Sewage Odor Raises Stink in Ritzy Malibu

Oct. 6, 2006 — -- The gorgeous coast of Malibu is home to some of Hollywood's most celebrated celebrities, including Pierce Brosnan, Pamela Anderson, Sting and Barbra Streisand.

But while the waters off the Southern California coast please the eye, they are anything but pleasing to the nose.

The pervasive stink of sewage has dominated the small town of Malibu for years. The smell suggests bacterial contamination, and county, local and state health and government officials have responded.

"The high bacterial counts we've consistently found in our coastal waters are a potential threat to public health," said Los Angeles councilman Zev Yaroslavsky in a recent press release.

"I've pushed our county departments to increase the testing and improve our enforcement efforts so that we can improve the water quality in the Santa Monica Bay and along our beaches for the benefit of residents and visitors alike," Yaroslavsky continued.

The beaches that surround Los Angeles, primarily around the Santa Monica Bay, are some of the most-polluted in the state. Surfrider's Beach in Malibu is the fourth most polluted beach in California, according to an annual beach report card issued by Heal the Bay, an environmental advocacy group.

"Water samples are analyzed for bacteria that indicate pollution from numerous sources, including fecal waste," according to Heal the Bay. "The better the grade a beach receives, the lower the risk of illness to ocean users."

Sewage pollution is not new to the state. In 1985, a dozen miles of California coastline were closed for more than 60 days because of contamination.

While the Malibu coastline is more than 27 miles long, it contains at least four beaches that made Heal the Bay's beach report card's top 10 polluted beaches. They include Escondido State Beach, and Puerco Beach and nearby Topanga State and Castle Rock Beaches.

Testing the Waters ... Using DNA

To fetter out the recent water pollution culprit, health officials have planned DNA tests to determine if the waste comes from human or animal sources.

"DNA testing is one tool that may take place. The idea is to distinguish between human and animal waste. Then you can try to mitigate where the problems are carousing," said Joel Bellman, press deputy for the Los Angeles County supervisor.

The Department of Health and Department of Public Works will conduct any DNA tests.

Ramirez Canyon Park is one possible source of bacterial contamination.

"There is a contribution from that canyon," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health for Los Angeles County.

"It may fall into the ocean. Water does go downhill."

While many environmentalists and officials suspect the surge in sewage is caused by septic tank runoff in the nearby beach community of Malibu, residents are not convinced and have blamed the contamination on local agriculture.

"We speculate that they'll find a little bit of everything. Polluted beaches with a lot of people close to a natural landscape upstream ... human, bird, animal waste," said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay. "The challenge is what do you do to relieve the fecal bacteria?"

If the tests show that it is human waste, officials may seek warrants to test the septic systems of Malibu residents. It is suspected that heavy precipitation during the rainy season, which begins at the end of October and lasts until April, causes an increased flow of groundwater, which becomes contaminated by leaky septic tanks.

"One of the things we'd probably push for if it turns out it is a human source is for the homes close to the creek to upgrade their facilities to include disinfection," said Gold.

Costs of such an upgrade would come at the residents' expense.

"An order would be given, asking them to repair it," said Mark Pestrella, assistant deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

"In an unincorporated area of the county, the owner of that property would apply current standards and start the process to pay for that improvement. There are no subsidies provided," Pestrella said.

The price of a new septic system depends on the location, but a standard system would run between $10,000 to $100,000.

Malibu incorporated in 1991, a move that allowed citizens of the small town to preserve their septic system and avoid moving to sewers.

California Still Better Than Most

Despite the recent exposure and poor water conditions of Santa Monica Bay, Gold suggests that California is still far ahead of the national curve in its attention to water pollution.

"You won't find anybody in the whole country that has put in these sort of regulations. Fifty million people visit California beaches each year, and if they're paying 500 bucks a night to stay somewhere and they see beach warning signs about environmental hazards, that is not helping out anybody," said Gold.

Besides measures like the Clean Water Act, California has put money where its law is. The Clean Beach Initiative spent $100 million to clean up California's most polluted beaches -- more than the Environmental Protection Agency has spent nationally to clean beaches.

"I'd say the combination of scientific research, regulatory requirements and then getting the word out through the media, are the three ways we've seen a lot of progress with the beach issue," said Gold. "The awareness has increased so much, those beaches are now cleaned up and safe for swimming.

"When you have an urbanized area where you have discharge into the beaches, you can redirect those sewers to go through disinfection. In more rural areas, like Malibu, they don't have sewers, and so, in that circumstance then, you have to do a lot of these other things -- source identification and having individual homeowners improve their septic system."

ABC News' Mileka Lincoln contributed to this report.