County receives low water-quality marks
The quality of water in Los Angeles County received the lowest grade of all California coastal counties in a recent report issued by the environmental group Heal the Bay. The 2005 California Summer Beach Report Card rated the Los Angeles County water quality with a score of 57 percent.
Heal the Bay measured water samples throughout California and graded the water quality on a scale from A to F based on the risk of ocean users becoming ill. Of the 450 locations that were monitored from Memorial Day to Sept. 30, 365 locations received As and 42 earned Bs, giving California an improved overall grade since last summer’s report.
Los Angeles County beaches received the lowest amount of As and the highest amount of Fs given in the last five years. Eighty-five percent of the Fs received in Southern California beaches, ranging from Santa Barbara to San Diego counties, were in Los Angeles County.
Heal the Bay’s report concluded that last winter’s heavy rains were not the sole cause of the disappointing Los Angeles County grades. A number of causes contributed to the poor marks, according to Heal the Bay, including inefficient maintenance of the low-flow diversions implemented at many of Los Angeles’s beaches. Heal the Bay says the county also failed to uphold AB538, a law requiring sanitary surveys to be completed at beaches where water quality problems persisted.
Important modifications were made to the 2005 Report Card, which utilized a revised grading method to more accurately characterize beach water quality. The new system incorporates state and federal geometric mean health standards and increased emphasis on the most recent week’s water sample relative
to the previous three week’s samples.
Sierra Club petitions Supreme Court on Forge Lodge
The Sierra Club filed a petition last week to the California Supreme Court requesting that it hear its lawsuit against the city over its approval of the Forge Lodge Bed and Breakfast.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge and a Court of Appeal panel rejected the Sierra Club’s arguments against the city’s approval. However, the California Coastal Commission denied a coastal development permit for the project in August. The Forges have since filed a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission.
City names interim parks director
Malibu Recreation Supervisor Amy Crittenden was introduced at last Wednesday’s City Council meeting as the interim replacement for Parks and Recreation Director Paul Adams, who will step down on Nov. 10. City Manager Katie Lichtig said the city is in the process for finding a permanent person for the
position.
Cleanup for Leo Carrillo
Resident Lindsey Bell is asking for volunteers to help clean up Leo Carrillo Beach, which she said was covered in trash, on Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. She will begin her cleanup effort at the stairs overlooking the surfing portion of the beach, south of the point.