Bolsa Chica Wetlands Negotiations Continue

The future of Bolsa Chica could be decided within days, as two oil companies, a developer and government agencies try to hammer out an agreement allowing state purchase of the ecologically fragile wetlands next to Huntington Beach.

Although officials had hoped to forge a pact by today, talks are now expected to continue into next week. State officials hope to buy 880 acres from landowner Koll Real Estate Group, which had planned 900 homes there. The land would become a major wetlands preserve.

Several people close to the talks say they are optimistic a pact will be reached as early as Feb. 10. But they warn that a state sale still hinges on guaranteeing that oil-field contaminants found last year are cleaned up without public funds.

Some soils at Bolsa Chica are tainted with arsenic, nickel, mercury and other pollutants from decades of oil operations.

Two major oil companies, Shell affiliate CalResources and Phillips Petroleum, are involved in the talks. CalResources has been the oil operator at the site since 1986, when it took over from Phillips.

Time is growing short for the deal, since nearly $40 million of funding for purchase and restoration would come from the Port of Los Angeles in exchange for approvals for an expansion project. Port officials say they must know by early February if the Bolsa project is definite, so they can meet their construction timetable.

But some officials sounded confident Thursday that a deal is at hand.

“I’m seeing progress, and we’re working really, really hard,” Koll senior vice president Lucy Dunn said.