Foster City Beaches Ranked Among State's Worst, City Responds

FOSTER CITY, CA — Three San Mateo County beaches made Heal the Bay’s annual “Beach Bummers” list of the state’s 10 most polluted beaches, and all of them were in Foster City.

The Peninsula city’s beaches claimed the second spot (Erckenbrack Park), fourth spot (Gull Park) and eighth spot (Marlin Park) on the dubious list, which is based on levels of harmful bacteria in the ocean. The Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge in San Diego County was the most polluted beach in the state, according to the rankings.

Foster City responded to the report in a news release on Wednesday, claiming that it had hired Environmental and Public Health Engineering in February to investigate the source of bacteria in its lagoon network and make recommendations to control elevated levels of E. coli.

Two of the six samples collected so far had E. coli levels near or above the state’s threshold, according to initial results. DNA markers from geese and seagulls were detected in some samples and the city said it is unlikely that human waste from sewer leakage is the cause of the pollution.

“These other sources of fecal material generally pose less of a threat to the health of swimmers compared to human waste,” said Managing Scientist Bonnie de Berry, Certified Professional in Stormwater Quality from Environmental and Public Health Engineering in a news release.

Environmental and Public Health Engineering is scheduled to collect 12 samples every other week from March through August.