Poling apart

Paul Clinton

The Coast Guard and harbor patrol teamed up Friday to cut down seven

unsightly electricity poles from the north jetty at the mouth of Newport

Harbor.

The poles, which have not been used in a half-dozen years, had become

unsafe, Coast Guard Executive Officer Chuck Lindsey said.

“They’re an eyesore,” Lindsey said. “They’re old and decrepit. And

more for a safety issue, we decided to clean the jetties up.”

The wooden, weather-beaten poles -- defaced with graffiti and bird

droppings -- had become a playground for local children, who were known

to tug on their dangling wires.

Some surfers have complained about the removal of the poles, which had

been used to measure the height of some extreme waves at the Wedge,

Lindsey said.

The poles were fastened into concrete on the pathway above the rocks

that make up the jetty. They were initially used to provide power to a

lighted beacon at the tip of the outcropping.

The beacon, lighted by 120-volt power wires attached to the poles, is

used to help guide ships and other vessels into the harbor so they don’t

run aground. There were no poles on top of the south jetty.

In 1996, the Coast Guard cut electricity to the beacon and installed

solar cells to power the light. The agency’s Aids to Navigation Team

oversees the maintenance of the beacon.

Members of the Coast Guard cutter Narwhal, which is stationed in

Corona del Mar, helped take the poles down.

Workers used chain saws Friday morning to cut down the poles, pushing

them as they began to fall into the water.

Red-E-Rentals, based in Costa Mesa, donated the equipment to complete

the job, Lindsey said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s harbor patrol also joined in

the effort, agreeing to haul the poles out of the water to a landfill.

“They’ll just pick them up, and 20 minutes later they’ll be out of

here,” said Greg Kibby, a marine mechanic with the harbor patrol. “Most

likely, they’ll go into a landfill.”

The navigation team used a steel-hulled boat to drag the bundled poles

back to the dock, where they were hauled out of the water.

“They were ugly, and they were causing a hazard out there,” said John

Hurst, chief officer on the team. “It’s the right thing to do.”

* 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 .