Better late than never, and better timely than late. Irvine-based executive and marine enthusiast Pat Fuscoe (Fuscoe Engineering, Miocean Foundation) and biologist Stephen Weisberg, executive director of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, want to bring ocean-water testing into the 21st century. OC, like other places, still tests the old-fashioned way—lab technicians bend over microscopes and Petri dishes examining water samples collected daily from 150 coastal sites. When threats to public health are detected, calls are made to the beaches, where lifeguards post warnings. It’s a laborious process that takes two days, by which time water conditions often have changed, laments Fuscoe, sounding as frustrated as any other veteran surfer. Fuscoe and Weisberg say DNA and scanning technology can cut the process to three hours, and the Internet can be used to relay more timely and useful information to beachgoers. They’re spearheading a pilot project tentatively set to launch July 1 at Doheny, Huntington and Big Corona state beaches and Newport Pier. Lab samples will be analyzed in a new machine being deployed by Weisberg’s state agency; directives such as “beach open,” “keep out” and “advisory,” along with details, will be keyed in for immediate display on video screens at the beaches. Fuscoe thinks the screens eventually can generate ad revenue, but at a cost of about $20,000 each, they’re a challenge for strapped government budgets. Miocean already has two screens (currently posting week-old water quality information) at Big Corona and Newport Pier that will hook into the test system and the nonprofit will pay for two more. (Fuscoe welcomes corporate and community partners.) Southern California Coastal Water is chipping in for another screen and training the county staff. Fuscoe thinks the new testing system will become standard here and along every other coast: “It’s faster, better and less expensive” …
Bicoastal OCers: Henry Segerstrom receives the Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence at a June 7 gala in New York’s Waldorf=Astoria co-chaired by, among other luminaries, another OCer, Belgravia Capital Chairman R.J. Brandes. OC entrepreneur-philanthropist Paul Merage will be at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., June 8 for his “American Dream” foundation’s National Leadership Awards. This year’s honorees include singer-songwriter Gloria Estefan, former basketball star Dikembe Mutombo, chemistry Nobelist Ahmed Zewail and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger …
EE RR emcees the TechAmerica High-Tech Innovation Awards dinner Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Info at www.techamerica.org/htaoc …
Two Irvine operations are celebrating their 20th anniversaries: Jamboree Housing and Atlanta-based Fisher & Phillips’ OC office.
