Protecting bird poop: regulation as self-parody

Nov. 27, 2012

By Chris Reed

Here in San Diego, regulatory insanity has hit an all-time high, with environmental rules preventing city officials from cleaning up bird poop. “California Cove Blessed With Nature’s Beauty Reels From Its Stench” was the headline in the New York Times over the weekend about this debacle. I wrote more on the farce in today’s U-T San Diego:

“In a rocky area by the cove once open to people but now fenced off for safety reasons, the feces of cormorants and seagulls just keeps piling up, generating a stench that can carry as far as a mile. Dry conditions, a hot summer and other factors have made this a gross everyday problem for the cove area, not an occasional annoyance.

“So why can’t city work crews simply take care of the problem? … Because of complex environmental rules stemming from the cove’s designation as a state-protected ‘Area of Special Biological Significance.’ Officials say it could take two years to get various state agencies to OK cleaning procedures. …

“As explained on the web page of the State Water Resources Control Board, ‘Areas of Special Biological Significance’ need protection because they ‘support an unusual variety of aquatic life, and often host unique individual species. [The areas] are basic building blocks for a sustainable, resilient coastal environment and economy.’

“For this to be interpreted as the Coastal Poop Protection Act is preposterous. The buildup of feces isn’t some saintly natural process that must be allowed to run its course lest there be some terrible consequence down the line. It happened because of a combination of circumstance, climate and official decisions. It’s not part of Mother Nature’s grand scheme for La Jolla Cove or the planet.” 

The rest of the editorial is here.