COASTAL : Group’s Monthly Reports Track Ocean Contamination

The Malibu/Santa Monica chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has unveiled a project to keep beach-goers informed of unhealthful bacteria levels in coastal waters from Malibu to Redondo Beach.

Each month the group will distribute a report to surf shops and other beach hangouts that tracks ocean contamination. The first reports were distributed this month.

Water samples are taken at 10 sites, including the Santa Monica and Redondo Beach piers, and Playa del Rey, Zuma, Topanga Point and Malibu beaches.

Chapter spokeswoman Debi Tappis said the organization came up with the idea to publish the report because it regularly receives phone calls from the public asking about conditions at local beaches.

The Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit environmental organization, will use test results collected by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in the reports.

The department tests the sites weekly and compiles the data by month, but the results are not readily available to the public, Tappis said.

“People may not know how to get that information. We’re getting the word out,” Tappis said. Bacteria levels “will be posted so the beach-going public will have the opportunity to see (results) and can make a decision on whether they want to recreate at the beach.”

High levels of contamination frequently occur at some beaches, according to the organization’s reports.

Swimming in tainted water may cause earaches, nose and throat irritation, skin rashes, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

County officials post warnings discouraging swimming and close beaches when bacteria levels are dangerously high.