A deep-water dumping spot

This is absolutely critical that it does get approved because one of

the biggest problems the harbor has is our filtration due to the

runoff from the county and inland. We must dredge it, and to make it

feasible, we need to have a dump site that is relatively near. The

materials being dumped are already in the water, so there is nothing

special about them. They will be put back into the water once again,

four miles offshore in a deep canyon. Now with saying all that, there

do need to be limitations,as other communities will be using the

site.

RALPH RODHEIM

Newport Beach

It is said in the environmental movement that every victory is

temporary and every loss permanent. Newport Beach Assistant City

Manager Dave Kiff said the cost to haul the dredging waste up to Los

Angeles County would double. Then I’m afraid we’ll just have to

double it, because our most precious asset is our ocean water, and it

demands the maximum investment that we can possibly bare.

We also have a local congressman, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who

reports to be a surfer although he has a weak environmental voting

record in the past. We need to know where he and other local

officials stand on this issue.

FRANK CAMPBELL

Costa Mesa

Re: “Dump site in waters sought,” Tuesday. I strongly support the

effort to make the LA-3 disposal site off Newport Beach permanent.

Without a nearby disposal site for the sediment that accumulates in

the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve during storm events, the

entire estuary could be in jeopardy of becoming a meadow. Other

disposal methods would be too costly or impractical.

A review of the environmental document for the project confirms

that the LA-3 disposal site will accept only clean sediment that

meets strict Environmental Protection Agency standards. No toxic

sediment from the Los Angeles or Long Beach ports would be allowed.

The proposed LA-3 disposal site is located 1.3 miles southeast of the

underwater Newport Canyon in an area with minimal ocean currents.

For three decades, the EPA has monitored the interim LA-3 disposal

site and has found little evidence of biodegradation or accumulation

of toxic sediment. It’s time to make the LA-3 site permanent. New

technology and new EPA regulations should guarantee a much more

accurate release of sediment at the designated disposal location.

Stringent monitoring and management requirements are spelled out.

The possible loss of the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve as

an estuary far outweighs any environmental risks that the disposal of

clean sediment at LA-3 might cause.

JACK SKINNER

Newport Beach