Crystal Cove spill disrupts movie shoot

Alex Coolman

A discharge of water from a hillside development onto the sands of

Crystal Cove State Park disrupted production of a movie Wednesday morning

and renewed concerns among the environmentalists who work to protect the

area.

Just before 8 a.m., an undetermined amount of water flooded onto the

beach from a culvert just south of the Los Trancos Canyon outlet, said

Rich Elbaum, a spokesman for the Irvine Co. The water was runoff from

street cleaning at one of the Crystal Cove home developments being

created by an Irvine Co. subcontractor.

Michael Eaton, supervising ranger with California State Parks, said

the water had come from a development created by Standard Pacific Homes,

the same company that released a large amount of water into the ocean off

Crystal Cove in June.

The water that spilled Wednesday quickly pooled under a platform on

the beach used by a camera crew to shoot a movie about actor James Dean,

disrupting production. Within a few hours, the contractor had sent trucks

to the beach to pump the water into a truck for disposal elsewhere.

Elbaum said the discharge occurred because barriers intended to keep

the water from entering storm drains had failed.

He stressed, however, that construction permits allowed the water to

be dumped at the beach.

“We’re still well within the regulations and construction permits with

the project,” he said.

Mark Adelson, a spokesman for the surveillance and enforcement section

of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the board

regarded the water spill a minor event.

“We don’t believe this is a significant water quality issue, but we

are continuing to follow up with the Irvine Co.,” he said.

The spill concerned some environmentalists because it appeared to

parallel the dumping practices of Pelican Hill Golf Club, which

repeatedly sent reclaimed water into Crystal Cove and was slapped with

fines for the practice in May.

“This is the second time this has happened in a relatively short

amount of time,” said Laura Davick of the Alliance to Rescue Crystal

Cove.