Two toxic tanks found at Ascon

State environmental officials are hoping to have two potentially

hazardous tanks removed from the Ascon dump site by next week.

Workers from the state Department of Oil And Gas found the

petroleum-based substance while cleaning up after an oil well that

ruptured March 17, gushing 40 feet in the air and spraying 360

Huntington Beach homes. The idle well, which workers are in the

process of abandoning, sits on the former Ascon landfill at Hamilton

Avenue and Magnolia Street.

The two 500-gallon oil tanks, estimated to be 40 to 50 years old,

were found sitting next to the pump head of the oil rig during the

abandonment process, Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Robert

Wise said.

Wise wouldn’t comment on the substance in the tanks, but said it

was worrisome enough that officials are having them removed as soon

as possible.

It’s possibly a mixture of diesel motor oil and gasoline

constituents, he said.

The tanks are being investigated for liquids inside, Huntington

Beach Fire Chief Duane Olson said.

“We’re going to pump all that material out and the tanks will be

decontaminated and disposed of,” Wise said. “In a month, you’ll look

at that well site, and there will be nothing there.”

Officials don’t know who deposited the sludge at the well site.

State agency OKs restoration project

The California State Lands Commission voted Monday to grant the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a four-year lease of the Bolsa Chica

Wetlands for the long-awaited 550-acre restoration project.

The action, which gives the Fish and Wildlife Service authority as

the project’s lead agency, was one of the final steps required before

the project can begin, said Shirley Dettloff, a former mayor and

coastal commissioner, who’s been pushing for the project for decades.

“Every step is a step in the direction we’ve been going toward for

30 years,” Dettloff said. “Everything’s in order and the process has

been completed.”

This vote comes only two weeks after the California Coastal

Conservancy last month OKd the final $10 million needed to move

forward with the restoration of the degraded marshland.

Funded largely by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,

restoration calls for 370 acres of full tidal and 180 acres of muted

tidal habitat.

Restoration is set to begin this fall and will include

construction of a new ocean channel, tidal basins, island habitats

and pedestrian bridges that connect the wetlands to the beach via

Pacific Coast Highway. Construction is expected to take three years

to complete.

Housing will replace Harbour Bay Club

Developers hoping to transform an old sports club into 36

condominiums were sent back to the drawing board Monday to redesign

plans to meet city standards.

In the late 1970s and ‘80s, the Huntington Harbour Bay Club

reverberated with the sound of music, bouncing tennis balls and

neighborhood chatter. But the club, which now serves as a banquet

hall, is no longer self-supporting and owners said they have no

choice but to sell.

“As a banquet facility, we had so many problems with noise in the

neighborhood that we continually had police come to the door because

of neighbors complaining,” bay club owner Doris Ahadpour said.

But the development proposal for the site contained so many

deviations from city development standards that existing plans were

shot down by the City Council Monday night.

“Small lot development standards have pretty much been decimated

by this proposal,” City Councilwoman Connie Boardman said. “There are

a dozen deviations. I think what that points to is that the land just

isn’t appropriate for this type of development.”

The City Council narrowly approved the housing project 4 to 3 on

the condition that plans be altered to comply with the city’s small

lot standards.

Residents at the meeting complained that the project would be a

blight on the area, block harbor views and cause a decline in

property values.

“You only have one harbor and once it’s destroyed it’s forever

gone,” Huntington Harbour resident Robert Sniffen said. “Views of the

harbor make Huntington Beach special Please don’t destroy it.”

In the past, the site was the hub of the Huntington Harbour

community. Councilman Dave Sullivan, who used to be a member, recalls

frequenting the bay club for community meetings, tennis matches and

meals. A beach that fronted the club would draw hundreds of visitors

on a typical weekend day, he said.

“I often felt that it was a very important open space area for the

community, but that has all changed now,” he said.

Celebrating an early Easter

An Easter egg hunt, sponsored by the Huntington Beach Kiwanis Club

and the Community Services Department will be held Saturday at

Huntington Beach Central Park, off Edwards Street between Inlet and

Central Park drives.

The first hunt will begin at 9:30 a.m. for children with special

needs, followed by one at 10 a.m. for toddlers 2 and under, 10:30

a.m. for 3- and 4-year-olds, 11 a.m. for 5- and 6-year olds and 11:30

a.m. for 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds.

It will mark the city’s 14th annual Easter egg hunt.

Children are encouraged to bring their own bags for collecting

candy.

The hunts will feature a band, games, clown and face painting, hot

dogs and photos with the Easter Bunny.

The event is free. For more information, call (714) 374-1626.