Last Wednesday I was invited to participate in a walk-through of the Malibu Lagoon for the Las Virgenes Federation. Missy Zeitsoff and I were the only Malibu residents present at the event, which was “hosted” by Suzanne Goode of State Parks and Mark Abramson of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission on one side, and Marcia Hanscom of the Wetlands Defense Fund on the other side, the main adversaries in the lagoon destruction project. Susan Nissman of Zeroslavky’s office lent moral support to Suzanne Goode. Marcia asked me to tell the assembled group a little about the 10-year history of the project, but I was prevented from speaking by Nissman and the head of the Las Virgenes group, who said they were there to get “facts” and not opinions. The “facts” they got were one-sided in favor of the lagoon destruction proponents. After Suzanne Goode spoke at length, Marcia Hanscom was barely allowed to present her side of the issue, before the group moved on to tour the Lagoon.
Several interesting facts came out during the tour.
The lagoon destruction will involve moving and carting away over 88,000 cubic yards of lagoon mud and landfill deposited there over the decades. Some will be temporarily deposited nearby, but the rest will be taken away in dump trucks along PCH to a yet undesignated landfill somewhere, after the project begins on June 1, the beginning of Malibu’s summer tourist season. Suzanne Goode assured the group that “only” about one truck per hour will carry the mud, etc. along PCH during the dredging work. The EIR for the project also stated that during the destruction, there could be significant increases in “ambient noise levels” and dust levels in the Civic Center area.
Suzanne Goode stated that during the destruction, they will only be allowed to kill up to five Tidewater Goby fish, an endangered species. When the PCH bridge over the Malibu Lagoon was rebuilt after the 1994 floods almost took out the old bridge, the Coastal Commission was adamant that the habitat of the Tidewater Goby be protected; for this project, the Coastal Commission showed little concern for the damage to their habitat caused by the destruction.
The dredging of the Lagoon will cause several nearby septic tank systems to be uncovered, which could pollute the lagoon, according to the proponents of the lagoon destruction. The EIR for the Lagoon destruction also states that release of “construction related sediment from access roads, staging areas, ground-disturbing activities, and stock-piling during…construction into the lagoon could affect water quality”.
The three beautiful bridges that lead directly from the lagoon parking lot to the beach will be destroyed by the project, and the only foot access to the beach from the parking lot will be by a circuitous route along the northern edges of the lagoon next to the Perenchio Golf Course and the Malibu Colony homes.We walked the new path back from the beach, and it is far less appealing than the current one, and does not provide close viewing of the beautiful cranes, herons and hundreds of other birds that we saw enjoying the Lagoon (and pooping in it) as we walked over the bridges to the beach.
The lagoon project is only the last of a series of indignities Malibu has suffered since it became a city: fires caused by arsonists, carelessly thrown cigarettes along PCH, out-of-town juvenile delinquents building campfires and partying in 90 mph winds, and power company poles, which have destroyed hundreds of our homes; drivers on PCH speeding through town to get somewhere else and in one case killing a Malibu schoolgirl walking along PCH in an unsuccessful attempt to kill himself; the proliferation of rehab houses in Malibu (over 30 and counting) which we are told by the State that we have no control over; and a school system ruled by out-of-towners in Santa Monica. Enough is enough!
Ted Vaill