Bay Club off hook for fine

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- The regional water board is withdrawing a complaint

against the Balboa Bay Club and instead directing it at the club’s

construction company, Snyder Langston, for causing sulfide levels in

nearby waters to rise above acceptable limits.

The company, which is heading up a $55-million renovation of the club,

stepped up to assume responsibility for the violations. Snyder Langston

has already paid the $60,000 in fines for 20 violations, declining to

appeal the fines. Also, the company has designated that $3,000 of that

fine, the maximum amount, go to a Newport Beach fund to assure water

quality here.

The violations occurred during a one-year period that ended in

February, when the company was moving ground water to make way for an

underground parking structure at the club. Decomposing plants and other

natural matter had caused high levels of sulfide in the ground water

which, for a period, was being sent into nearby harbor waters.

Snyder Langston was responsible for regularly testing nearby waters

for sulfide to ensure levels not exceed 0.4 milligrams per liter,

explained Gary Stewart, a spokesman for the Santa Ana Regional Water

Quality Control Board. Levels exceeded that limit on 20 occasions,

measuring as high as 39 milligrams -- 80 times the limit.

Stewart said the company was supposed to report test results each

month to the board. If sulfide levels exceeded the limit, the company or

its subcontractor was required to report the violation and the steps it

would take to correct the problem, Stewart explained.

In a statement, Snyder Langston officials said they were unaware that

the levels reported from time to time over a one-year period exceeded

standards.

“Things went well until February 5 of this year, when the [board]

notified the contractor that they had determined that the sulfide level

reports for 20 days between February 2001 and February 2002 were, in

fact, over the acceptable limits and would result in mandatory penalties

of $3,000 per day, for a total of $60,000,” according to the statement.

The board had not been receiving regular monthly reports from any of

the companies involved, Stewart said, though it is unclear why the lack

of reporting went unchecked for a year.

Company Chairman William Langston said that, after the problem was

made known, the company immediately installed a water treatment system to

correct the problem.

“It’s important to note that the Balboa Bay Club had no responsibility

whatsoever,” Langston said.

He also said the company strives to be meticulous about protecting the

environment. These environmental concerns, he said, are the reason why

the company designated that $3,000 of the fine go to the Robinson-Skinner

Program, a fund administered by Newport Beach that is designed to

preserve water quality and protect the environment.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .