Monitoring Southern California's Coastal Waters (1990) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Sources of Pollution and Habitat Change
2 Sources of Pollution and Habitat Change
Pages 16-41
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From page 16... ...
I6day, the ever-growing population of about 15 million has dramatically increased its utilization of marine resources and the types and amounts of contaminants produced and released to the Southern California Bight. These contaminants stem from sewage discharges, aerial fallout, land runoff, industrial and munitions disposal, dredged material disposal, and thermal enrichment.
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From page 17... ...
SOURCE: SCCWRP, 1986a. MAJOR SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS Sixteen municipal sewage treatment plants discharge partially treated sewage directly into the U.S.
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From page 19... ...
percent received secondary treatment, and 0.4 percent was anaerobically digested sewage sludge, discharged from the Hyperion Treatment Plant. The Hyperion Treatment Plant operated by the city of Los Angeles discharged sludge from 1957 through 1987 via an ocean outfall in 318 ft of
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From page 20... ...
In addition, there are several major channels in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties for stormwater runoff. In the Los Angeles County Flood Control District alone, there are 2,000 mi of underground drains, 500 mi of open channels, and 50,000 catch basins.
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From page 21... ...
, from coastal industrial operations, more than 25 permitted discharges of produced water from offshore oil and gas platforms, spills, atmospheric fallout, and permitted ocean dumping of dredged material and drilling muds. The volumes of permitted discharges from coastal industries and offshore oil production platforms are small compared to wastewater
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From page 22... ...
They include approximately 82 percent of municipal wastewater effluents, 95 percent of discrete industrial wastewater discharges, 70 percent of power plant cooling water returns, and 71 percent of surface-water runoff. Oil and gas production and associated discharges occur in state and federal waters between Point Conception and Huntington Beach.
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From page 23... ...
FIGURE 2-4 Major offshore oil and gas fields in state and federal waters of the Southern California Bight. Names of fields are 1, San Miguel; 2, Point Sal; 3, Point Pedernales; 4, unnamed 0443; 5, Bonito; 6, Electra; 7, Point Arguello; 8, Rocly Point; 9, Jalama; 10, Sword; 11, Government Point; 12, 13, Conception Offshore; 14, Sacate; 15, Pescado; 16, Cuarta Offshore; 17, Alegna Offshore; 18, Hondo; 19, Caliente Offshore; 20, Gaviota Odshore; 21, Moleno Offshore; 22, Capitan; 23, Naples Offshore; 24, Ellwood; 25, South Elwood Offshore; 26, 27, Coal Oil Point; 28, Santa Rosa; 29, Dos Cuadras; 30, Summerland Offshore; 31, Pitas Point; 32, Carpinteria; 33, Rincon Onshore; 34, Santa Clara; 35, West Montalvo; 36, Sockeye; 37, Hueneme; 38, Venice Beach; 39, Playa del Rey; 40, Torrance; 41, Wilmington; 42, Belmont Onshore; 43, Huntington Beach Offshore; 44, Beta Northwest; 45, Beta; 46, West Newport Onshore.
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From page 24... ...
Eganhouse and Kaplan (1982) estimated that the five largest municipal wastewater treatment plants in Southern California discharge a combined total of 17,400 metric tons per year of petroleum hydrocarbons to the Southern California Bight.
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From page 25... ...
There is continued public concern about possible emissions of radionuclides to the bight from SONGS at San Clemente, and in treated sewage effluents. All discharges to the air and water from SONGS are monitored for radioactivity (Southern California Edison Company, 1987; see also Chapter 4~.
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From page 26... ...
Concern about pathogens in coastal waters of the bight has historically focused on beaches and the adjacent surf zone. However, increased use of offshore kelp beds by recreational and commercial divers prompted the State Water Resources Control Board to amend the California Ocean Plan to extend monitoring of surface waters for bacterial contamination to offshore kelp beds.
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From page 28... ...
By 1985, BOD emissions from the seven major treatment plants had dropped to about 255,000 metric tons per year, and showed a substantial further decrease when ocean discharge of sewage sludge ceased. It should be noted that since the early 1960s, sewage-derived BOD has been discharged directly to the ocean, not to bays, harbors, or estuaries (discharge of cannery wastes at Terminal Island ceased in 1978~.
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From page 29... ...
The amount of ammonia nitrogen (the most useful form to phytoplankton) discharged in municipal waste water from the seven largest treatment plants, has not varied much over the years.
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From page 30... ...
'\.-,. · Silver · Cadmium I/ by_ 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 YEAR _ ~ ~ 1\~ · DOT · PCB 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 YEAR FIGURE 2-6 Mass emissions from seven large municipal sewage treatment plants discharging to the Southern California Bight, 1971 through 1985.
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From page 31... ...
. In the past 15 years, municipal sewage treatment plants have undertaken source control programs, enforced stringent pretreatment programs, and adopted procedures (including secondary treatment)
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From page 32... ...
reported that between 1967 and 1982, stormwater runoff contributed 7 percent of the total identifiable chlorinated hydrocarbons contributed by municipal waste water to Santa Monica Bay. The DDT came from a local manufacturer, which discharged its wastes into the Los Angeles County sewer system from 1947 to 1971 (Chartrand et al., 1985)
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From page 33... ...
With cessation of discharges of DDT to the Los Angeles County sewage treatment plant in 1971, emissions of DDT from the seven largest municipal wastewater plants dropped dramatically, from 21.7 metric tons in 1971 to 6.6 metric tons in 1972 (SCCWRP, 1986a)
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From page 34... ...
The major source of DDT is the Palos Verdes outfalls. SOURCE: Word and Mearns, 1979.
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From page 35... ...
In 1961, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board began regulating ocean dumping off Los Angeles County and legal ocean dumping of DDT ceased. All legal ocean dumping at this site ceased in 1973.
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From page 36... ...
resulting from incompletely understood interactions between natural environmental changes and fishing activity; · impacts on individual fish species from loss of nursery habitat due to construction and dredging; · large changes in the areal extent of kelp beds resulting from natural environmental changes and contamination;
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From page 37... ...
In 1967, high concentrations of DDT were reported in fish from California coastal waters (Risebrough et al., 1967~. By 1970, it was known that the Montrose Chemical Company was disposing of large amounts of DDT via the Los Angeles County ocean sewage outfalls off Palos Verdes and by ocean dumping.
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From page 38... ...
The regional contamination resulting from uncontrolled sewage flows from Tijuana provides a clear example of how environmental problems can cross regulatory and legal boundaries. As a result, in 1980 the San Diego County Department of Health Services, in cooperation with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board and the U.S.
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From page 39... ...
estimated yearly input of DDT to the Southern California Bight from (a) Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, (b)
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From page 40... ...
· potential effects on kelp beds from the White Point and Point Loma wastewater outfalls and SONGS; · effects on fish communities from heated power plant effluent; contamination of nearshore water in the immediate vicinity of storm drains; and · impacts on benthic communities from disposal of dredged material; · impacts on plankton populations resulting from SONGS' effects on nearshore circulation patterns. SUMMARY The sources of pollution in the Southern California Bight are quite varied and typical of those found in any highly urbanized coastal area of the United States, except that there are no major riverine inputs.
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From page 41... ...
The statutory and regulatory system responsible for achieving these reductions is discussed in Chapter 3. In addition, the complexity of sources and pollutants has resulted in a set of intensive monitoring programs in the Southern California Bight, which are discussed in detail in Chapter 4.
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