By Pat Fitzpatrick Santa Monica
I'm a frequent visitor to your beautiful city, where everything looks clean and cared for. However, I have discovered that beneath this beauty is a very dirty secret: (Santa Monica has) numerous raw sewage spills into the bay, most of which are not even reported to the public! (“Big dirty secret,” Jan. 26, page 1) I have recently seen a case of hepatitis A in a surfer. The doctors responded as though it’s a common occurrence! How can (city officials) encourage visitors and vacationers to come to their city when they have this secret — the bay is so polluted, people get extremely ill swimming there? The sand is equally dangerous, as the tides bring this filth to shore. This is a horrible thing, and the people and officials are somehow allowing it to happen.
You are killing your bay and harming all who go near it. Until something is done, I will spread the news of such crime as far as I can!
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.