The history of Surfrider Beach is tied closely to the history of surfing itself, as it was one of the first places in the Los Angeles area where surfers rode the waves. As I stared out the window of the plane at the glistening ocean, I cried for Malibu, but this time they were tears of joy.Surfrider Beach is a popular surf spot located in Malibu, California, just outside of Los Angeles. They were vocal in insisting upon this ban of septic tanks in Malibu. This is what they fought for and it is finally a reality. I thought about my own fight for this place I love, and also about Ralph Gambina and Erik Villanueva who died from infections from surfing Malibu. It didn’t hit me personally until I was on the plane staring out the window as we were coming home. Is this how it felt at Waterloo? Mark Gold got up from his chair, looked at us and said, “What, did someone die? Hey, we won!” All these decades of activism, protest and creation of organizations to fight this breach upon the environment and public health, and now the victory had finally been achieved. We sat there together silent, staring straight ahead, stunned. About 90% of the room vacated as the board moved on to other business. And in a few minutes, a unanimous vote (5-0) in our favor was recorded.
The residents and commercial interests complained how oppressive the ban would be to them personally.īut suddenly, after the last speaker had appealed, the board called for the vote. I hoped that the board would see through this. The city of Malibu arrived with its own A-Team. Euphemized threats of litigation were uttered and Mark Gold was gratuitously misquoted. So I was worried as I walked into the State Water Board hearing room and sat next to my esteemed teammates. We each spoke, with Mark Gold wrapping up succinctly all of the issues at stake. We sat down, hoping and praying that our words persuaded the five-member board that would make the final decision. Board because of its contention that the prohibition was “technically unfeasible and politically unachievable.” I had heard of last-minute strategies by the city of Malibu to have the septic ban remanded to the L.A. In order to honor my friends and honor this place how could I refuse? They asked me to help them fight for its restoration to the pure and holy place that the Chumash tribe ascribed it to be. Two surfer friends of mine did die from the very same virus here. The disease damages the heart muscle and even causes your own immune system to weaken you. I suffered a prolonged illness from a fecal virus contracted surfing here and I almost died from it. This is his fight to keep other surfers from suffering the same fate at First Point.Ĭall me biased, but from the first time I surfed the place, I knew Surfrider Beach was special – dare I say sacred? But the continuous human pollution from Malibu Creek eventually played Russian Roulette with me and it won.
Below is a first person story from surfer Ken Seino who believes an illness that almost killed him was contracted from surfing the world famous wave. This week Heal the Bay released its annual Beach Report Card, providing beach water-quality letter grades for more than 600 beaches on the Pacific Coast based on levels of bacterial pollution. Regulars from the lineup at Malibu’s Surfrider know first hand the impacts of bacteria related illnesses.
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