A crystal-clear step toward clean water

For years, the Newport Beach City Council has been at the front of a

storm surge in interest and efforts to improve the quality of water

in the harbor and along the beaches.

Strict enforcement, public-relations campaigns and demands that

other governments follow suit have all been part of the city’s war

against polluted waters. Between July 2003 and June 2004, the city

issued nearly 1,000 citations and violation notices. Orange County’s

Resources and Development Management Department found that in

2002-03, Newport Beach was responsible for 85% of water-quality

enforcement in the county.

Last week, city leaders waded deeper into the fight by approving a

law aimed at reducing the number of spills caused by grease

blockages. It will require most restaurants to pay a yearly fee for a

grease-disposal permit. Under the law, restaurants that don’t already

have a grease interceptor will have to install one or pay a fee

toward sewer maintenance. And those that discharge waste causing

sewer blocks or spills will be charged for the cleanup. Passage of

the law meets a Jan. 1 deadline from the Santa Ana Regional Water

Quality Control Board.

The size of the fees has not been determined yet. Those decisions

will come in July, when the city next puts together its budget. But

initial estimates put them in the range of $20 for the permit, with

an annual inspection fee of $100 to $150. Cleanup after a spill could

cost a restaurant about $800.

Those costs, obviously, have restaurant owners concerned.

Unfortunately, the law and its associated costs are necessary parts

of the fight to keep our waters clean. It certainly is a battle worth

waging: Fewer spills mean more people coming to town -- remember the

dearth of people following Huntington Beach’s summer-long beach

closure, or, more recently, the numbers of beachgoers who had to put

their towels on far off sands because of the Labor Day closure -- and

that means more people patronizing Newport businesses, restaurants

included.

The battle, though, should not stop at Newport’s borders. Having

put a burden on local businesses, city leaders now must continue to

press other city governments to improve enforcement and maintenance,

reducing the probability of spills caused by problems outside

Newport’s control.

Only with such collective effort can there be a realistic hope of

seeing our waters crystal clean.