Your March 1 editorial about the steelhead I found very amusing and very factual.
I must add that it is very unlikely that a carat gold fish or a sterling silver fish would even come close to that amount, $4,200.
Keep up the good work.
E. Reta Templeman
Evidence suggests, contrary to recent reports, that private wells in Malibu have not been found to be contaminated by the dreaded chromium 6, a carcinogen.
However, one private well in Malibu was found contaminated with total chromium of 5.52 parts per billion (ppb), exceeding the State Public Heath Goal of 2.5 ppb. Public Health Goals are limits of contaminants in drinking water that pose an insignificant risk to public health. One purpose of PHGs is to provide information to consumers about drinking water contaminants. Another purpose is to identify contaminants whose standards in drinking water need to be reviewed. The current state standard for total chromium is 50 ppb. The state standard is more restrictive than the Enivironmental Protection Agency’s standard of 100 ppb. The Malibu well chromium levels are far below that of private wells in Lancaster, which were found to have levels of total chromium from 9.18 ppb to 14.80 ppb. Chromium 6 was found in the Lancaster wells as well, with readings as high as 13.70 ppb.
Three of the four private wells tested contained low levels of lead.
The wells were tested in a 2001 pilot study prepared by the Environmental Toxicology Bureau of the county Agricultural Commisioner/Weights and Measures Department. All small water wells under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services were sampled.
The private wells tested in the Malibu area were at Decker Youth Camp, Camp Bloomfield, Camp Sholem and Camp Hillel.
Camp Sholem’s well, located on Mulholland Highway west of Little Sycamore Canyon, had a total chromium level of 5.52 ppb, while Camp Bloomfield, located on Mulholland Highway west of Sholem, tested with levels of lead at 4.63 ppb. All four wells were under the state and federal action levels of lead at 15 ppb. The action level, according to the EPA, is “the lowest level to which water systems can reasonably be required to control this contaminant should it occur in drinking water at their customers’ home taps.”
Again, Lancaster wells and others not only were higher, but exceeded the state and federal action levels of 15 ppb. A private well in Castaic contained levels of lead of 115 ppb, while another in Lancaster contained levels at 56.20 ppb.
Chromium exists in water in two forms, according to the study, as trivalent chromium (Cr+3) and as hexavalent chromium (Cr+6). Chromium 6 is regarded by the scientific community as posing the greatest risk to animal and human health. However, adverse health effects are unknown at low levels.
Too much lead in the human body can cause serious damage to the brain, kidneys, nervous system and red blood cells, according to the study, and young children, infants and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning. A child’s mental and physical development can be irreversibly damaged by exposure to lead poisoning.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLG), determined by the EPA after Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, are nonenforceable, as they are based solely on possible health risks and exposure. The MCLG for lead has been set at zero, because, according to the EPA, this level of protection would not cause any of the potential health problems described below.
Short-term effects of exposure above the MCLG could include interference with red blood cell chemistry, delays in normal physical and mental development in babies and young children, slight deficits in the attention span, hearing, and learning abilities of children, and slight increases in the blood pressure of some adults.
Long-term effects from a lifetime exposure at levels above the MCLG are stroke, kidney disease, and cancer.
It is unknown what adverse health effects are cause by low levels of lead, as found in the Camp Bloomfield well.
Most public water in Malibu comes from the state water system supplied by Water Works District 29.
Larry Young, environmental health specialist for the city, said he does not know of any wells that are used for residential drinking water in Malibu.
The lead contamination of the wells may come from pipes that deliver the water from underground to the surface, or the water may be contaminated under the surface, according to the study.
Arsenic levels were also tested.
And while the study says that there is substantial evidence regarding the adverse effects of high levels of arsenic and lead on human health, it adds that “no conclusion can be made about the safety of the well water supply in Los Angeles County, nor the state as a whole based on this report.”
This pilot study is the first time that the county has tested well water for total chromium, chromium 6, arsenic and lead.
I want to thank Richard Schaefer for his very insightful letter. When I read it, I felt as though I was reading some of my own thoughts!
A few weeks ago a friend of mine emailed an article by a Nashville-based writer and activist, Tim Wise (who can be reached at tjwise@mindspring.com). He was commenting on the recent shootings by teens and his opinions are shared by me. I would like to quote some of his article:
“I said this after Columbine and no one listened so I’ll say it again — white people live in an utter state of self-delusion. We think danger is black, brown and poor, and if we can just move far enough away from ‘those people’ in the cities we’ll be safe. If we can just find an ‘all-American’ town, life will be better, because ‘things like this just don’t happen here.’
“I’ll tell you what went wrong and it’s not TV, rap music, video games or a lack of prayer in school. What went wrong is that white Americans decided to ignore dysfunction and violence when it only affected other communities, and thereby blinded themselves to the inevitable creeping of chaos which never remains isolated too long. What affects the urban ‘ghetto’ today will be coming to a Wal-Mart near you tomorrow, and unless you address the emptiness, pain, isolation and lack of hope felt by children of color and the poor, then don’t be shocked when the support systems aren’t there for your kids either.
“Listen up, my fellow white Americans. Your children are no better, no nicer, no more moral, no more decent than anyone else. Dysfunction is all around you whether you choose to recognize it or not. …”
When I look around at this beautiful paradise called Malibu, I also see the graffiti on the reflector poles, and hear the “get out of my way bitch” as high school kids speed 50 miles an hour up a blind curve street marked 15 miles per hour (not caring if they kill wildlife) So nothing is perfect — not even Malibu/paradise. But perhaps as more awareness reaches the “not my kid” populace, more will be done to encourage true communication in the family and a respect for life. I admire journalists such as Tim Wise and people like Mr. Schaefer who seem to at least care!
Alessandra DeClario
In March 1999, the Crummer Trust filed a Tentative Tract Map with the City of Malibu seeking approval of eight custom home lots on 24.9 acres. The RR-2 zoning assigned to the Crummer property in the General Plan permitted 12 dwellings. The application I filed as agent for the Crummer Trust was in compliance with the General Plan and municipal ordinances.
In October 1999, Roy Crummer was asked by a City Council member if he would consider making a charitable gift of land to the municipality sufficient in size to accommodate the sports fields and parking the city was going to lose at the Malibu Bluffs State Park as a result of the city’s ground lease expiring in April 2002. If the Crummer family would do this, the city would enter into a Development Agreement with the Crummer Trust awarding it vested entitlements. The councilmember felt certain a majority of the council would uphold this proposal. A public opinion poll of registered Malibu voters in 1998 indicated by a margin of 51 percent to 39 percent that local citizens would support the city entering into a development agreement with property owners of undeveloped property whenever public benefits like land for sports fields could be acquired at no cost.
In response to this request, the Crummer Trust submitted a revised Tentative Tract Map to the city in December 1999 showing where a Little League baseball diamond, a Pony League baseball field, and a soccer field for the children of Malibu could be located without harming the market value of Crummer’s property, provided the city agreed to certain restrictions. Did the city have to agree to award Crummer more than eight houses to get the land gift? No. Crummer asked for no more than what the Interim Zoning Ordinance permitted on eight three-acre minimum-sized lots. That is what Crummer was entitled to if no gift of land had been made. Crummer neither sought nor was offered any exceptions or variances from existing general regulations. The city was giving nothing away.
Did the city propose to back off on requiring Crummer to pay for essential environmental impact report studies? No. Crummer was required to do costly geology, seismic, soils, water, waste management, slope stability, hydrology, drainage, traffic and plant, and animal habitat studies.
Isn’t the Crummer site impacted by three active earthquake faults? How can the city permit houses to be built on seismically endangered land? To address that matter, the city geologist specified the depth and the breadth of the geologic studies that Crummer would have to undertake. Three sizable trenches were dug across the Crummer property to allow licensed geologists, including the city and state geologist, to enter the trenches and examine any observable fractures in the soil. Two were found. But the ruptures were embedded in soils that were more than 30,000 years old. It was clear to all that the faults were inactive. They represented no risk to development.
Won’t the irrigation of city sports fields and the eight Crummer lots contribute to undermining the earth and the movement of Malibu Road and the houses along it toward the sea? Geology studies on the Crummer site reveal bedrock slopes toward Pacific Coast Highway and not toward the sea. Furthermore, the city engineer is requiring Crummer to develop a drainage system that will collect and filter water to conduct it harmlessly from the site, protecting surrounding properties. Wastewater will be collected and piped to an on-site package sewer plant where it will be treated and re-used to irrigate the city sports fields as well as the eight residential lots. There is no environmental problem with the site that cannot be mitigated to the city’s satisfaction.
Why does the Ad Hoc Committee of the City Council believe the community will support a development agreement with the Crummer Trust? The public is receiving a gift of 7.2 acres at no cost for replacing sports fields at Malibu Bluffs State Park, and Crummer is getting no more than the right to develop eight lots on a site that qualified for 12 lots under the RR-2 zone. The city is requiring Crummer to comply with all existing general regulations. If the city rejects Crummer’s generous donation of park land, the city would have to look elsewhere for comparable acreage which it has been unable to find. The Crummer Trust would continue processing its subdivision plan for approval without any direct land benefits accruing to the city. There is no sensible reason for this mutual arrangement to be opposed.
Thomas Ashley Agent for the Crummer Trust
Since the great cost of removing the Rindge Dam in Malibu Canyon is a subject its advocates seldom acknowledge, here are some actual and potential benefits of leaving the Rindge Dam standing guard over this unique wilderness area:
1. Preservation of the dam protects a multimillion-dollar asset of the taxpayer and conserves $40 million or more of taxpayer funds anticipated to remove it; 2. Maintains the half-mile-long aquifer behind the dam holding 10 million gallons of water; 3. Dam and reservoir could be rehabilitated and serve as a back-up water supply to the City of Malibu, thereby maintaining historic water rights of Malibu; 4. Keeping the existing aquifer behind the dam would not lower the water table in the steep canyon walls, which could possibly upset the present geologic equilibrium causing a catastrophic collapse of Malibu Canyon Road; 5. Using the dam as a giant catch-basin to trap toxic chemical or sewage spills or tainted runoff from the upper watershed (note this use, Heal the Bay, Surfrider Foundation, et. al); 6. Maintain the wetland above the aquifer behind the dam and possibly enhance this wetland by simply adding flash boards where the spillway gates once existed; and, 7. Potential tapping of the aquifer behind the dam for fire repression or filling of fire department pumper tanks in the middle of the mountains rather than having to go to the coast or upper watershed to refill pumper tanks at time of recurring fire incidents.
Those wishing to tear down the dam give little credence to the above uses and do not want to talk about the dam as a guardian of a rich wilderness area now unfit for animal, aquatic or plant life. The dam is a formidable obstacle discouraging humans from traversing the canyon which has hazards such as snake bites, poison oak or slip and fall injuries sustained in this rugged area not amenable to quick rescue of injured hikers. More humans hiking in the canyon presents an awesome fire danger to hikers and downwind property owners if a hiker tosses a lit cigarette into the brush or fails to fully extinguish an illegal camp fire. Finally, to tear down the dam is to destroy this engineering marvel of the SMMNRA and violate laws protecting this historic property with ties to the landmark Adamson House at Malibu Lagoon.
Ronald L. Rindge
A vote on a proposal to ban parking on one side of certain streets in the La Costa area has been temporarily put on hold.
At its March 21 meeting, the city’s Public Safety Commission briefly discussed the issue but then continued the hearing to its April 18 meeting, citing the need to visit the neighborhood and hear from the local fire chief.
The commission will vote to recommend a proposal for a permanent no-parking zone on one side of the street in the La Costa area. The affected streets would be the south side of Calle Del Barco, Paseo Hildalgo, Paseo Portola, Paseo Serra and Rambla Orienta.
A temporary zone already exists, said Chuck Bergson, public works director, but “most people park on the hillside and not the oceanside, due to few driveways on the oceanside. It’s not a strict rule.”
Several homes in the area are under construction, thus adding more trucks, vans and other work-related vehicles during the daytime. “With all of the construction going on, we do have to go up there and enforce it,” said Bergson.
Fire department regulations call for a minimum 20-foot-wide clearance in order for fire trucks to drive through. When the roads are absent of parked cars, the width measures anywhere from 26 to 32 feet, says Bergson. With cars parked on both sides of the road, it’s nearly impossible for them to squeeze through.
“The residents can’t get out and the fire and city people can’t get in,” said Bergson. “We’re still going to try to keep the fire access up there. The fire department said they could not get access to some of the streets.”
However, Ryan Embree, a member of the city’s Public Safety Commission, argues that when some of La Costa’s homes burned down in 1993, nobody notified the city that fire trucks could not get to their homes.
Embree said that no notice was sent to the area residents about the temporary parking restrictions and the March 21 meeting. “It was very bizarre. [The city] just put these temporary stakes up to indicate no parking,” he said.
Bill Stump, of Rambla Vista, said that while he favors the city adopting the restrictions, no notices were mailed to La Costa homeowners.
Of a handful of residents who attended the March 21 meeting, most were in favor of a proposal to establish a permanent no-parking zone. However, Joan Levine, who owns two houses on Rambla Vista, said she opposes the restrictions and calls it “a new issue” since the street widths have not changed since the 1950s, when she moved into the neighborhood.
Claire Douglas, who lives on Paseo Serra, favors the parking restrictions because of current hassels in the delivery of mail, bottled water and packages, and the pick-up of recyclables.
Joel Landson, who lives along Pacific Coast Highway, said that while he’s not a La Costa resident, he visits the area and when cars are parked on both sides of the road it’s too hard to pass between them.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the commission voted to recommend that the city issue notices of the April 18 meeting to all La Costa parcel owners. It also agreed to ask Interim City Manager Christi Hogin to approve a shuttle-operated site visit for the commission, Bergson and the sheriff.
“We want a drive-around chance to see the area,” said Embree.
The Malibu City Council voted 3 to 2 to terminate City Attorney Steven Amerikaner’s contract and replace him with Christi Hogin, current interim city manager, in a special meeting early Monday morning .
This unusually quick governmental move, which was only placed on an agenda on Friday afternoon, produced three actions by the council:
The 3-2 vote, separated Councilmembers Sharon Barov-sky, Jeff Jennings and Ken Kearsley from Mayor Tom Hasse and Mayor Pro Tem Joan House, both of whom were not pleased with the process taken in the sudden decision.
The short notification process also created discontentment in the ranks of the opposition, specifically among supporters of the old Carolyn Van Horn/Walt Keller council.
“The short notice and the coincidental proximity of the weekend when City Hall is closed makes it difficult, if not impossible to get information on the subjects and be able to express intelligent views prior to the actual meeting,” said Efrom Fader, president of the Malibu Township Council, in a letter addressed to the council.
“They acted pretty fast,” said Art London. “I question from a public viewpoint how people can go to a meeting like that.
“You’re dealing with two major office holders and it is decided without public input,” he said.
The councilmembers who supported the actions defended the process, indicating that personnel matters were discussed in closed session three times before and the decisions needed to be made quickly since the interim city manager contract expired on March 21.
“Occasionally you have to put politics aside and vote for what you think is the right thing and pray that it’s right,” said Councilmember Barovsky, about the actions taken on Monday.
The decision to switch the city’s law firm from Hatch & Parent to Jenkins & Hogin, thereby assigning Hogin as the new city attorney, was a cost-saving measure for the city, said Kearsley.
“The city is bleeding money for legal services. The costs have gone up 50 percent because the last council voted a very capable but costly attorney,” said Kearsley, who is a businessman.
“I don’t know what information they are relying on because I never got that information,” said Mayor Hasse.
“Instead, they awarded a rather lucrative contract to the law firm of Hogin & Jenkins without a competitive bid.”
However, according to Jennings’ figures, the first year with Hogin as city attorney will save up to half a million dollars in legal fees.
“I have no doubt it will end up being a much more economical arrangement than what we have now,” said Jennings, in support of the actions.
“On top of that, Hogin is almost finished writing the LCP [Local Coastal Plan]. We had a bid to do that work for $150,000 and she did it as part of her job for the city,” said Kearsley.
“What’s the rush?” asked Hasse. “To award a $216,000 yearly contract which covers legal services only, not legal cases that will cost an extra $195 per hour if a case goes to litigation on top of the legal services fee?
“The bottom line to me,” said Hasse, “is that I was not given information that supports that agreement. If Hogin & Jenkins believe they can provide services for less then Hatch & Parent, then we should get an RFP [Request For Proposal] and compare with other firms.”
The mayor is not happy about the short notification process for the special meeting, either.
“It’s a very bad way to run a city government,” he said.
House supported extending the interim city manager’s contract until June, but she did not support the other actions.
“There was no staff report, no financial comparison,” said House. “The legality of the whole situation was not assessed.
“In view of the fact that they creamed lobbyist Jim Dantona and they had a lot to say about other contracts, there was no information on this,” she added.
Moreover, Hasse feels that the sudden termination was not fair to Amerikaner, who was not given an opportunity to compete.
“He was not given a chance. He was there for less than a year and though his evaluation was good, there was a concern about the cost, but he was not given the chance to put cost in line,” said Hasse.
Additionally, Hasse opposes the creation of a new position, “because it’s not the interim city manager’s job to find her replacement, it’s the council’s job.
“She has created a position that will eventually become the city manager when she leaves, and she will recommend to us who takes the job.”
The council should put a notice in a professional journal and find somebody that way, explained Hasse.
“All other cities do this all the time,” he said.
The position of assistant city manager was created with hopes of keeping City Hall running smoothly during the transition period until the city decides on a permanent city manager, said councilmembers.
“One thing we all know about Christi [Hogin],” said Jennings, “she will get the work done. I have no doubt it will end up being a much more economical arrangement than what we have now.
“Hogin will handle most of the attorney work and Michael [Jenkins] will provide backup. He is one of the most prominent attorneys in this field.”
I recently received a note from Sister Mai, the Buddhist nun who came through Malibu two weeks ago and stayed during the rain before continuing on her peace walk and journey up the California coast.
She wrote, “It is people that I meet who help to inspire the walk — we can all do our part in the world to make it a better place. So, many thanks. ….
“The walk so far has been wonderful. Continue to meet all sorts of weird and kind folks — the only thing I can complain of is sore feet. I’m making sure to rest adequately this time — last year in France I tended to overdo it. The ocean makes for extremely powerful company — its presence undeniable. Some days it is calming and soothing, other days livening and inspirational. The simplicity of life itself and all its wonders never cease to amaze me. Every day continues to be a new challenge…
“Please send my love to Oscar and the guys [at the Labor Exchange] and a big kiss to Casper [the dog].”
The postmark was from Santa Barbara, where she is earning survival money by dog sitting.
Mona Loo
There must have been a leak. An insider must have gotten hold of all the Oscar ballots some late night last week. This shadow insider must have ducked into a heavily guarded Academy of Motion Pictures vault, snatched up those prized, crimson-ribboned envelopes, and let the information out into the world.
Either that, or this year’s gala was simply a predictable affair with statues going strictly to fan favorites. Because it seems the world, including Malibu, knew beforehand who the mysterious and closed-lip Academy would tap with Oscar last Sunday evening.
In The Malibu Times’ Oscar ballot contest, in which readers could take their guess at who would “win,” the nominee receiving the most votes was, in almost every category, the same one the Academy placed in the winners circle.
Lynne Masri, Malibuite and official Malibu Times Movie Guru, must have been paying close attention. She correctly predicted 11 out of 15 winners — though, oddly, she missed best movie, best actor and best screenplay. Masri topped more than 100 other guessers, who sent in ballots from as far away as Cote St. Luc, Canada and New York City. The average score was 10 correct, but one shot-in-the-dark guesser managed to get only two right. For her astuteness, Masri wins 10 free passes to the New Malibu Theatre.
The categories with the highest amount of successful predictions were best actress (Julia Roberts), cinematography (“Crouching Tiger”), and best makeup (“The Grinch”). The slots most often missed by ‘Bu-ites were best supporting actress (Marcia Gay Harden, whose win for her role in “Pollock” supplied one of the few surprises of the evening) and best film editing (“Traffic”).
Every single ‘Bu-ballot predicted that Roberts would claim best actress for her performance in the real-life-hero role in “Erin Brockovich.” Of course Roberts did, in fact, go home with Oscar on Sunday. And even way before the four-minute acceptance speech there never seemed to be any doubt in the matter. Perhaps the dead giveaway was when one network’s pre-show announcer asked her colleague, hours before the show began, why it had taken Julia Roberts so long to finally win an Academy Award.
“Gladiator” took just about every statue that ‘Bu-ites predicted it would. A moody Russell Crowe accepted his award for best actor, and the effects-laden period epic stormed off with the best-picture statue.
Maybe the hottest and most closely watched category was that of best director. The talk of the banquet — the one-time knight of independent film and now Hollywood’s hottest captain, Steven Soderbergh — came to the show with two invitations (Best Director nominations for “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic”), as the first director to get two nods in the same year since 1938. Ang Lee, director of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” had won the Directors Guild of America award in the category earlier in the month. And Ridley Scott helmed the massive fan fave “Gladiator.”
While it looked as if Soderbergh had an advantage by holding two out of the five slots, his double nomination more likely hurt him by splitting votes for him between two movies. Academy members couldn’t simply vote for Soderbergh; they had to pick one of his movies. And to win, the double nominee had to pull in more votes on one movie than Lee or Scott did on theirs. Soderbergh did just that to win Oscar for “Traffic,” which also brought Steve Gaghan a statue for best adapted screenplay.
Host Steve Martin, citing the format change from “and the winner is” to “the Oscar goes to,” noted that, of course, this cannot be considered a competition. But if it were, the category for best supporting actor was probably as great a rout as that of best actress. “Traffic’s” golden boy, Benicio Del Toro, hailed as the Latin Brando, breezed to the podium to grab the award that presumably will go right next to his new Screen Actors Guild statue of the same class.
And for the future? Keep an eye on Hollywood goldie girl Kate Hudson, who floated into the Shrine Auditorium as gracefully and as confidently as she played Penny Lane in “Almost Famous,” a role that garnered her a Golden Globe award.
Re: “Why teens are troubled” letters to the editor, March 22. Thank you, Richard Schaefer, for speaking up about the reasons children are killing each other in this country. Your letter covered all the things that need to be recognized as a whole: hate music, divorce, drugs, violent movies, sexualized TV programs, violent video games, both parents working long hours, and you even had the courage to bring up two subjects in our liberal and secularized society, one accepted and one taboo: abortion and God. Thank you for having the strength to speak up about those two subjects that quite often cause backlash by those who support one and have banished the other.
Thank you for writing this letter; it needed to be said.
Alethea Guthrie
