Huntington Habour back open 24 hours

After more than three months of restricted hours Huntington Harbour

again is open 24 hours.

While boaters and business owners are relieved, they said they will

continue to ask the Navy to find a way to separate civilian and military

boat traffic so that this dilemma will not reoccur.

“We sent out a proposal that would cost about a half a million dollars

to cut a hole in the inner jetty before you even reach the Naval Weapons

Station,” said Scott Seaton, the manager of Peter’s Landing Marina.

“That’s the main thing. The problem is that civilian traffic has to go by

a sensitive area.”

Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, access to the harbor

through the Anaheim Bay corridor was closed for a week. On Sept. 18, it

reopened under restricted hours that limited the times boaters could

enter and exit the harbor to a mere four hours a day.

The reason for the restriction, said Gregg Smith, spokesman for the

Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, is that in order to get in and out of

the harbor, boats must pass through the weapons station, where munitions

are loaded.

There are currently federal restrictions in place that require no one

come within 300 yards of Naval ships, Smith added.

And unlike in larger harbors, such as San Diego, there is no way to to

get in or out of Huntington Harbour without coming within 300 yards of

Navy ships.

Those who use the harbor are sensitive to that, Seaton said, and no

less patriotic than anyone else, but they feel the Navy’s reasoning is

not quite sound.

“The whole thing just didn’t make any sense,” he said. “They didn’t

close Pacific Coast Highway, which goes right by the station and

Westminster remained open.”

Even with the restrictions lifted business owners say they can not

risk another closure.

“I think the fuel dock was most severely affected. They serve more

than 100 boats a day during a busy time and they were down to a handful a

day,” Seaton said.

Despite the Navy’s decision to life restrictions last week, Seaton

said he plans to continue to push for a solution to a problem that they

fear will crop up again.

Although the Navy has indicated that there is a plan in the works,

they are not disclosing what that plan may be.