Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
I have never been in the water at Hudson Beach. We've enjoyed beverages at Sam's Beach Bar and viewed the sunsets plenty of times.
But for a beach excursion, we prefer making the drive to Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs. If we feel particularly adventuresome, and willing to pay for parking, we'll trek to Clearwater.
That being said, there are plenty of people from western Pasco County (and from Hernando, too, judging by the vehicle license plates in the parking lot), who do use the coastal parks in Hudson, New Port Richey and Holiday.
Julia Law thinks there should be one less option for the beachcombers. Law is lobbying Pasco County to close Hudson Beach to swimming.
Unfortunately, the county does just that.
Frequently.
When water quality tests indicate high bacteria counts, Pasco issues advisories telling people it is best to stay out of the water. It has been doing so for a minimum of 18 years, according to published accounts in the Times.
Law wants the ban permanent, saying her 21/2-year-old son became seriously ill after being exposed to dirty water in Hudson in August 2002. Law knows the water was contaminated because a county worker installed the sign closing the beach to swimming while she and her son were in the water. He gave no verbal warning.
"That's what I'm most torqued about," she said Friday.
There is no doubt she is torqued. She has been in contact with the Pasco County Health Department, state Department of Environmental Protection and Pasco County. She has retained counsel, former state prosecutor Allen Allweiss, nicknamed by a colleague years ago as "The Razor" for his cutting commentary.
Allweiss told Times staff writer Bridget Hall Grumet future litigation could be against anyone who polluted the beach or who was supposed to maintain it.
So you can imagine everyone is a bit defensive at this point.
The county parks and recreation department maintains the beach. The Health Department, a state agency, tests the water quality and issues the swimming advisories to the county.
Who pollutes it? That is a question that has loomed for nearly two decades. Urban runoff, septic tanks, domestic and wild animals, illegal dumping have all been fingered, though none conclusively.
Did exposure to the water make Law's son, Ian, ill?
"That's a stretch," said Dr. Marc J. Yacht, health department director.
Law maintains Yacht gave a different diagnosis when she contacted him nearly two years ago, suggested it was quite likely he became ill from the water.
Connecting homes and businesses from septic tanks to central sewers was expected to cut down on the contamination. Instead, the county closed the beach 22 times last year, compared to just a dozen the year before.
Yacht said that is attributable to a policy change in 2003. The Health Department now averages five water quality readings before it will open or close the beach instead of relying on a single test result. The idea is to eliminate one-time spikes, either good or bad, in the quality of the water.
The county has not closed the beach in 2004. But hot weather hasn't arrived yet, and neither has the rainy season. Higher water temperatures and surface water runoff both are suspected contributors to higher bacteria counts at the beach.
Let's face it, even with acceptable water quality, this is not a pristine site. Friday afternoon, seaweed, a soda can and orange peel scraps bobbed in the water.
The swimming spot, a roped off area capable of holding 127 people, is in a canal, not the open water leading to the Gulf. Boat traffic to and from the Hudson channel and a rocky bottom prohibits swimmer access to the western-most water.
"It's a compact beach surrounded by fingers of land. It's shallow. It doesn't cleanse itself. A whole bunch of things can impact that water," said Yacht. "It's just a beach that we have to watch closely."
Even more closely, now. The county is going to make another stab at trying to determine the pollution source.
Law's litigation threat aside, it is a prudent course. Closing the beach permanently, however, is another matter.
A simple warning sign telling swimmers to enter the water at their own risk is much more appropriate. The beach would still close temporarily when bacteria counts are too high.
Besides, people who ignore the warning signs could always look for the floating garbage as their own cleanliness barometer.