Regional water board warns Hearthside about runoff

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Hearthside Homes will have to figure out a long-term

method for diverting dry-season runoff from its proposed residential

community on the Bolsa Chica mesa, or its plan may be washed away, a

water board official said.

So far, the developer, formerly known as the Koll Real Estate Group, has

not come up with an adequate proposal, said Jerry Thibeault, executive

officer for the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The water board has the power to block development by withholding a

permit that allows discharge of untreated waste water from lawns and

streets, which typically flows through storm drains into open waters, he

said.

Runoff is considered at least partly to blame for the beach contamination

over the summer that forced the closure of more than four miles of

shoreline.

Hearthside, which plans to build more than 1,200 homes on the mesa,

initially intended to dispose of the waste water through outfall pipes

that drain into the Outer Bolsa Bay.

That’s fine during the wet season because rain dilutes the concentration

of pollutants in the runoff, which includes fertilizer, motor oil and

animal droppings, he said. But the staff at the water board is concerned

that the more potent discharge during the dry season may upset the

delicate balance of the protected wetlands surrounding the mesa, he said.

“We would not feel comfortable without a commitment for long-term control

of dry-weather flows,” he said.

Hearthside had hoped the Orange County Sanitation District would come to

its rescue by allowing the development’s runoff to be diverted through

its nearby treatment plant, said Bob Ghirelli, the district’s director of

technical services. But the district can’t bail out Hearthside because

its policy is to only accept runoff on a yearly basis, he said.

That doesn’t leave the developer with many options, he said.

“They’re going to have to abandon their project or come up with some type

of treatment program,” he said.

As Ghirelli suggests, Hearthside could build its own treatment plant, but

that would be “very costly,” he said.

Hearthside would not comment.

The board expects Hearthside to make a formal proposal after the Coastal

Commission rules on the planned residential community in April, Thibeault

said.