhancements at its public meeting later in the month. The $118,000 study is a combined effort of the county and the city of Oxnard, after they failed to pinpoint the problem by sampling runoff, checking for sewage leaks and relocating a tribe of feral cats.

The beach has been closed since September 1999 because of high bacteria and other pathogens, which can cause stomach flu, sinus infections, skin rashes and upper respiratory infections to swimmers. Last year, Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay declared Kiddie Beach the most polluted of 250 beaches between San Luis Obispo and San Diego counties.

Beacon Foundation member Vickie Finan said the mail campaign was the only way to get the county’s attention.

“I think part [of the problem] is just how slow government works,” she sad. “The situation warranted it.”

Quaintance said the pollution affects low-income families that use the beach, saying his foundation sees the issue as one of environmental justice.

“We had one lady [fill out a postcard], and say ‘You know my parents used this beach, they took me there as a child, I’d like to take my own children there,’ ” Quaintance said. “It’s a vital resource, especially for lower-income families.”