120 



SOtTTHEBN CALIFORNIA CONDITIONS 



Marine municipal waste disposal practices today in the Southern California 

 Bight (essentially from Point Conception south to the Mexican border) consist 

 mainly of mechanical (primary) treatment (with sludge digestion) with the 

 liquid effluent discharged through submarine pipelines (from 1 to 5 miles offshore) 

 with long (thousands of feet) multi-port outlets (diffusers) at depths of alx)Ut 

 200 feet. These dispersion systems are designed to achieve an average initial 

 dilution (at the source or outlet) of in excess of 100 to 1 (100 parts sea water to 1 

 part wastewater) . 



Concern about the effect of these wastewater discharges upon the local ecology 

 brought about the formation of the Southern California Coastal Water Research 

 Project (SCCWRP) in 1969 as a local government agency organized by a 

 joint power agreement between the five government agencies responsible for man- 

 aging most of the municipal wastewater (1 billion gallons per day) discharge 

 into the ocean off southern California. 



The agencies are Ventura County, the City of San Diego, the City of Los 

 Angeles, the County Sanitation District of Orange County, and the County Sanita- 

 tion District of Los Angeles County. 



The agencies entered into the joint agreement since it was believed that their 

 previous research programs would benefit from the addition of a project with 

 regionwide focus. 



From the outset, control of the $1.1 million program was delegated to a com- 

 mission of local civic leaders and elected oflBcials in order to reflect — in an un- 

 biased manner — the current public interest in environmental quality and to 

 establish an atmosphere free from partisan pressures. This arrangement has 

 given the project freedom from control by other agencies and freedom from 

 political pressure fostering a broad and balanced viewpoint. 



The basic goal of the SCCWRP undertaking is to increase the understanding 

 of the ecology of the coastal waters off southern California and to analyze the 

 effects of man's activities (especially municipal wastewater discharge) on the 

 marine environment. 



Overseeing the work is a consulting board of experts headed by Professor 

 John D. Isaacs, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Chairman, and Members, 

 Richard K. C. Lee, M.D., former Director of Public Health for the State of Hawaii, 

 Professor Erman A. Pearson, Sc.D., University of California, Berkeley, Professor 

 Donald W. Pritchard, Ph.D., Director of Chesapeake Bay Institute and John 

 W. Ryther, Ph.D., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The Project Manager 

 is George E. Hlavka, Ph.D. 



The SCCWRP has just recently released a 531-page report which is based upon 

 three years research which states in part that "the health of southern California 

 coastal waters and inhabitants are such that there is little cause for serious 

 concern." 



In the interest of brevity, the following specific quotations have been abstracted 

 from the Conclusions and Recommendations (Chapter 12) of the report with 

 respect to specific waste constituents and their implications for water quality 

 management. 



(«) Plant NutricntK. — There is now no justification for altering present treat- 

 ment and discharge practice with regard to the gross plant nutrients introduced 

 into southern California waters. 



(6) Particulate Material. — Because of the generally minor and reversible na- 

 ture of the effects and the uncertainty as to the actual consequences of the most 

 well-intentioned corrective actions, there is presently no justification for any 

 major alteration of waste management or discharge practice from the effects 

 of particulate materials. There is need for further study of the distribution of 

 potentially irritating substances, the nature and causes of fin-erosion disea.se, 

 benthic community alterations, and possible secondary effects of wastewaters on 

 kelp. 



(c) Floatable Material. — The present practice of wa.stewater treatment and 

 discharge should be reviewed and modified to minimize the discharge of all types 

 of floatable materials. 



Further studies on floatable materials associated with wastewater discharge 

 are necessary. 



(d) Microorganistus. — Present southern California practice of wa.stewater dis- 

 charge and the achievable bacteriological standards for bathing waters more than 

 adequately protect those using southern California coastal waters for water con- 

 tact activities. The present established practices and standards for shellfish 



