EPA Settles Newport Bay Pollution Suit

NEWPORT BEACH — Swimming and fishing may be possible someday in areas of Newport Bay long closed to water sports under a settlement reached Friday aimed at identifying the sources of major pollutants.

The agreement settles a lawsuit filed last year by Friends of the Bay, an environmental group, against the Environmental Protection Agency, accusing if of failing to perform pollution assessments as required by law.

Under the settlement, the state of California and the EPA will assess the level and source of three major pollutants affecting the 150-square-mile watershed of Newport Bay over the next 4 1/2 years. Eventually, the data will be used to create standards by which to mandate reductions and regulations on storm water and other polluted runoffs, said Dave Schmidt, an EPA spokesman.

“First, we will find out how much is coming from each source on a daily basis,” he said. “Then, we will calculate how much each of those sources will have to be reduced to meet the designated uses of the waterway, such as swimming, fishing, water contact sports and even drinking water.”

Sediment and nutrients must be assessed by Jan. 15, 1998; pathogens by Jan. 15, 2000; and pesticides and priority organic pollutants by Jan. 15, 2002.

Mark Wolfe, a lawyer representing Friends of the Bay, said: “What we’re going to see is restored water quality.”

Schmidt agreed that the result “will be better for the human users of the waterways as well as the wildlife.”

The assessment, Schmidt said, “was something that was in the works, but this forced it to a speedier conclusion. We think it’s a good thing that is going to result in reducing pollution and having cleaner waterways.”

The EPA, Wolfe said, “has been very cooperative with us, and, hopefully, we will succeed in correcting a pretty serious problem. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but the level of cooperation so far makes me optimistic that we will succeed.”