Lagoon project starts at a crawl

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Mark Abramson, senior watershed advisor for the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, faces dozens of protesters in June 2012, prior the start of the project.

Protesters come out to stop the project, but a State Parks official says bulldozers are weeks away.

By Knowles Adkisson / Associate Editor

The controversial California State Parks project to reshape the Malibu Lagoon began Friday with something less than the bang many anticipated. A group of about 30 protesters stood at the entrance to the Malibu Lagoon parking lot, carrying signs opposing the project as passing motorists periodically honked in support.

Dozens of State Parks rangers and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were stationed in the parking lot of the Malibu courthouse to keep the peace.

But no work was done on the project Friday, which State Parks representatives said was by design to avoid interfering with the annual Pat Notaro Day surfing event to benefit autistic children. The event took place over the weekend.

Protesters pointed to the lack of activity as a sign that State Parks was having to change its plan to drain the lagoon of water, a process referred to as “de-watering.”

“At the last minute, the 11th hour, they’ve changed the de-watering plan because we proved that it was unhealthy, and now they’re going to do a new de-watering plan and not let us see it,” community activist Lyon said.

Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen described the plan as “fatally flawed” in a May letter to the California Coastal Commission. That was based on city estimates that the contractor hired by State Parks would not be able to treat and sanitize all of the water, which is highly infected, before dumping it in the ocean at Surfrider Beach, which could cause a potential health hazard.

But State Parks officials maintained that nothing has changed regarded the de-watering plan. On Monday, State Parks scientists began removing lizards and other reptiles from the lagoon to replace them in similar habitat.

Suzanne Goode, senior biologist for State Parks, said the coastal development permit for the project, approved by the California Coastal Commission in 2010, included a de-watering plan that was general in nature. The de-watering plan included alternatives based on how much water was in the lagoon and whether the berm was open or closed to the ocean. Currently the berm is closed, and water levels are high.

Goode maintained that the contractor, Ford E.C. Inc. of Los Angeles, was always going to devise a specific plan based on the amount of water in the lagoon. Ford submitted its specific de-watering plan to State Parks, which reviewed the plan and forwarded it to Coastal Commission staff Tuesday, Goode said. The plan now awaits approval from the agency.

“We don’t think we’re actually going to do the de-watering for a couple weeks,” Goode said.

Until then, Goode said State Parks would continue re-moving native plants and animals from the lagoon and replacing them in similar habitats. The removal of mammals will occur once a fence is built to delineate the construction area, and the contractor will have to set up on site with electricity. The contractor will then set up the water treatment plant and test it to make sure it works properly.

When de-watering begins, fish will be removed from the lagoon, Goode said.

But Thorsen said Tuesday that he and the elected officials at the City of Malibu, which opposes the project, are still skeptical that the de-watering plan would ensure the safety of swimmers and beachgoers.

“Our question is how are they going to achieve [treating the water safely]. We still don’t know, and we are concerned,” Thorsen said. “It’s very likely the contractor’s de-watering plan is significantly different from what they anticipated.”

An official with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, which also must sign off on the de-watering plan, confirmed Monday that all of the water discharged from the lagoon must be treated.

Craig Sap, Angeles district superintendent for State Parks, said fears about treatment were overblown, and promised that any water removed from the lagoon would be sanitized before reaching the ocean.

“It’s going to be treated 600 percent above the required level,” Sap said. “We’re talking about way beyond. We’re sensitive to that. It’s going to be tested before it goes in, it’ll be tested when it goes it. It’s within the permit.”

Sap also said de-watering would not begin until the City of Malibu and the public had a chance to review the specific plan.

“People get the impression that we’ll start de-watering the next day [after it is approved], and that’s not the case. There’s gonna be, I can’t say, four days, five days, six days, 10 days before the de-watering begins, but that will be available. It’s a public document. I don’t know what capacity, but I’m sure they’re going to have it.”

But the protesters have set up round-the-clock shifts and plan to stand at the corner through the duration of the project, which has permits to continue through the summer.

“We’re asking for the governor [Jerry Brown] to stop this project, put it on hold until every part of it can be transparent and safe for the public,” said protester Wendi Werner.