CoastKeeper warns home development about runoff
Paul Clinton
NEWPORT BEACH -- An environmentalist took the first step toward suing
the developers of a massive home project in Yorba Linda on Tuesday,
following a process laid out by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Orange County CoastKeeper Garry Brown has accused Toll Brothers Inc.
and Aera Energy Corp. of dumping excess sediment into the Santa Ana
River. Brown sent the two companies a notice of violation and intent to
sue.
That polluted sediment exits the mouth of the Santa Ana River channel,
degrades the water quality of Orange County’s beaches and leads to the
over-sedimentation of its harbors, Brown said.
“It’s probably the dirtiest construction site I’ve ever seen,” Brown
said of the project. “There’s very little interest in complying with the
state construction permit.”
Toll Brothers, based near Philadelphia, is building three exclusive
communities in Vista Del Verde, in the hills of Yorba Linda.
Spokeswoman Kira McCarron said she had not heard of the notice.
“Because it’s a pseudo-litigation matter, there will be no comment,”
McCarron said. “It’s too soon in the process for it to hit our radar
screen.”
The homes will be situated on an old oil field that will incorporate
the Black Gold Golf Course. Landowner Aera Energy, a co-developer, is
co-owned by Shell Oil Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp.
Toll Brothers is building 114 homes in the Fairways project, 61 homes
in the Pinnacle, and 82 homes in a development called Montecito. The
homes will sell for between $615,975 and $976,000, according the the
company’s Web site.
Yorba Linda Principal Planner Bruce Cook said his city has had no
oversight over preventing the project’s runoff.
State law requires the developer to submit a plan to the Santa Ana
Regional Water Quality Control Board detailing how it will control
polluted runoff.
On Friday, Brown said he sent the notice of intent to sue to the
company’s Orange office. The notice starts in motion a 60-day period for
the two sides to work out a settlement.
If the company doesn’t respond, Brown said he will file a lawsuit in
federal court and try to obtain an injunction to halt the project.
CoastKeeper followed a similar path with the Irvine Co.’s community of
bluff-top homes in Newport Coast. After threatening to sue, Brown and the
company reached a settlement agreement in March. The company agreed to
install catch basins, step up water-quality monitoring and implement
other improvements.
The Newport Watershed, an area covering more than 3,000 square miles,
acts as a funnel for polluted sediment heading toward the county’s
beaches, Brown said.
“What happens in the watershed is all connected,” Brown said. “It’s
all these flows that accumulate. They all run to our beaches.”
* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may
be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7
paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .
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