Down on the dumps

Alicia Robinson

The City Council will vote tonight on whether to ask the U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers to deposit sand dredged from the Santa Ana River

offshore rather than on the beach in West Newport.

City officials vowed to do so last week after residents raised a

stink about a corps project to put river sand between 32nd and 56th

streets on the beach, widening it considerably in places.

The $4.5-million project will remove 400,000 cubic yards of

sediment from the river to reduce the risk of flooding. In their

long-term battle against erosion, city officials agreed to take the

river sand because it was free, and paying for beach replenishment

could cost millions, Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.

But residents complained that using sand from the Santa Ana River

-- often a source of bacteria that contaminates beach waters -- would

pose health risks and cause dangerous shore breaks by extending the

beach farther into the water.

While officials said they’d work together to address residents’

concerns, there was a snag: The corps is bound by a contract with

CJW, the contractor already hired and doing work upstream.

“We’re still working with the city and the county to see if there

are other means of [sand] disposal,” said Ken Morris, project manager

for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “The project as it’s been

awarded is continuing as far as taking the vegetation out of the

channel.”

Work on the beach wouldn’t begin until after Labor Day, he said.

The city will use its muscle to get the sand put offshore, so some

of it still would be washed back onto the beach, but problems with

dust and beach access would be minimized. Newport Beach officials

don’t have much leverage, because the corps is funding and

controlling the project, Kiff said.

One big question is whether money can be found to pay for offshore

disposal, which could cost as much as $2 million more, Morris said.

“[Funding is] the largest barrier to near-shore disposal,” Kiff

said. “We really are toeing a fine line between asking them to do

what the contract requires and pushing them away.”

The council tonight will consider approving a letter to the corps

offering the city’s help in finding ways to limit the amount of sand

trucked onto the beach. Councilman Steve Rosansky said he’d like to

see the city take an even stronger stance.

“The contractor needs to obtain an encroachment permit from the

city to operate on the beach, so certainly the city could deny them

from doing what they want to do,” he said. “Certainly, that is one

tool the city has to control what happens, but I’m confident that the

corps is looking at alternatives.”

Residents are likely to crowd council chambers tonight to voice

their opinions, said resident Jim Brooks, who recently sent letters

encouraging neighbors to get involved.

They’d like to see the council approve the recommendations, which

include hiring an environmental expert to watch the corps’ work and

sending a letter urging the offshore-disposal option, Brooks said.

Residents also want the corps to agree not to dump the sand on the

city’s beach, he said.

“We support the dredging of the river,” Brooks said. “We support

dumping it offshore. We will not support putting it on the beach.

Until we get a signed letter by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, we

will not be satisfied.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

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

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.