Ocean Shores to take issue of polluted lakes, canals - July 25, 1998
By JEFF BURLINGAME - DAILY WORLD WRITER, Aberdeen Daily World
OCEAN SHORES - A frustrated group of Ocean Shores citizens, concerned over the city's "deteriorating lake and canal system," is stepping up efforts to get city officials to take action.
The non-profit group, dubbed "Fresh Waterways," says pollutants in three of the area's fresh-water sources - Bass Canal, Clover Creek and Lake Minard - could eventually affect the city's drinking water, recreational opportunities and economy.
The three areas are in various stages of decay, according to Mike Valdez, an Ocean Shores attorney representing the group. At Monday's City Council meeting, Valdez plans to present the city with a petition signed by "hundreds" of residents, challenging the city to begin the restoration projects immediately.
"I'm hoping the City Council will finally give this the priority it deserves," Valdez said Friday. The city balked on its promise to fund three water-cleaning projects by the beginning of 1997, Valdez added.
City officials say they are doing the best they can to improve the city's fresh-water quality.
"The most important thing to do to ease that pollution is to sewer the city," City Manager Jack McKenzie said Thursday. "These three projects were first introduced on the grounds that it was too expensive to sewer the city. Well, we are now sewering the city."
Sixty-five percent of the city's fresh-water pollution will be taken care of when the sewers are completed in 1999, McKenzie said
The sewers will help, Valdez said, but he maintains that the city's fresh water will continue to be polluted for a number of years after the sewers are completed
Sewer long-term cure
"The sewer system is fantastic and over the long haul is the major cure," the attorney said. "However, there is a two-year grace period to hook up. The pollutants from the (septic system) drain fields will continue to leach into the fresh-waterways system for five to seven years.
"If everybody were hooked up to sewers today, which of course they're not, we'd still have years of continued pollution," Valdez said
The Bass Canal Project proposed by Fresh Waterways would involve dredging, aeration/water treatment and a one-year operation and maintenance budget. Bass Canal is located in the center of Ocean Shores.
The city originally gave the three clean-up projects the green light, appropriating an estimated $750,000 back in 1996, the city manager said. But bids on the projects came back way over budget, with $700,000 for the dredging of Bass Canal alone
"So the council didn't indicate an interest at the time to pursue that," McKenzie said. "But as soon as we figure out a way (to afford it), we will clean up Bass Canal."
Valdez said his group would like the city to modify the proposal so they can afford to do some work.
The Clover Creek Project involves the creation of a biofiltration wetland, similar to the one at the north end of the Ocean Shores Grand Canal. The Lake Minard Project involves deepening the entrance to the lake to allow a greater circulation of water.
The group sees fresh-water pollution as a potential threat to drinking water, fish, recreational swimming, boating and fishing, the economy of Ocean Shores and property values, Valdez says
"The (pollutants) go down into the aquifer," Valdez said. "And as far as swimming and boating, (the water) is just really dirty."
Aerial photos show that pollution from Bass Canal is spreading into nearby Duck Lake at an alarming pace, Valdez said.
The city manager says he'd love to clean up the three areas, but the city is facing several other major issues - such as controlling erosion and building the sewers - that demand attention.
"These projects can't be at the head of the line," McKenzie said. "We only have so much time, staff and resource. We need to use it on what comes first in priority."