For years you would not see children playing in the water at Paradise Cove beach due to mountains of pollution from rainwater runoff.
Nonprofit organization /*Heal the Bay*/ rates beaches based on ocean water quality. Heal the Bay rated Malibu's Paradise Cove an "F."
But with two new storm water treatment facilities up and running in Malibu, city officials plan to "ace" the test in coming years. A third wastewater treatment facility is under construction.
"For all too often over the last decade, the name has been 'Parasite Cove,' rather than Paradise Cove, but with this treatment facility, it's really going to make a big difference," said Heal the Bay president and executive director Mark Gold.
/*Malibu Mayor Jefferson Wagner*/ paddled in on a surfboard to talk to give an interview.
"The storm water comes down off the hillside, off the rooftops, off the asphalt, the curbs, everything else," said Wagner. "It collects in here and then it's treated and released."
"This project is designed to help all weather flows and most of the heaviest rainfall, capturing and cleaning, and disinfecting a million gallons of storm water and urban runoff per day before it reaches the ocean," said Gold.
Paradise Cove has been a popular film location for many actors like /*Frankie Avalon*/, who shot the blockbuster movie "Beach Party" here 43 years ago.
"My kids grew up here [in] Paradise Cove, and had a lot of fun surfing, and I have 10 grandchildren, and I would like to see them grow up here in Malibu and enjoy the waters and not be concerned about someone getting sick," said Avalon.
"No more complaints about nose, ear infections," said Wagner. "This is going to be clean water at Paradise Cove."
"It's something to be protected and to be cherished, and like I said, for our kids and for our kids' kids," said /*professional surfer Laird Hamilton*/.
State money and federal stimulus dollars are paying for the clean ocean projects at Paradise Cove Beach. Heal the Bay officials say, in all, about $100 million has been set aside to clean up beaches throughout California.
