Environmental Press # 11

Subj: OOG: EPA Plume Drawing Attached. What Is It?
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 11:13:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Jon V3
To: Jon V3

Dear Ocean Outfall group (OOG), dedicated to ending the 301(h) waiver held by the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD):

A researcher came up with this drawing of the plume by the EPA in 1994. It is contained in the EPA's amended section 301(h) technical support document (EPA, 1994).

What does it look like to you? It shows the sewage coming out of the diffuser pipe, heading up towards the surface, hitting a barrier, and breaking up into a transition zone looking much like a mushrooming cloud of high explosive. This transition zone (how big is it?) is then swept in a "drift field" (what is in the drift field?) in the direction of the current flow. The drift field actually looks like it's above the thermocline, rather than below it. Have the scientists seen this plume depiction? If so, I wonder if their assumptions will change. Download this attachment and study it. It's amazing. Too bad it didn't come to light earlier.
Dr. Jan Vandersloot (949) 548-6326