California Water Board to Look Into Alameda's Lagoons

Here is my opening statement:

“This is a plea for strict enforcement of the new MS4 regulations. My concern is for the thousands of seabirds whose habitat in San Leandro Bay is threatened by contaminants released from Alameda’s stagnant finger lagoons, which were built in the 1950s without circulation pumps or an aeration system for algae control.

1. Attack algae with chemicals and you attack the foundation of the marine food chain and put at risk every marine creature, including seabirds.

2. Chemicals usage in the lagoons has apparently increased due to the effect of global warming.

3. The lagoons have become an ecological wasteland (see photos.)

4. I have evidence suggesting that these chemicals have so damaged the environment around the lagoon portal that herons and egrets no longer feed there.

5. In October 2014 (see Timeline) I observed tidal currents drawing grayish-brown lagoon effluent through San Leandro Bay, where migrating seabirds abound.

6. How much time do we have to reverse the destruction of marine habitat?”

See my blog for a full transcript, including photos: http://www.alamedagoo.org/2015/07/environmenta-shame-of-alamedas-lagoons...