• In 2005, there were 480 sewage spills that caused local government officials to close beaches 36 times.
• Median volume of sewage spilled per beach closure: 1,000 gallons.
• Pollutants found in Orange County's ocean waters: feces, streptococcus, enterococcus, intestinal parasites, oils, coolants, grease, paint, asbestos fibers, stucco fragments, radiator and battery fluids, plastic, wood, metal, paper, construction equipment, pesticides, herbicides, living organisms, fertilizers as well as discharges from kennels, stables, recreational facilities, auto shops, gas stations, industrial sites and trash bins.
• A May 1, 2006, accident at the Orange County Sanitation District caused 30 million gallons of sewage to pour into the ocean, closing the waters from Huntington Beach to Newport Beach for two days.
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.