Needles Gone, But Beach Still Feels the Pinch

A large stretch of oceanfront in Huntington Beach was declared safe by health officials and reopened Friday after workers removed more than 1,000 used hypodermic needles that had washed ashore.

Lifeguards took down two miles of yellow warning tape that had kept visitors away after the needles were discovered Thursday on the beach from Newland Street to 10th Street, north of the pier.

The needles had been used in dental procedures, said Monica Mazur, Orange County environmental health specialist. “These are the needles that attach to aspirating syringes that the dentist uses to inject Novocain or anything else that helps deaden the pain,” she said.

County health investigators believe the used needles may have been dumped by a boat.

Most of the needles were capped with a blue plastic top, Mazur said. But the devices had a sharp point exposed on the other end, and lifeguards cautioned beach visitors to watch for any remaining needles.

City crews scoured the beach overnight but turned up only 10 more needles. Friday morning, lifeguards on boats, jet skis and on the beach patrolled the offshore waters and two miles of shore but found only one more needle, Mazur said.

Officials ruled out the possibility that the waste floated down a river or channel, as has happened before.

In 1996, county health officials imposed a $35 fee on doctors and dentists to help fund a new pollution enforcement and education program. The fee came after lifeguards reported finding 300 hypodermic needles, glass vials, earplugs and other debris that had washed ashore during winter storms and forced officials to close Orange County beaches.

Though cool and foggy weather is expected to limit crowds at the beach this weekend, Huntington Beach Lifeguard Lt. Kyle Lindo warned visitors not to touch any type of medical waste or debris. “Instead, contact a lifeguard or maintenance worker,” he said.

The material is still being gathered as evidence, Lindo said. “We’re still trying to track this down,” he said.

The beach reopening was good news for surfer Jamil Sulenan, a Florida aerospace engineer on vacation. He had been surfing early Friday and was ordered to leave by lifeguards.

“They chased me out of the water with jet skis,” said Sulenan. “This is one of my dream places to surf.”

The latest investigation comes after health officials spent much of the summer trying to figure out the cause of high bacteria levels that kept up to 4.2 miles of beach closed for two months.

Sam Ali, whose family owns Zack’s concession stand, said the closures, first from bacteria and then hypodermic needles, have devastated the business.

“We have surfboards and boogie board rentals, but with the closures, we’ve had 80% less business this summer,” he said. “First we had pollution and now this comes up. It doesn’t look good. People see it and it scares them.”

On Friday, a task force investigating the high bacteria levels said it is continuing to focus on urban runoff, especially that flowing from the Santa Ana River.

In addition, a $100,000 dye test is planned this month to check for any leak in an outfall pipe extending five miles out at sea.

To date, pipe tests have been negative, said Michelle Tuchman, an Orange County Sanitation District spokeswoman. “But we want to run the dye test to totally eliminate the outfall pipe as a possible source.”

Meanwhile, more than 1,200 children and adults are expected to visit Huntington Beach this weekend to participate in a statewide coastal cleanup sponsored by a manufacturer of cleaning products.