SURFING SOAPBOX: Sewage took back seat to traffic

The more I think about the sewage spill that occurred two weeks ago the more I believe the media failed us, the public — my column included. Or maybe it’s just the society we now live in. To many, the bigger story was the traffic congestion, rather than the 58,000 gallons of raw sewage that made its way onto our beaches and into our beloved ocean.

Hardly anything was written about our beaches here being closed for nearly a week, not to mention the precious marine habitat.

It was sad walking a stretch of coastline between Pearl and Cress streets only to see the beaches deserted, decorated with the yellow county-issued signs warning swimmers of contaminated water. Even sadder was the steam that hovered just above the shoreline Thursday afternoon at Blue Bird beach after the first loss of sewage.

Talk about a creepy sight.

Could you imagine if this spill had happened on the weekend of the 4th of July?

All those poor people would be stuck in traffic; never mind the beaches and ocean. In this day and age it seems many would rather piss and moan about the traffic congestion that was borne out of the sewage spill than the effect it had on our beaches. Frankly, we are misguided if we believe we can continue to take our ocean environment for granted.

Come to think of it, where was our Mayor, Jane Egly, during all of this?

I never heard or saw a peep of her. I did see City Manager Ken Frank.

But where was our City Council?

For a council with many who claim to be so environmentally conscious, where are you when it matters most? Maybe that’s just it; maybe our city manager is our council. Either way I’m looking at it, our City Council is soft and it’s time for a change. Perhaps they’re just stuck in traffic.

Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. His websites include AlohaSchoolofSurfing and ECOWarrior Surf.com. He can be reached at Jamo@Aloha SchoolofSurfing.com.