Air Force storm water plan worries harbor officials

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 30, 2008 | by Julia Scott

PRINCETON-BY-THE-SEA -- Pillar Point Harbor officials are alarmed by a proposal by the U.S. Air Force, which runs a nearby radar station, to dump stormwater into the harbor -- water which historically has been polluted.

The Air Force, in an early March report, proposed redirecting storm water from the Pillar Point Air Force Station into the west side of the harbor, which lies directly below it.

When the new drainage pipe is put in place, it will end the Air Force's current practice of dumping untreated storm water onto a beach at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve -- water that contains elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria, nitrogen and heavy metals such as copper and zinc.

In 2004, the State Water Resources Control Board found the Air Force in violation of the California Ocean Plan because of the discharge, and subsequent samples taken by an Air Force contractor revealed the presence of pollutants at levels exceeding the federal Clean Water Act.

As a state-designated Area of Special Biological Significance, no level of pollution is acceptable at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.

The report, the first of two environmental assessments, seeks input from a variety of environmental and regulatory

agencies by the end of March.

Peter Grenell, general manager of the San Mateo County Harbor District, wrote a letter to the Air Force stating his concerns that the report does not mention any water filtration or treatment options for the discharge -- only those that had already been rejected. To him, this suggested that pollution would reach the harbor.

"Where possible, treatment technologies will be incorporated into the project to improve water quality prior to discharging into Pillar Point Harbor," the report reads. It does not elaborate.

"All we are concerned about is that they could put the same things in the harbor they've just been told should not be in the ocean," Grenell said. "The harbor is also a body of water that humans use."

The western side of the harbor is particularly popular with kayakers, swimmers and dogwalkers. Several boats are permanently anchored within a few strokes of the shoreline. Mavericks beach, popular with surfers and harbor seals alike, lies about 1,200 feet farther west.

More than 150 species of birds make their home in Princeton Marsh, a sensitive area which would receive some of the storm water discharge under an alternative provision of the Air Force report.

Contrary to Grenell's understanding of the report, Air Force officials say they fully intend to treat the storm water to remove any organic pollutants or heavy metals.

"The intention from the very beginning was to find an alternative that would include treatment. ... We want to make sure that we choose the right method that satisfies everybody," said George Croll, chief of environmental compliance at Vandenberg Air Force Base, which oversees the radar station on Pillar Point.

These water-treatment options could include use of a carbon filter to trap the metals and an ozone or ultraviolet light water- purification system to remove the nitrogen and fecal coliform, according to Croll.

He attributed the fecal bacteria and nitrogen to animals living in the area, although far fewer sea gulls visit the Air Force base than live in the harbor. He said the zinc and copper could be washing off the rusty chain-link fences that surround the base or coming off the paint on the buildings.

Fecal coliform, total coliform and enterococci counts exceeded water quality standards in 2006 and 2007, according to the report. Total coliform and enterococci are forms of bacteria found in sewage, in warm-blooded mammals and in nature. Fecal coliform is found in animals, and poses a health risk if associated with humans.

That could be a problem, said Michael Gjerde, acting clean beach coordinator with the state water board.

"When (all the indicators) are elevated, it's likely we have some sewage," Gjerde said. "But these bacteria also like to grow on seaweed and in warm, moist spaces. These don't usually have pathogens associated with them."

Ironically, local conservation officials are already in the midst of an $845,000 research project into the sources of fecal coliform levels in Pillar Point Harbor -- numbers that are off the charts. The bacteria concentrates on Capistrano Beach, a few steps away from Princeton Marsh on the west side of Pillar Point Harbor.

The state water board has yet to issue its comments on the project, and the agency won't be specific until regulators better understand what kind of water treatment is proposed or where the stormwater will go, spokesman Dave Clegern said.

Before issuing the Air Force a storm water discharge permit, the State Water Board will specify which standards the discharge will have to meet and a timeline for meeting them. None of the pollutants present in the water should be allowed to reach the ocean from Pillar Point, Clegern said.

"One of the key wildlife concerns in the harbor is the abalone fishery," Clegern said. "This makes heavy metals like copper and zinc particularly important."