Heal the Bay’s 18th annual Report Card for California Beaches, had alarming, bad and good news for Malibu. The report, covering the past year’s water quality, was released on Wednesday during a press conference at the Santa Monica Pier.
In alarming news, the city is one of 20 municipalities along with the county to receive Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board notices that it has violated orders requiring Santa Monica Bay beaches to be cleaned up. The city, which received the paperwork in March, could be fined up to $10,000 per day per violation at Surfrider Beach, the report states.
In bad news, Puerco Beach landed on Heal the Bay’s list of California’s 10 most polluted beaches for the third year in a row.
The good news is Southern California’s historic drought last year resulted in stretches of very good to excellent summer water quality in western Malibu from Leo Carrillo to Topanga, with the exception of the Marie Canyon drain at Puerco Beach.
Puerco is the only Malibu beach on the environmental watchdog’s “Top 10 Beach Bummers” list.
The list of worst beaches has the Marie Canyon storm drain, which empties on the beach adjacent to Malibu Colony, as No. 5, down from No. 3 last year and No. 1 in 2005-06.
Paradise Cove received an F, and Escondido Creek and Surfrider Beach received Cs in the year-round dry weather category.
Last year’s fires in Malibu clogged the pump at Los Angeles County’s treatment facility on Malibu Road, accounting for the poor showing of the Puerco Beach site, said Heal the Bay Executive Director Mark Gold.
“Marie Canyon was a real disappointment because the county worked so hard to get the facility up and running last summer,” Gold said.
It was also revealed Paradise Cove has still not been cleaned up.
“Paradise Cove, or Parasite Cove, as it is known to many, is still in gross violation of Regional Water Quality Board orders,” Gold said. “It’s an egregious situation that needs to be rectified as soon as possible.”
The Kissel Co., owner of the Paradise Cove Mobilehome Park, in August was slapped with a Notice of Violation from the RWQCB order of Oct. 24, 2006 for years of alleged sewage spills. The notice threatened potentially millions of dollars in fines.
RWQCB orders result from failure to comply with beach bacteria health standards mandated by state law.
The Top 10 Beach Bummers, 2007-2008
1. Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
2. Santa Monica Municipal Pier (Los Angeles County)
3. Poche Beach (Orange County)
4. North Beach Doheny (Orange County)
5. Marie Canyon Drain at Puerco Beach (Los Angeles County)
6. Cabrillo Beach harborside (Los Angeles County)
7. City of Long Beach — multiple locations (Los Angeles County)
8. Campbell Cove State Park Beach (Sonoma County)
9. Clam Beach County Park near Strawberry Creek (Humboldt County)
10. Pismo Beach Pier (San Luis Obispo County)