News Briefs

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Photo by Dana Fineman / TMT. Construction officially began the second week of June on the temporary structure for Malibu Presbyterian Church. The building, known as a "Sprung Structure" for the company that constructs them, is a quickly assembled, permanent-grade structure capable of housing the church on its Malibu Canyon Road campus while funds are raised for a new sanctuary to replace the one that burned down in the October 2007 fire. Construction is anticipated to last one to two months.

Man drowns at Zuma

A 21-year-old man died June 25 after drowning at Zuma Beach, Los Angeles County Lifeguard Captain Chuck Moore said Monday in a telephone interview.

The victim’s name has not yet been released by Los Angeles County Lifeguards or by Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriffs Station officials, but Moore said the man did not know how to swim and was swept out to sea by a massive riptide.

The drowning occurred at 2 p.m., after the victim entered the ocean with four male friends between the ages of 19 and 22 who also had poor swimming skills, but were rescued by three lifeguards.

The man’s body sunk before lifeguards could save him, but was found 45 minutes later, about 20 yards from where he was last seen, Moore said.

Temescal pool to stay closed

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority in a suit that sought to force the organizations to use public funds to rehabilitate and reopen the swimming pool at Temescal Gateway Park.

The nonprofit group Friends of Temescal Pool filed a complaint that alleged one of the conditions of the conservancy’s acquisition of the Temescal Gateway Park in 1994 was that a pool would remain open at the park, that L.A. County Proposition A, which supplied some of the funding for the purchase of the park, required the pool remain open, and that the pool’s closure precluded disabled and elderly individuals from using the park.

However, Superior Court Judge Elizabeth A. White ruled that the nonprofit did not have a valid claim against the park agencies on any of its causes of actions.

4 hikers rescued from Malibu Creek State Park

Four hikers were rescued in Malibu Creek State Park after being trapped on a ledge. Authorities conducted the nighttime rescue.

One hiker suffered a shattered ankle after falling about 50 feet and was flown to UCLA Medical Center in stable condition, according to Los Angeles Fire Department officials.

State draft policy issued to protect sea life at coastal power plants

The State Water Resources Control Board last week issued a draft policy for 19 California coastal, electric power plants (including nuclear plants) that use once-through-cooling water intake systems, according to a press release issued by the water board. The draft policy gives system owners/operators several compliance choices such as dry cooling and reduced water-cooling.

Currently, a large number of fish, larvae, seals, sea lions and turtles are killed each year in California due to the once-through-cooling process in which the power plants collectively draw about 16 billion gallons of water a day to cool equipment turbines and return hot water to the ocean.

In developing this policy, State Water Board staff has met regularly with representatives from the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, the California State Lands Commission, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Independent System Operator to develop realistic implementation plans and schedules.

Water Board Executive Director Dorothy Rice commented, “The State Water Board staff’s intent with this draft policy is to assure that California’s coastal waters are protected while making certain that essential electrical power is available to Californians.”

The draft policy can be found online at www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/npdes/cwa316.shtml.

Registration open for Navy surfing contest

The second annual surf contest is scheduled at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu and is open to the public.

Registration is open from July 8-17 for the NBVC Point Mugu surf contest, Aug. 22-23.

It is open to the public to enter and to watch. The official entry form is on the NBVC Web site, www.cnic.navy.mil/Ventura under “Community News.”

Entry fees are $20 for military and $100 for civilians. There are six categories: Jr. men (17 and under), open men, military men, open/military women, body board and long board. Participants can enter only one category. Participants are also asked to include a short bio on their surfing history.

The contest timeline was increased from one day to two due to the overwhelming response from entrants in last year’s contest.

There were 131 surfers entered in last year’s contest and more than 1,000 spectators gathered at Point Mugu to watch the historic event.

The beach at Point Mugu is one of Southern California’s best surfing locations. This particular surfacing area off the coast of Point Mugu faces in a south direction, which gives it a unique wave. The south swell causes waves to break differently and bigger than at other beaches.

The event is free. Information on base access will be publicized at a later date.

The contest is presented by Quiksilver, and coordinated by Navy’s Morale Welfare Recreation Department.

Resource Conservation District welcomes new director

The Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains welcomes its new Executive Officer Clark Stevens, AIA, an award-winning architect, land planner and educator.

“His commitment to open spaces, land restoration and interpretive design has been demonstrated via work planning over one hundred and fifty square miles of Montana, Wyoming, California and Hawaii and via design and public workshops in coastal wetland restoration and landscape design at Topanga Lagoon, Malibu Lagoon and Huntington Beach Wetlands,” states a press release from the RCDSMM.

Clark’s relationship with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains is long standing, and began with his volunteer workshop coordination on the acquisition of the lower Topanga property, which in many ways started his conservation career.

“A pragmatic visionary, Clark looks forward to supporting the Resource Conservation District staff’s deep and broad experience in the Santa Monica Mountains and aims to work with local cities agencies, home-owners, schools and elected officials to meet community environmental science, planning, design and education needs.”

A reception to welcome Clark and to celebrate the career of retiring executive officer Dan Preece will take place July 14, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at RCDSMM headquarters, The Peter Strauss Ranch, 30000 Mulholland Highway, Agoura Hills. RSVPs can be made by emailing John Hendra at jhendra@rcdsmm.org or calling 818.597.8627 ext. 102

EPA takes new steps to improve water quality

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made available comprehensive reports and data on water enforcement in all 50 states.

This is part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s larger effort to enhance transparency, promote the public’s right to know about water quality and provide information on EPA’s actions to protect water under the Clean Water Act.

In a memorandum issued last Thursday, Jackson directed EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to develop an action plan to enhance public transparency regarding clean water enforcement. In the memo, she also calls for stronger enforcement performance at federal and state levels and a transformation of EPA’s water quality and compliance information systems.

In keeping with this directive, EPA has posted detailed information on the current state of clean water compliance and enforcement in each state, and copies of the latest clean water enforcement and compliance performance reports for each state to the agency’s Web site. EPA also launched new Web-based tools to help the public search, assess, and analyze the data the agency used to help prepare those reports.

More information on the state-by-state reports can be found online at www.epa.gov/compliance/state/srf/index.html

-Laura Tate