|
news
Horn adds to wetlands
funding
By Jamie Rogers
On-line Forty-Niner
The Los Cerritos
Wetlands restoration project received a boost to its budget
early this month when Rep. Stephen Horn secured $1 million
from the 2002 Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Bill.
The marshy area
straddling the borders of Seal Beach and Long Beach is one
of the only remaining coastal wetlands in Southern California.
Twenty years ago,
the wetlands were one of the main supporters of Southern California's
largest industry, offshore fishing, said Don May, president
of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Task Force. Since then, the wetlands
shrank to approximately 378 acres, owned in part by Hellman
Ranch, Bryant Acquisitions and Bixby Ranch Company.
For the past few
years, all the major state and federal conservation committees
made acquiring and restoring the wetlands a top priority,
May said. When the appropriations bill came to vote, Horn,
a former Cal State Long Beach president, took advantage of
the available funds.
"This is one
of his top priorities, something he has been working on for
quite a long time" Mary Ellen Grant, spokeswoman for
Horn, said. "This is the first federal funding for the
project."
The funding will
contribute to the purchase of 160 acres of the Hellman property.
The land located on the Seal Beach side of the wetlands was
used primarily for oil drilling. The sale agreement ensures
that the Hellman company will clean up any damage done to
the land from their drilling because the Wetlands Recovery
Project, which is a part of the California Coastal Conservatory,
will not accept public land that is damaged.
"I was told
damage on the Hellman property is fairly minimal," said
Janice Dahl, director of the Los Cerritos Land Trust and executive
committee member of the Los Cerritos Task Force. "My
understanding is crude oil does not leave the kind of contamination
that can not be cleaned up."
After Hellman does
the initial cleanup, the Los Cerritos Land Trust will begin
securing grants to aid in the restoration of the land, Dahl
said. The Wetlands Recovery Project will also assist in the
restoration of the land.
The restoration
project will include an outreach program to help residents
understand the importance of the wetlands. The Long Beach
Aquarium of the Pacific and CSULB will have access to the
area for research and education.
"The wetlands
are an integral part of our ecology," Dahl said. "We
are trying to get as many people as possible involved with
them."
The remaining 220
acres of land is also in the process of being sold to the
state. The 196 acres owned by Bryant is in the beginning stages
of acquisition. The land, which stretches from
36 acres in north Seal Beach to 160 acres in south Long Beach
has been appraised but it will take a year to finalize the
sale, May said. The Bryant Company will also be responsible
for cleaning any environmental damage left behind.
"Bryant is
pretty clean," May said. "It is a little bit worse
than Hellman but it doesn't have any landfills, as long as
you are just dealing with oil it is fairly easy to clean."
The main concern
is the remaining area owned by Bixby Ranch, which is used
for oil drilling, land fills and toxic waste dumps.
"It is a $100
million type of remediation according to what our group thinks
needs to be done. If you do as little as Bixby thinks needs
to be done, it is about $20 million. The land is worth $5
million," May said. "[Bixby] has some really nasty
things in their land. They have to go in and clean all that
out and they are dragging their feet."
In spite of the
presumed foot dragging, May said he is confident the sale
will eventually go through.
"It is going
to be a long process to get the [clean up] done," he
said, "but we are making progress."
The Southern California
Wetlands project will hold a symposium Nov. 28, 29 and 30
at the Dana Point Marriot. For more information check coastalconservancy.ca.gov/scwrp.
|
