Water board moves to clean up Bay, waterways

The heaps of trash ringing San Francisco Bay are so unsightly and threatening to wildlife that regional regulators voted Wednesday to designate most of the shoreline and two dozen tributaries as "impaired" under the federal Clean Water Act.

So far, the bay's pollution spots have been linked to such contaminants as mercury, PCBs and DDT as well as invasive species.

But tons of cigarette butts, diapers, crushed Styrofoam and plastic bottles and bags convinced the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board to vote unanimously to designate the edges of the central bay and the south bay, along with 24 rivers and creeks, as places in need of trash controls.

Until now, Oakland's Lake Merritt has been the only bay waterway designated as impaired because of trash that ruins walks along the shore, despoils habitat and endangers wildlife.

The vote was the first step in putting counties and cities on notice that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could impose legal requirements and fines if they don't get rid of the trash. But the listing could also bring resources to aid in the cleanup.

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