Getting The Straight Poop On The Malibu Smell

MayorBob.

Posted to Etcetera on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 02:28:48 AM EST. RSS.

Malibu, California is home to the rich and famous. The rich and the famous moved there because Malibu has some of the most gorgeous beaches and shoreline in all of America. There's also another thing that Malibu has - a foul stench in the air - a stench emerging from some seriously polluted sea water in the bay. It's a stench authorities are sure is caused by bacteria in the water - bacteria deposited there by some form of waste, animal or human. Malibu plans on finding the source of the bacteria and fixing the problem. The search for the source will be strictly high tech, involving DNA analysis of waste materials. Here's where the rich and famous might end up being inconvenienced - if the source ends up coming out of a faulty septic system owned by one of those rich and famous people, it will cost them dearly.

Because the analysis involves DNA testing, the initial test will determine whether the source for the pollution is wild animals or human. Because DNA testing is so precise, if the source is human waste, authorities believe they will be able to trace the source back to the individual human or humans responsible for causing it. The primary culprit in the discharge of human waste into Malibu's storm runoff is believed to be malfunctioning septic systems. Malibu has about 2,400 septic tanks serving the homes of residents, some of whom are clean water advocates like Ted Danson and Sting. However, in order to nail down whose septic tank is leaking human poo into the waters of the Santa Monica Bay, Los Angeles County officials will need to take samples from the streambeds behind some homes. According to Mark Pestrella, the county Department of Public Works official in charge of the testing program, if the homeowners refuse to allow authorities access to perform their tests, the county will go right out and get a warrant. "This is going to get messy" is how Pestrella characterized the project.

It's potentially messy because many of Malibu's residents zealously guard their privacy and are not going to be thrilled to have the county traipsing on their properties to do the testing. It's also potentially messy because the result of finding you have a septic system needing an upgrade is expensive. The consequences are either to pay anywhere from (US)$30,000 to $100,000 for a state-of-the-art upgrade or face the possibility of a $10,000 per day fine for failure to upgrade a system. The overall cost of the inspection project is pegged at $1 million.

Many residents bridle at the notion that they are going to be unfairly hit for pollution costs when it's widely held that most of it comes from "a wastewater treatment plant, storm runoff, and bird droppings." One Malibu celebrity pinpoints yet another culprit - the meat eaters among us. Pamela Anderson believes much of the pollution comes from animal agriculture, like chicken farms. As she sees it, "the best thing any of us can do to fight pollution is to adopt a vegetarian diet." One thing is clear, however, there is a pollution problem in the waters off of Malibu. The local environmental group Heal The Bay, produces an annual report card on beaches throughout California. This past May, the report gave failing marks to three of Malibu's most popular beaches: Escondido State Beach, Surfrider Beach, and Topanga State Beach. Some residents believe that humans, and their leaking septic systems, do play a part in the pollution and, thus everyone should do their bit to help clean up the problem. As Kelly Meyer, wife of Universal Studios head Ron Meyer, puts it, "we're all part of the problem, so we can all be part of the solution."

Edited by 1fastdog

< ...and I thought I had rights so why don't you need a warrant for that?

There's No Place On Myspace For Libeling, Smartass Kids. >

Tags: edited by 1fastdog, environment, California, science (all tags)

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1	Home Sales Also Stink In Malibu MayorBob. Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 06:47:05 PM EST none

No tie in to the stench problem here but home sales are off 33 percent from last year at California's Riviera. The most interesting thing I found in this article is the price of real estate there. The average price this year is $3.7 million while the median price is $2.775 million. Now, with those prices you have to wonder how many of Malibu's residents would really be put at the poorhouse door by having to pay as much as $100K to fix their septic system. Having never been there, I wonder how many chicken farms there are in Malibu to create the problem the way that Pamela Anderson seems to believe there are.

Illegitimi non carborundum.

2	Re: Getting The Straight Poop On The Malibu Smell Thalia. Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 07:47:09 PM EST none

Some of those "clean water advocates" need to step up to the plate and tell the other idle rich of Malibu that they should do their part to make sure that those beautiful beaches are not messed up. Most of these folks can well afford to fully replace the septic system if necessary.

My bet is that they're being careless with their systems. It's not leaks, it's excessive biomass that's the probable culprit. If you have a septic system you can't have a disposal, you can't throw bio products into the outgoing water without causing real issues.

Thalia

3	Malibu, Septic Tanks and Class Warfare wetkarma. Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 12:33:13 PM EST none

I've never lived in Malibu, but a few years ago when considering a job offer in Thousand Oaks, I looked at a few condos in the areas. They were expensive then and probably are more expensive now. If you have ever seen the beaches/coastline however, you'll understand why I think homes there are worth every penny. [Watch the movie Spanglish]

I have however lived in the south. Septic tanks there are as prevalent as sewer systems. And the first thing to understand about septic tanks is - it doesn't matter how bad the runoff is into your yard, your neighbor who has the leaking tank has it worse. The soil (usually in the back yard) becomes a boglike cross between odd tufs of -really green- bermuda grass and sewage. The smell is nauseating.

So what I'm saying is that if you have a million dollar home and your septic tank is leaking, long before it starts "leaking into the sea" , its going to be leaking into your yard and ruining your impromptu orgy. [I have an active imagination re: the activities of people who live in Malibu].

It doesn't make sense to say rich people are too cheap to fix their septic tanks, because whatever effect the tank's seepage has on the beach, its MUCH worse on the land near the home.

As a result I'm skeptical that homeowners would have leaking septic systems and not do anything about it.

Memory is a strange bell, jubilee and knell.

4 3	Re: Malibu, Septic Tanks and Class Warfare T Slothrop. Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 12:51:05 PM EST 5.00 (informative, informative, informative)

As a result I'm skeptical that homeowners would have leaking septic systems and not do anything about it.

As a lifelong resident of the American South, I would have to agree with your skepticism -in a "normal" suburban or rural setting. The offending homeowner would be painfully aware that their system was the leaking one, and everyone for at least a few houses around would know, too.

However, I think we are being tripped up by terminology here. When most people think of "leaking septic systems", they think of leaks at the tank (or, in plumbing terminology, the "collection box") itself. This is what produces your classic surreal-green grass and the horrendous smell.

But I suspect what is happening at Malibu is a bit more complicated. In septic systems, the wastes (liquid and solid) flow into a big concrete box buried somewhere on the property downhill from the main structure. There (at least in ideal situations), bacteria eat the toxic stuff. Then - and this is the part a lot of people who've never had a septic system don't know about - the remaining (mostly) liquid flows out of the tank into porous pipes laid in gravel beds buried relatively deep. Depending on the topography of the lot and the soil type, these "tail lines" may need to be up to several hundred feet long to properly and safely spread the remaining waste over enough area so the soil will naturally re-absorb it.

A quick flyover of the Malibu area on Google Earth shows beachfront houses hugging the Pacific but also houses up in the rocky hills overlooking the ocean. Creeks and dry creekbeds crisscross those hills and I suspect the tail lines of some of these Septic Systems of the Rich and Famous are dumping into the creeks. If the septic system is functioning at all, that stuff really doesn't smell all that much, but if it gets into water, it can still cause major problems.

{Insert amusing quotation here}

6 4	Re: Malibu, Septic Tanks and Class Warfare Shy Elf. Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 02:35:48 AM EST none

I grew up in a house with a septic system, though it did fill up once and twice and need to be cleaned, we never really had problems with odor at all. Of course, this was in New Jersey, with ground which, though it was clay at the surface, was sand underneath.

Since I have relatives out in Orange County, I really suspect that the problem here is the soil type out in Malibu. The ground out there is deep, hard clay, at the ocean probably directly over rock. Septic systems just don't work well at all if you have the wrong soil type.

5	Re: Getting The Straight Poop On The Malibu Smell smittigirl. Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 07:54:44 PM EST none

We live in semi-rural Eastern Ct - and have a septic system. About 10 years ago the out-take pipe to the tank, underground in our front yard, cracked, unbeknownst to us for about a week or so. In that short time the resulting leakage, seepage and creepage was horrifying. Three thousand dollars later, we had a new out-take pipe, a new leach field, and an utterly destroyed front lawn.
The ultra-rich should be looking into this problem and getting it fixed, fast.

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Getting The Straight Poop On The Malibu Smell

MayorBob.

Posted to Etcetera on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 02:28:48 AM EST. RSS.

Home Sales Also Stink In Malibu

MayorBob.

Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 06:47:05 PM EST

none

Re: Getting The Straight Poop On The Malibu Smell

Thalia.

Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 07:47:09 PM EST

none

Malibu, Septic Tanks and Class Warfare

wetkarma.

Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 12:33:13 PM EST

none

3

Re: Malibu, Septic Tanks and Class Warfare

T Slothrop.

Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 12:51:05 PM EST

5.00 (informative, informative, informative)

4

Re: Malibu, Septic Tanks and Class Warfare

Shy Elf.

Sat Oct 14, 2006 at 02:35:48 AM EST

none

Re: Getting The Straight Poop On The Malibu Smell

smittigirl.

Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 07:54:44 PM EST

none