A Nettlesome Problem

SUNSET BEACH —  Officials closed more of Orange County’s coastline Sunday as used hypodermic needles continued to wash ashore even as work crews were busy cleaning Sunset Beach, where more than 120 needles had been found a day earlier.

A mile-long span of Bolsa Chica State Beach was closed after work crews found about a dozen syringes there, and officials said other needles were collected as far south as Huntington Beach.

No injuries were reported, and officials said that although more than 140 needles had been collected since Saturday, they still had few clues as to where the dangerous debris might have been dumped, or who might have dumped it.

“There are some vials that have washed up,” said Larry Honeybourne, an official with the Orange County Health Care Agency. “With a little luck maybe there’s something we can identify and trace back.”

The medical waste might have been jettisoned illegally by a passing ship, he said, or could have been carried down area flood control channels and into the ocean by last week’s rains.

The storms washed piles of trash down the San Gabriel River and other waterways late last week, officials said, and strong ocean currents Saturday and Sunday pushed some still-floating debris farther down the coastline.

Work crews, including 40 juveniles supervised by the county Probation Department, spent all day combing an otherwise deserted Sunset Beach, where signs warned would-be visitors that the sand was off-limits.

Patti Schooley, a parks district supervisor overseeing the cleanup effort, said it is not unusual for crews to find a few syringes as the beaches are combed each weekend.

But she and other officials said this is the first time in memory that an Orange County beach has been closed because of medical waste washing ashore.

“It makes me cringe,” Schooley said. “When you find something like this, you just become so disgusted with people. Whether it’s medical waste or just trash, it’s the same sacrilegious approach to the environment.”

Officials said the beaches could reopen today, when health agency workers are scheduled to inspect the areas cleaned by crews over the weekend.

The closure was both disappointing and disturbing to local residents who came out for a day in the sun, only to be turned away by signs blocking every entrance to the beach.

“I just don’t think people care about the environment,” said Dianna Benac, a 33-year-old Huntington Beach resident who says she brings her two school-age children to Sunset Beach nearly every weekend.

When you come to the beach, she said, “you shouldn’t have to worry about stepping on a needle.”

Steve Merrill, a 35-year-old Huntington Beach resident, arrived carrying his surfboard.

“It’s disheartening,” he said. “You expect to read about this happening in New Jersey. But when it starts hitting in your backyard, it makes you realize how bad it is.”