Good news on the Bolsa Chica front

NATURAL PERSPECTIVES

We had a whole Christmas stocking full of good news tidbits to

cover today. We thought our writing was done. Then fast as a finch, a

Grinch threw a wrench smack in the middle of our column.

We had planned to lead off by expressing our thanks to outgoing

council members Ralph Bauer, Shirley Dettloff, Grace Winchell and

Peter Green for their many years of service. All have worked hard to

protect our environment.

Then we had planned to go on to Bolsa Chica in the news.

Hearthside Homes recently dropped its lawsuit against the Amigos de

Bolsa Chica. Hearthside had accused the Amigos of violating the

coalition agreement that was hammered out in the late 1980s. The suit

was triggered when the Amigos spoke at a California Coastal

Commission hearing in support of the eucalyptus grove and water

quality issues. Gee, what a crime. Makes us wonder what Hearthside’s

motivation was in bringing the suit.

In another court action, Hearthside Homes appears to have lost its

suit against the coastal commission. If the tentative ruling is

upheld, Hearthside will be limited to building on only the upper mesa

of the Bolsa Chica. However, Hearthside’s development permit has

expired, so they’re back to square one. Developers are faced with a

decision to either sell the entire mesa or reapply for permits to

develop the upper mesa. At this point, we assume that they are

willing sellers of at least the lower mesa, and perhaps the upper

mesa is obtainable, as well.

The Bolsa Chica wetlands seem closer to restoration. Cleanup of

the toxics in the wetlands should start soon. We predict good things

will be happening throughout the entire Bolsa Chica ecosystem in

2003. It’s about time.

Finally, the City Council adopted a new strategic plan for

improving the water quality of urban runoff that goes into the ocean,

Huntington Harbour and our local marshes. We wish to express our

thanks to Council members Debbie Cook, Bauer and Dettloff, who worked

for months with a committee of staff and citizens to create the plan.

That’s what we were going to write about. Then the phone rang. One

of our alert readers called on Saturday to inform us of a flood

coming from the Chevron tank farm at Gothard Street and Talbert

Avenue. The rain had been over since Friday night, so this didn’t

sound like good news.

It had the marks of a disaster in the making. That’s what threw

the monkey wrench into our column plans. We hiked over to Central

Park to see for ourselves.

Water, or some other liquid, was pouring across the sidewalks of

Central Park, taking the path of least resistance in its inexorable

flow from the tank farm toward Talbert Lake. The source of the fluid

was Chevron’s gasoline storage yard. Although the flow looked and

smelled like water and had no oily sheen, we wanted to make sure that

it really was just water.

We wanted the Hazmat team from either Public Works or the Fire

Department to test the fluid. We called police dispatch and let them

sort out which governmental entity was best suited to conduct the

tests. Soon the Fire Department was on its way.

We got a call back from police dispatch a short time later. If it

looks like water and smells like water, odds are good that it is

water. And that’s what it was. Seems that a sprinkler head or valve

had broken in the Chevron yard. The Fire Department Hazmat team

tested the fluid and found no trace of toxics. Case closed.

So this week, we have nothing but good news to report on the

environmental front.

We’re happy that citizens are concerned when they see something

out of the ordinary and that they take the time to report it. We’re

happy that we have emergency personnel who can respond to such

incidents and who have the equipment and expertise to conduct tests

and take appropriate action.

We’re happy that the Bolsa Chica mesa issue seems even closer to

resolution and that the wetlands seem even closer to restoration.

But what makes us really happy is that we’ve almost finished all

those Thanksgiving turkey leftovers.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.