Neighbors for Wintersburg Wetlands Restoration
17451 Hillgate, Huntington Beach, CA 92649-4707 - 714-625-0876 - www.bixby.org/parkside
__________________________________________________________________
September 13, 2002
Stephen Rynas, AICP
Orange County Area Supervisor
California Coastal Commission
South Coast Area Office
200 Oceangate, Suite 1000
Long Beach, CA 90802-4302
RE: Environmental Impact Report 97-2 (Parkside Estates)
Dear Mr. Rynas,
I have obtained copies of your recent September 9th and 10th letters exchanged with the City of Huntington Beach regarding water quality deficiencies in the Parkside Estates EIR, and I would like to commend the Coastal Commission for its focus on the water quality issues surrounding this project.
Unfortunately there is a serious negative water quality impact that has been overlooked so far. The current Parkside storm drainage map (http://www.bixby.org/parkside/documents/EIR/VolumeII/exhibit58.jpg) calls for their urban runoff to be directed into the Slater Channel, and then pumped into the East Garden Grove Wintersburg Channel. The July 2002 Final EIR does not address the negative water quality impacts that will result from the subsequent increased pumping frequency of the Slater Pump Station that will be required to handle the additional runoff flow from Parkside.
The Slater Channel is essentially a linear urban runoff detention lake. During low-flow periods, polluted urban runoff slowly accumulates in the channel until the water surface elevation has risen high enough to warrant activating the low-flow sump pump in the Slater Pump Station which then pumps out the Slater Channel contents into the Wintersburg Channel.
The water that accumulates in the Slater Pump Station forebay area is truly a fetid, polluted stew that has become concentrated through evaporation between pumpings. The water is an unhealthy opaque brown color, with scum and other material floating in it. Bacteriological testing (http://www.bixby.org/parkside/multimedia/HBPC020910-Robert_Harrison.ppt) shows high levels of coliform and other bacteria. When periodic channel maintenance is performed to remove the accumulated sediments, one of the strongest odors you have ever smelled wafts over the downwind neighborhoods.
To make matters worse, the asphalt service road leading to the Slater Pump Station is a popular route for dog walkers heading for the Bolsa Chica lowlands. Dog feces accumulate on this service road directly adjacent to the final reach of the Slater Channel, and the only drainage for this road is directly into the channel itself. Personal observation during my own walks down this road (stepping very carefully!) suggests that due to city budget constraints and the somewhat hidden nature of the feces problem, this service road is never cleaned, and that the feces constantly accumulate until they are washed into the channel by rainstorms.
The bottom line is that if the polluted Slater Channel is currently pumped out into the Wintersburg Channel (and downstream to Bolsa Chica and Huntington Harbour) on X days per year, the addition of new Parkside runoff will increase the pumping frequency to greater than X days per year. It is important to note that even if Parkside is able to meet all of the relevant water quality standards for their own runoff via improved structural BMPs and a future Urban Runoff Management Plan, there will still be more frequent Slater Channel pumping than there is today, resulting in additional days of concentrated, accumulated urban runoff being pumped into the Wintersburg Channel. And as I stated above, none of this has been discussed in the July 2002 Final EIR.
My fellow Huntington Beach neighbors and I believe that this issue needs further analysis before the EIR can be certified and the project can be approved. Specifically, an alternative drainage plan should be investigated that relocates the Parkside storm drain pumps to the northern side of the Wintersburg Channel in order to pump their urban runoff directly into the Wintersburg Channel without first entering the Slater Channel. This will totally avoid the negative impacts caused by interacting with the existing Slater Channel pollution.
Sincerely,
Mark D. Bixby
Neighbors for Wintersburg Wetlands Restoration
17451 Hillgate Ln
Huntington Beach, CA 92649-4707
714-625-0876