Newport Beach ordered to clean bay of contaminant

High levels of a chemical element known to cause deformities in birds has been found in Upper Newport Bay, the Daily Pilot reports. State water quality officials have ordered Newport Beach, Orange County and several cities upstream from the estuary to pay millions of dollars to fix the problem.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of taking measures to prevent high levels of the chemical element selenium from leaching into Upper Newport Bay at $42 million to $137 million.

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Photo: A great blue heron takes off across Upper Newport Bay last year. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times