Channel 3, in presenting the blow-by-blow City Council accounts of Malibu’s green growing pains, continues to be at least as entertaining as most other TV programs. Latest to capture my attention is the DG vs. permeable concrete (PC) controversy. Anything that takes an hour or more of Council time, not to mention that of various staffers, is worth comment. Five councileers and six city staffers is 11 mixed gender-hours which, plus pre-meeting hours of preparation, is a good deal more than a day’s work. But I digress.
Apparently, some sort of public pathway is planned near the creek or the area many refer to as Malibu Lagoon. Convinced that as soon as it rains, hundreds, perhaps thousands, will race down to walk on it, the Council is concerned about the extent to which the pathway will puddle. I’m not sure why, but I suppose puddles, though transient, are regarded as environmentally bad, or perhaps aesthetically displeasing, Gene Kelly notwithstanding. Well, to clarify matters, first understand that “DG,” which is decomposed granite, consists of fragments of quartz, one or two kinds of feldspar and maybe a few iron-magnesium minerals. The nearest source of DG of which I’m aware is Rubidoux, about 85 miles east. Unless Rubidoux is contractually specified, when DG is called for in Malibu, the material comes from Grimes Canyon over by Simi where quarried sandstone results in sand composed of DG mineral assemblages plus certain amounts of silt and clay.
Now I suppose the greener among us regard concrete as bad, because it is not natural. Personally, I’m with guys like Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright who favored concrete even though unnatural. Of course, a lot of what is natural is not especially good. The thing is, that in the natural scheme of things, feldspar weathers to silt and clay, and that is especially the case in damper areas such as near the creek or that place many refer to as Malibu Lagoon. Sooner or later, Grimes Canyon “DG” will weather to enough silt and clay that its permeability will decrease so that not only will puddling occur but also one of the less desirable natural substances, mud. Presumably, we may expect further agonized discussion on the DG-PC controversy, because there is clearly more to consider. For example, how about offsetting the costs of either DG or PC by profits from a city-sponsored galoshes rental booth?