CITY FOCUS: Council takes emergency action on Aliso pollution

Building toward a solution for Aliso Beach’s pollution problem, the Laguna Beach City Council has appointed a subcommittee to obtain federal funds and work with neighboring cities.

The unanimous action on Aug. 1 was taken on an emergency basis. The council designated Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman and Council member Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider to the subcommittee to work toward “obtaining Federal financial assistance for a substantial improvement of the water quality in Aliso Creek.”

The appointment comes on the heels of an outcry by local environmentalists after county workers recently broke a sand berm on Aliso Beach, releasing millions of gallons of creek water into the ocean.

The sand berm, which separates the ocean from the mouth of Aliso Creek, was bulldozed by the county under an emergency permit, to address safety concerns on the popular beach.

The berm forms from the creek water collecting at the base of the creek at the beach and allows water to meander north, creating a steep embankment that is unsafe for beachgoers, county officials say.

But allowing the creek to flow directly into the ocean is dumping millions of gallons of polluted water into a swimming area, local environmental activist Mike Beanan complains.

“This has been a problem for decades,” Beanan said. “They (the city) keep saying they’re going to have a solution, but we want it now.”

Pearson-Schneider has been working with Congressman John Campbell for the past six months to obtain matching federal funds to fix the problem.

In addition, the committee plans to seek help from officials in other cities to obtain funds.

Aliso Beach homeowner Phil Rutten believes the city should also put pressure on neighboring cities to cut down on the amount of pollution they put into the watershed.

Laguna Beach is forced to deal with pollution that comes from communities upstream, Rutten said.

Rutten initially took an interest in the Aliso Creek berm issue out of safety concerns for his property and is now concerned about the environmental issues.

“The water gets more polluted every year,” he said. “It’s appalling. Someone has to come forward and put an end to this.”

Rutten criticizes regulatory agencies and believes there is a lack of leadership in improving the situation.

“The county says they educate people on the danger of polluting the watershed, but I drive by their courthouse on Crown Valley and see their sprinkler system leaking gallons of water downhill,” Rutten said.

Beanan agrees that there has been a lack of leadership in addressing the problem.

“They (the city) said in March that they were going to work with SOCWA (South Orange County Wastewater Authority) to create a diversion plan, but they never did,” Beanan said.