Environmentalists see red over runoff plan

Paul Clinton

CRYSTAL COVE -- A day after the announcement of a settlement deal

between the Irvine Co. and Orange County CoastKeeper, other

environmentalists raised questions about how the agreement will affect

the Crystal Cove ecosystem.

There isn’t a unified environmental front, to say the least.

The deal came under sharp fire from Defend the Bay founder Bob

Caustin, who said the Irvine Co. could damage small streams and other

parts of the hillside above Coast Highway while developing the 635-home

tract.

“We’re looking at it,” Caustin said. “We’re concerned it allows the

Irvine Co. to destroy habitat.”

As part of the agreement, the company agreed to build catch basins and

divert storm water into public sewers instead of into storm drains that

lead to the beach. The Irvine Co. also said it would work to reduce

sediment runoff from the housing project.

Instead of creating holding ponds and catch basins below the

development, Caustin said the developer should install its drainage

improvements on its own property.

The deal was announced Thursday evening to avert a lawsuit CoastKeeper

filed against the development company. Garry Brown, the executive

director of the Newport Beach-based environmental group, could not be

reached for comment.

Others joined Caustin’s skepticism of the deal. Jeannette Merrilees of

the Sierra Club questioned how the program was different from the earlier

plan.

While some questioned the agreement, the League for Coastal Protection

defended Brown and his group.

Group spokeswoman Susan Jordan said the deal was state of the art and

is even better than an Irvine Co. runoff plan approved in August by the

California Coastal Commission.

“From what I have seen, the plan they have negotiated is a significant

improvement on the water-quality plan,” Jordan said. “It addresses

several of my concerns.”

For one thing, the legally binding, 10-year agreement includes the

shutting of a box-culvert and drainage pipe that brought runoff onto the

Crystal Cove beach, Jordan said.

The developer is expected to spend several million on the

improvements.

One of several parties named in a Nov. 16 cease-and-desist order from

the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Irvine Co. has

come under fire for contributing to pollution in the cove.

The new pact is not insulating the company entirely.

If he were negotiating the deal, Caustin said he would have fought for

tougher deal points.

“I think he settled light,” Caustin said about CoastKeeper’s Brown.

“It doesn’t seem to be anything but caving in.”