The multinational oil company Chevron has agreed to pay for the removal of contaminants caused by buried gasoline tanks on the property owned by Daniel and Luciana Forge at the intersection of Corral Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway. The Forges hope to now sell the property and retire.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
After years spent battling state agencies and environmental groups to add a 27-room bed and breakfast to their property at the intersection of Corral Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway, Beau Rivage restaurant owners Daniel and Luciana Forge hope an environmental cleanup will allow them to sell the property and retire. The Forges are doing so with help from an unlikely source: the multinational oil company Chevron Corporation.
Chris Lashelle, the Forges’ real estate agent, along with Marcus Beck, announced in an e-mail to The Malibu Times last week that Chevron had agreed to pay for the removal of ground contaminants caused by storage tanks buried on the property in the 1950s. The Forges discovered the tanks in 2003 while performing a septic test for plans to build the bed and breakfast. The tanks dated back to the presence of a Conoco Phillips gas station in the 1950s where the Rosenthal wine tasting room currently stands. The gas station was later torn down. The Forges had the tanks removed and notified the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2003, which, after conducting tests, determined that remediation efforts were required to clear the ground of contamination. Daniel Forge got an affidavit from the attorney who helped him buy the property in 1982 stating there had been no disclosure of the underground tanks. Research by environmental consultants hired by the Forges traced the legal responsibility for the tanks to Chevron, which had bought Conoco Phillips.
The Forges faced an Aug. 30 deadline by the water board to initiate the remediation efforts, which would involve the installation of water pumps to wash out the ground contaminants, at a cost of $600,000, as estimated by consultants hired by the Forges. Lashelle said he sent more than 30 letters to Chevron, and received a reply in late June after he threatened a $5 million lawsuit. Had Chevron not stepped in, Lashelle said the Forges would never have been able to pay the $600,000 and most likely would have lost their property.
“This is an oil company doing the right thing, and we really want to thank Chevron,” Lashelle said.
Daniel Forge, 86, and Luciana Forge, 88, have been trying to sell the property for years, prompted by failing health and clashes with the California Coastal Commission and the Sierra Club over plans to build the bed and breakfast.
The Malibu City Council in 2003 approved a municipal permit that would have allowed the couple to construct a 16,240 square foot bed and breakfast on their land adjacent to their restaurant. But the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit citing various environmental concerns, including inadequate protection for steelhead trout in nearby Solstice Creek. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs ruled against the Sierra Club, rejecting arguments that the project’s environmental impact report was insufficient. A state appellate panel agreed with the lower court’s decision, and the California Supreme Court later declined to hear the case.
Despite the court wins, the Forges’ big blow came in August 2005 when the California Coastal Commission unanimously rejected their coastal development permit application. They then decided to sell the property, but a potential deal fell through in 2007, followed shortly after by the national economic collapse.
In 2009 and 2010, the Forges clashed with Caltrans and the National Parks Service over plans to implement fish ladders to facilitate the return of steelhead trout in Solstice Creek, which involved using eminent domain to access the Forges property. Lashelle said he believed a June 2010 lawsuit filed by Caltrans against the Forges had been dropped after the Forges agreed to grant the state agency access to their property to reconstruct an existing Pacific Coast Highway bridge culvert and stream channel.
Since Chevron agreed to pay for the remediation costs, Lashelle said he has been talking to four potential buyers interested in the property.
The Beau Rivage has been a fixture of the Malibu landscape since 1982, serving as a voting center, meeting place for city functions and a frequent location for weddings.