Mailbag - June 27, 2002

I agree with Danette Goulet’s concern about destroying a football

fields length of beach for a tidal inlet for the Bolsa Chica.

Also, the concern that the breakwaters of an inlet might cause severe

beach erosion problems along the coast has not come even close to being

answered to my satisfaction.

I agree that ocean water is needed to restore the Bolsa Chica. But I

ask the question: Why do we have to destroy one priceless resource to

save another?

Several years ago on a trip to represent the city in Washington DC, I

asked the assistant secretary of the interior: Why can’t we build a huge

tunnel under the beach to do the job?. He replied, “That sounds like a

good idea.” His aide immediately said, “But sir, I think it would be too

costly.”

Yes, it would be costly. But in evaluating the cost we need to factor

in the cost of what would be lost. What is the value of a football field

length of beach serving a metropolitan area of 10 to 15 million people?

What is the cost of annually moving thousands of tons of sand to

restore eroding beaches?

To those that say it can’t be done, I remind them that this is a

country that put men on the moon. To those that say it’s too costly, I

ask them to factor in the cost of what will and may be lost.

DAVE SULLIVAN

Huntington Beach

Sea is life -- inlet is needed

After reading Danette Goulet’s recent article reflecting her opinion

of the unfortunate location selected for the Bolsa Chica tidal entrance,

all I could do was groan, “Oh no, not again.”

The battle to restore the Bolsa Chica wetlands to its former viable

self seems to have a life of its own, which keeps popping up like a

target at a skeet-shoot.

Fortunately, the lowlands restoration has been approved. Pacific Coast

Highway improvements and the location of the ocean entrance at the south

end of the wetlands has been painstakingly studied and approved by most

all of the necessary permitting agencies.

Anyone questioning the need for the ocean entrance needs only to have

seen Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff’s recent “Your City, Your Issues”

program on HBTV3 where she interviewed Jack Fancher the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife biologist who heads up the restoration committee.

Fancher says it all in four short words, “The sea is life.”

ADRIANNE MORRISON

Huntington Beach

The real inlet problem will be water quality

The inlet for the Talbert Marsh did not improve the area’s surfing

waves. To be fair, it didn’t particularly harm the nearby surfing,

either.

The process of sandbar creation Vic Leipzig describes does

occasionally occur a few hundred yards down the beach in front of the

Santa Ana River mouth, but only after heavy rains, and we know what that

means. Thus, the focus of the debate regarding the Bolsa Chica inlet

should focus on water quality -- the real issue here.

The question is not whether we’ll lose a few yards of beach, but

whether miles of ocean will become unsafe. Although some claim water from

the Wintersburg Channel, which drains over 28 square miles, will not

reach the wetlands, this smacks of the standard Amigos public relations.

Moreover, if the wetlands are connected to Huntington Harbor, we’ll be

swimming in boat discharge and bird feces.

MARK MACKINDER

Huntington Beach

Police should clean up its own mess

The Huntington Beach Police Union should stop dodging and bite the

bullet.

It seems the city’s sweetheart lease of the old gun range property to

the Huntington Beach police for a mere $1 per year for 30 years wasn’t

generous enough. The police union was the sole beneficiary of all profits

generated at the range and used the site for its corporate headquarters.

Now that it is time to clean up the lead contamination generated by

their gun range business, the union refuses to pay and wants the

taxpayers to pick up the tab. I think this is outrageous.

The police union ran the business that caused the contamination and

they should show some integrity and clean up the hazardous waste site

they created.

The city should put any thought of a new multimillion dollar regional

gun range on hold indefinitely. The taxpayers can’t afford this luxury

for the few.

JIM MARTIN

Huntington Beach

Let’s see some action -- treat the plume

Regarding the sewage plume, our feeling is that the study leads to

more studies.

It’s time to stop the studies and treat the sewage. Even though the

current studies have not shown conclusively that the plume is the primary

source of pollution that doesn’t mean it isn’t the source. We would like

to see some action.

MERLE AND MIKE MOSHIRI

Huntington Beach

Is our ocean dirty? As far as our ocean goes -- yes, it is filthy as

long as the “sanitation” district dumps sewage in it. The Bush

Administration now acknowledges global warming, but doesn’t know what to

do about it.

We all acknowledge smog, despite those who inform us that the air is

healthy. And I’m thankful to Mayor Debbie Cook for informing me about the

waiver and daily sewage plume.

Now we can all consistently voice and vote to get rid of that plume.

SUE DOMINQUEZ

Huntington Beach