'Landmark' Ban Of Malibu Septic Tanks Anticipated: Environmentalists Urge It On This Week With 'Surf-In'

• Re Pamela Conley Ulich's comments about the Santa Monica Pier: It's worth noting that Santa Monica city officials realized they had a problem at the pier and took corrective action and improved infrastructure rather than foot dragging. Take a look at the most recent grades at the Pier and you will see marked and dramatic improvement. It's something Malibu officials could learn from.

• People have died in their activism to get Malibu from a third-world septic tank system to a 21st century responsibility. Ralph Gambina and Erik Villanueva died of viral infections to their hearts. They survived long enough to protest Malibu's unwillingness to correct this crime against public health. I almost died too...I got the same infection and have an artificial pacemaker to prove it. I know of 5 more surfers of Surfrider Beach that have the identical infection. Anywhere else, this would be called an epidemic. But it's at Malibu, where money is as abundant as the feces that flows into the sea. How sad is that?

• Malibu residents, such as the commenter above, should not point the finger elsewhere and instead should focus on the enormous problems in their own backyard. Yes, there are other beaches with water quality problems in our state, and stakeholders like Heal the Bay have been working just as hard to clean up those problem spots. The fact remains that beaches in Malibu such as Surfrider have chronically polluted water and public health is at risk. That is NOT okay!

• Surfers and the general public who swim/surf at Surfrider Beach are the canaries in the coal mine. We have been exposed to poor water quality for generations with one broken promise after another of proposed water quality improvements. No more broken promises. It's time to move from rhetoric to action!

• Those septic tanks are outdated and creating poop-contaminated beaches. As a surfer and diver, I hope Malibu will move away from septic systems so we can enjoy Malibu's waters without worries of swimming in poop! I don't understand why anyone who loves the beach or the ocean would be against this. This would benefit everyone in Malibu!!

• I think it is interesting that the Santa Monica Pier, a place where Heal the Bay has a education center and a town which has sewers, has more F grades than any beach in Malibu. . .

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