Organizers of fireworks displays in San Diego recently became the first in the country required to apply for and purchase an annual permit to celebrate the Fourth of July with pyrotechnics — and the move has sparked an explosion of debate. On May 11, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region voted unanimously to require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit — at a cost of $1,452 — to allow organizers to lawfully discharge pollutants present in fireworks to meet federal Clean Water Act requirements. For the region’s biggest show, the 11th annual Big Bay Boom, which lights off fireworks from five barges placed throughout San Diego Bay, the show will go on. Sandy Purdon, executive producer and founder of the show, said organizers have been prepared for exactly this situation. “We went to the water board last year to see what we could do to make them happy,” he said. “We wanted to be proactive, so we jumped ahead of everyone and took steps to carry out the best management practices (such as post-event cleanup) and by making sure the barges that go out are clean.” Purdon said organizers will have to pay out-of-pocket for the permit, which means they won’t have as much money to give to the San Diego Armed Services YMCA, to which proceeds are donated every year. He said the show, however, will be “bigger and better.” The permit requirement, effective June 1, applies to displays over any body of water in the region and requires organizers to collect, remove and manage the debris created by the fireworks. It does not, however, require water quality and sediment monitoring to determine the extent to which the pollutants actually contribute to the degradation of surface water health. Environmental groups contend that fireworks contribute chemicals and other pollutants to surface waters, and though the move was seen as an important step in recognizing that issue, the general consensus among those who lobbied for regulation was that the plan doesn’t go far enough. San Diego Coastkeeper, which has been involved in getting a permit approved that requires monitoring of coastal waters during fireworks displays, had hoped to see a more stringent plan — like the temporary permit that was approved last September, which required monitoring of contaminants in water and sediment — put in place. Gabrielle Solmer, Coastkeeper’s interim executive director, said the organization’s main complaint about the new permit is its lack of required monitoring. “Frankly, we don’t know all of the impacts of fireworks on our waterways,” she said. “Studies have been done that show there is an impact, so the science is clear, but we don’t know the significance of that impact or what the best way to mitigate it is. You would think that monitoring would be the most important thing to include in a permit of this type.” Currently, the only event requiring monitoring is at SeaWorld, where regular fireworks displays throughout the year spell the need for greater attention. Monitoring there has been ongoing since 2007. David Barker, an engineer for the water board, said the chief objective of the board in adopting the permit was to give event organizers a way to lawfully discharge pollutants without the threat of legal action. “We do not want to prohibit these events,” he said. “What we do want is to reduce or eliminate the pollutants that get into our water.” Barker said the board considered the importance of required monitoring, but the expense of such a requirement would unfairly jeopardize the ability of the city’s smaller events to continue operating. In the end, the board decided to collect information from all area events and, based on that data, make a decision if monitoring should in fact be required in the future. Organizers are required to submit a post-event report with detailed information regarding the volume of explosives discharged, the bodies of water over which they were released and the clean up that was involved in removing debris. “We decided that, until we had more information on the specifics of each event, we couldn’t move forward with required monitoring,” he said. “Once we get the big picture, we can make a decision if we need that type of monitoring.” Barker said one of the chemicals of concern contained in fireworks is perchlorate, a contaminant used in rockets, missiles, pyrotechnics, batteries and safety flares. Perchlorate has increasingly been found in groundwater, surface water and soil and is a threat to human health because of the role it plays in interfering with iodide uptake in the thyroid gland. Though fireworks may not be the main cause of the perchlorate contaminating our drinking water, Barker said the water board recognized the importance of regulating any possible sources of the chemical. “This permit was a prudent move by the board,” he said, “given that perchlorate is found in fireworks.” Though the permit requirement has gained the ire of many of San Diego’s smaller fireworks events organizers, Purdon hopes it helps smooth over some of the legal issues pyrotechnics shows have experienced in the past. “Legal threats shut down the New Year’s Eve fireworks event, so we’re hopeful that with with permit, the parties interested in filing legal action will back off,” he said. He added that, although he didn’t think the permit was necessary, he was grateful it doesn’t include more stringent requirements, like monitoring. “I am happy that it’s something we can handle financially and administratively,” he said. “There’s money involved, but as long as we don’t have to do the monitoring. That would have just killed these shows. It’s over-the-top expensive. But now we can meet the requirements legally, and hopefully everybody is happy.” As for Solmer and Coastkeeper, she said their goal is not to take Fourth of July celebrations away, but that the group wants to see a dialogue open up about the possible detrimental effects of such activities. “Fireworks are something I celebrate every year with my family, too,” she said, “but I want to celebrate responsibly. The exciting part is that the water board stepped up to take the responsibility to recognize fireworks as a known pollutant, and we’re the first in the country to do that, so it’s an incredible first step. We should be looking creatively at all of our options and not go on autopilot just because it’s something we’ve done in the past. There’s nothing to be lost by asking these questions and having this discussion.”