Homeowners group to hear about environmental issues

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- Homeowners will hear about sewage, dredging and runoff

at a meeting tonight at City Hall.

The meeting, held by the West Newport Beach Association, will feature a

panel discussion by Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff, water quality advocate

Jack Skinner and Orange County Health Care Agency program chief Larry

Honeybourne.

Kiff said he wants to make sure people have a clear understanding of

Newport’s dredging plan for the bay.

“A lot of people don’t know the magnitude of the proposed upper bay

dredging,” he said.

Another topic that could come up is the water quality in the area around

Newport Island. That’s an area, Skinner said, where there have been some

high bacterial counts.

“There have been some studies to determine where that contamination might

be coming from and what type of measures might be done to improve the

water quality from a health standpoint,” Skinner said.

The natural “flushing” of the currents in the narrow channels that run

around the triangular island isn’t very strong, he added. That makes it

easy for pollutants to accumulate in the channels.

It is difficult, however, to determine exactly what to do about it.

“Some of the options are not really viable options,” Skinner said.

This same dilemma -- of having good environmental intentions but limited

means of carrying them out -- is something Honeybourne will discuss in

connection with legislation on urban runoff.

Specifically, Honeybourne said he will tackle state Assembly Bill 411,

the legislation passed last year that caused Huntington Beach to be

closed down for months because of strict testing standards.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. City Hall is at 3300 Newport Blvd.