Back Bay will host county lab

Paul Clinton

Supervisors unanimously approved moving Orange County’s

water-quality lab from Santa Ana to Shellmaker Island on Tuesday.

Using a temporary office trailer, members of the county’s Health

Care Agency will now be able to process water testing samples closer

to areas they routinely monitor for bacterial outbreaks.

“It puts a facility right where problems happen,” said Supervisor

Chair Tom Wilson, who represents Newport Coast. Wilson and local

officials launched the effort to move the lab about two years ago.

The lab is part of the Marine Studies Center at Shellmaker that

performs education, testing, research and other functions oriented

toward the marine environment.

City officials who installed the trailers for the county lab in

the fall said Newport Beach is a much more appropriate location for

water-quality testing and research than Santa Ana.

The county maintains and uses 35 testing sites in Upper Newport

Bay alone, Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said. Samples are taken

from water areas in coastal Orange County and sent to the lab for

processing.

“It should allow for less transportation time for the water

quality sampler,” Kiff said. At a Tuesday meeting, supervisors

approved a three-year lease with the city that allows the Health Care

Agency to use it rent free beginning March 1. County officials are

scheduled to occupy the building Feb. 14.

The board approved the construction of the temporary water-quality

lab on Dec. 5, 2000.

The state’s Department of Fish and Game, which owns the land that

makes up the estuary, also approved the move.

The city picked up the tab for the installation of the

2,160-square-foot trailer and will also absorb the cost of sewer and

water service to the trailer.

County health care officials are expected to pay $19,539 per year

to run the lab at Shellmaker Island. That includes janitorial

services, maintenance and some utilities. For the current fiscal

year, the lab will cost the county $17,029 for initial set-up and

operational costs.

While the county water-quality lab uses the temporary facility,

officials are waiting for an additional $1.3 million in state revenue

to build a permanent marine center, which is still in the conceptual

stage. State budget problems have delayed that project for two to

three years, Kiff said.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.