San Diego Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray testified on Wednesday at a Senate hearing on polluted beaches. He wants to speed up the time it takes to alert the public of a pollution hazard. Charles Davis reports from Capitol Hill.
Last year Imperial Beach exceeded EPA limits on pollution more than half the time. But often warning signs weren't posted at the beach until almost two days later -- sometimes when the pollution was already gone. That's because of the time it takes for test results to come back to the EPA.
Bilbray, a former mayor of the city as well as a surfer, says that's too long.
Bilbray : When a surfer goes, checks out the surf and sees that red sign up, he knows 'well it rained two days ago, so they just posted it, it doesn't mean it's polluted.' We need that real-time test to bring credibility to those signs when they go up -- that they only go up when the number comes up positive.
Bilbray has introduced a bill that calls on the EPA to study new, rapid-testing methods. That idea was endorsed in a report by the Government Accountability Office , which says current testing takes too long to be useful.
From Capitol Hill, Charles Davis, KPBS News.
