Locals call foul on channel

A sulfur-producing natural phenomenon in the Talbert Channel is

stinking up a southeast Huntington Beach neighborhood.

A lingering red tide, coupled with low tides and

higher-than-expected August heat is decaying microorganisms in

nutrient rich mud in the channel. A by-product of the reaction is the

emission of sulfur gases that pack a powerful odor.

Anyone who’s ever visited a hot spring like Old Faithful at

Yellowstone National Park has likely smelled the pungent odor, which

some residents living along the Talbert Channel have confused with a

possible sewage spill.

Muds and sentiments in the channel are teeming with

microorganisms, Orange County storm water official Richard Boone

said, that feed and breathe on the nutrients in the storm water and

ocean tides that go through the channel. During some of the lowest

tides of the summer, especially negative tides when the water level

gets below standard sea level, water to the mud and sediment is cut

off and the materials are left to dry in the summer heat.

The lack of water means a lack of oxygen for the microorganisms,

initiating a decay process in the mud that produces sulfur. Making

the situation worse is the lingering red tide this summer that has

kept swimmers and surfers out of the water.

Red tide occurs during an unusually large phytoplankton algae

bloom in the ocean, emitting a blood-colored substance that discolors

the water. Red tides flow back into the canals during high tides,

bringing additional organic matter into the canal muds and sediments

using up more precious oxygen and further accelerating the decay

process.

Boone said the problem became more pronounced around 1999 when the

county’s first began diverting storm water in the channel into the

sewage system for treatment. Much of the water, which came from

inland cities, was polluted with urban runoff and bacteria. The water

was released in the ocean near Huntington State Beach.

After a rash of beach closures in the 1990s, county officials met

with the Orange County Sanitation District and agreed to divert the

water into a treatment facility in the hopes of removing the toxins

and bacteria before they were released into the ocean. But the

diversions have also meant less water in the canal, which in turn

means less oxygen for the organic matter in mud and sediment and more

sulfur emissions.

“One of the unforeseen consequences has been an occurrence of

odors being in the channel,” Boone said. “Those channels are used to

a flushing.”

But the neighbors aren’t used to the smell. Some residents living

directly behind the channel have been calling Orange County flood

control to complain about the odor.

“It smelled like sewage,” neighbor Becky Weinthal said, describing

severally discolored water during the smelliest episodes. “It was

really bad the last couple of evenings when the tide was the lowest.

My husband thought there might have been sewage backing up into our

house and I thought the cat might have had an accident.”

To help suppress the smell, county officials regularly monitor the

channels during low tides and have even begun spraying an odor

suppressant.

“That is the only channel that seems to be having a problem right

now,” Boone said.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Have you ever noticed a foul smell in southeastern Huntington

Beach? Call our Reader’s Hotline at (714) 966-4691 or send e-mail to

[email protected]. Please spell your name and include

your hometown and phone number for verification purposes.