Paradise Cove pollution fine slashed, outraging environmentalists [Updated]

A Malibu mobile home park that earlier this year was fined $1.65 million for repeatedly allowing raw and partially treated sewage to spill into the ocean and local creeks will have to pay a mere fraction of the penalty, a reduction that has infuriated environmentalists who viewed the fine as a long-overdue punishment.

Calling the reduction of Paradise Cove’s fine to $54,500 a "travesty of justice," Heal the Bay President Mark Gold blamed the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board staff and attorneys for making what he called "egregious" procedural errors.

Because of technical mistakes, Kissel Co., owner of Paradise Cove, saved more than $1 million in penalties and millions more because it did not operate a "First World wastewater treatment system for a decade," Gold wrote on his Spouting Off blog.

"It definitely pays to pollute," Gold said.

Water board officials and lawyers for Kissel Co. could not immediately be reached for comment.

[Updated at 3:05 p.m.: Residents of the 72-acre mobile home park on Pacific Coast Highway have complained of seeing raw sewage leaking from manholes, flowing into storm drains and "running down the street to the playground area," according to water board documents.

When the water board handed down the penalty last year, board spokesman Stephen Cain said the size of the fine "speaks to the importance of what's going on there."

Though not the largest penalty handed down by the water board, the fine for allowing about 2,000 gallons of raw or partially treated sewage to flow into the ocean and local creeks in was considered significant.

The 257 mobile home sites in the park, which evolved from a rustic recreational vehicle campground in the 1950s and '60s into a chic seaside enclave, are nestled among trees and shrubs. All sit within 1,500 feet of the ocean.]

--Martha Groves

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Study finds high air pollution levels around Santa Monica Airport

A new UCLA study shows that people who live and work near Santa Monica Airport are exposed to unusually high levels of air pollution — a significant health concern that has been largely associated with major commercial airports such as LAX.

The study, published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, found that emissions of so-called ultrafine particles were 10 times higher than background levels about 100 yards downwind of the airport. The levels were 2.5 times higher at a distance of about six football fields.

Less an 1/500th the width of a human hair, ultrafine particles can travel deep into the lungs and penetrate tissue. Research has shown that elevated levels are associated with increased deaths due to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.

Plans for landfill near Joshua Tree are dealt setback

Plans for the nation's biggest landfill have been delayed — if not derailed — by a court ruling 20 years after the dump was proposed less than two miles from Joshua Tree National Park.

A federal appeals court panel has ruled that a land swap at the heart of the much-litigated Eagle Mountain plan was flawed because of an inaccurate appraisal by the Bureau of Land Management. The decision, issued Tuesday, upheld some portions of a lower court ruling but reversed others.

An official with Kaiser Ventures, Eagle Mountain’s developer, said the company may appeal to a larger panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

At emotional hearing, panel approves landmark curbs on Southern California fishing

In a move greeted with scattered applause and boos, a state blue-ribbon panel late today voted unanimously to approve landmark fishing restrictions for the Southern California coastline, creating a patchwork of havens for marine life needed to replenish the surrounding seas while leaving some waters open for fishing.

The five-member panel, which convened at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, voted to recommend to the state Fish and Game Commission a compromise intended to sustain the 250-mile coastline's economic and environmental health. The commission is expected to take up the plan in December. It has usually approved plans recommended by the panel.

In an interview, panel Chairwoman Catherine Reheis-Boyd said, “We’re not going to make everyone happy, but this has to be done.”

“It’s agony to weigh the environmental goals against peoples’ livelihoods,” she said. “We have to consider the socioeconomic impacts, especially here in Southern California, where the urban-ocean interface is greater than anywhere else in the nation."

The plan was forged during a year of contentious negotiations between conservationists and fishing interests over slivers of beach, access to kelp beds and submarine canyons, and the locations of parking lots and restrooms that could affect water quality, larval production and marine life between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border.

Of particular concern to fishing interests were maps delineating the extent of coastal hook-and-line fishing and deep-sea trawler access that would be sacrificed in the interest of stemming the decline of fish stocks that are the cornerstone of recreational and commercial fishing — for lobster, urchin, squid, sea bass, sheepshead, yellowtail and swordfish — and tourism.

Conservationists grumbled that the economic effects on the fishing industry outweighed scientific guidelines to ensure the long-term health of Southern California's ocean in the minds of some panelists. Commercial fishermen clad in black T-shirts predicted job losses and business closures.

Elected officials tried to intervene on behalf of their constituents. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa dispatched a letter to the panel urging that they approve tough restrictions. A week ago, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution urging the panel to protect kelp and canyon habitats on both sides of Point Dume but leaving the waters off Palos Verdes Peninsula open to fishing. State Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) supported that plan.

George L. Osborn, a lobbyist for the California Fish and Game Wardens Assn., told the panel late this afternoon, "We do not have the resources to enforce regulations currently on the books. This is a matter that jeopardizes officer safety."

At today's meeting, a group led by Laguna City Councilwoman Verna Rollinger supported a proposal to ban fishing along seven miles of coastal waters. "I want fish in the ocean, and on my dinner plate," Rollinger said. "To do that, we have to restore the ocean."

Tempers flared. The panel was discussing proposed fishing closures when kayak fishing enthusiast Charles Volkens, 44, stood up and angrily shouted at the panelists: "You have not listened to us throughout this whole process!"

-- Louis Sahagun

MWD board OKs subsidies to boost Carlsbad seawater-to-drinking-water project

A proposal to create the first major seawater desalination plant in Southern California received a major boost today when regional water managers approved a subsidy for the operation that could eventually grow to $350 million.

The privately owned plant would be built in Carlsbad, next to the Encina power station. When completed, it would produce enough water annually to serve roughly 100,000 households in San Diego County.

Read more about the project at Greenspace, The Times' environment blog.

Shouting, shoving at meeting on Southern California fishing restrictions

Tempers flared this morning as a state blue-ribbon panel inched its way toward a final vote on landmark fishing restrictions for the 250-mile-long Southern California coastline designed to create a network of protected havens needed to replenish the surrounding seas.

The five-member panel, which convened at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport, was discussing which areas should be closed to fishing when kayak fishing enthusiast Charles Volkens, 44, stood up and angrily shouted at the five members of the panel.

"You have not listened to us throughout this whole process!" Volkens said.

State wins $19.5-million judgment from Shell over violations at gas stations

State officials today announced a $19.5-million judgment over allegations that Shell gas stations violated California environmental laws.

The judgment caps a three-year investigation into allegations that the company violated state rules in the underground storage of fuel at its gas stations.

"Shell Oil Co. disregarded the state's underground fuel storage and hazardous waste laws, committing hundreds of environmental violations at its gasoline stations across California," Atty Gen. Jerry Brown said in a statement today. "This judgment requires the company to pay $19.5 million in penalties, comply with state law and improve its spill monitoring, employee training and hazardous waste management."

According to Brown's statement, his office and the California State Water Resources Control Board found numerous violations during an investigation that included inspections of 1,000 gas stations around the state.

-- Shelby Grad

Crews working to repair Van Nuys water main break

A full shutdown is expected shortly of a water main that ruptured today in Van Nuys, unleashing a geyser three stories high at the corner of Van Nuys Boulevard and Sherman Way.

Los Angeles Fire Department and Department of Water and Power officials were on the scene shortly after the 10:42 a.m. rupture. The nearly 20-foot geyser was soon reduced to a steady flow of water rising through the hole in the street.

No injuries or evacuations were reported but the street was flooded, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott. TV news coverage showed water shooting from the street well above a nearby one-story building. No damage was reported.

Pasadena outdoor watering limited to one day a week in winter

Pasadena residents are limited to just one outdoor watering day a week after the city’s first-ever winter water restrictions took effect Sunday.

In the summer, sprinklers were allowed to run Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Now residents must choose just one of those days each week to water their lawns, although the restriction does not apply to watering by hand or drip irrigation systems.

After Pasadena experienced record-low rainfall two years ago, the city implemented a water conservation plan that required the regulation of sprinkler systems, prohibited residents from hosing down pavement and required the immediate repair of leaky plumbing fixtures.

Long Beach breakwater study gets federal funding

The effort to bring waves back to Long Beach by dismantling its massive breakwater will be getting some federal consideration after funding was approved this week.

An appropriations bill signed by President Obama on Wednesday gives the Army Corps of Engineers $90,000 to review the city's study of reconfiguring the rock wall to create bigger waves, cleaner water and beaches, and more tourism.

The 2.2-mile rock barricade, built during World War II to shelter Navy ships from waves, has been blamed by environmental groups and surfers for trapping in water pollution and deadening the surf.

City of L.A. says it has authority to restrict overnight parking in Venice

The Los Angeles city attorney's office filed legal papers today indicating that it agrees with the Venice Stakeholders Assn. in a battle against the California Coastal Commission over restricted-parking districts in Venice.

In July, the Venice residents group sued both the coastal agency and the city in an effort to reverse their decision that the city must have a coastal development permit to establish resident-only overnight parking in neighborhoods nearest the coast.   In a "cross-complaint" filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the city attorney's office contends that the city "is not obligated to obtain or issue a local coastal development permit in connection with the adoption of any OPD [overnight parking district]." The document contends that the city "is free to adopt and implement the OPDs without consulting, notifying or obtaining any permit from" the coastal agency.

With its action, the city "effectively has agreed with our position," said Mark Ryavec, president of Venice Stakeholders. "Parking restrictions do not constitute development as it's defined in the California Coastal Act."

Venice residents have sought limits on overnight parking in large part to prevent the occupants of campers and other recreational vehicles from taking up curb space. Residents say some of the vehicle dwellers dump sewage down storm drains and hold loud parties.    

-- Martha Groves

Lake Elsinore has L.A. area's longest commute, census report finds

Think your commute is bad? Others have it worse – unless you happen to live in Lake Elsinore.

The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday released new data showing how long it takes people to get to work. In Southern California, Lake Elsinore in Riverside County topped the list, with residents taking an average of 41.8 minutes to get to work. Palmdale and Adelanto were behind, at 40.5 minutes.

The report, which examined data collected between 2006 and 2008, confirms something veteran commuters know well: The worst drives to work are often shared by residents who live in far-flung suburbs. Other Southern California cities high on the list: Walnut, Perris, Murrieta, Moreno Valley, Diamond Bar, Chino Hills, Santa Clarita and La Puente.

The study found that the average Los Angeles resident spends an average of just under half an hour getting to work – putting the city at No. 26 for cities in the region.

Palm Springs and Indio in the Coachella Valley posted some of the shortest commutes in Southern California, about 20 minutes. But not far behind were some Orange County suburbs: Costa Mesa (22.3), Tustin (22.3) and Irvine (22.5).

--Ari B. Bloomekatz and Sandy Poindexter

Photo: Hollywood Freeway traffic.

Credit: Richard Vogel / Associated Press

Environmentalists pushing for curb to global warming at local events today as part of the 350 campaign

Environment-oriented people are gathering around Southern California and throughout the state today to press for tough federal legislation and an international treaty to curb global warning.

The participants are part of "an international day of action," with about 4,000 events in 170 countries at places including the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower, according to 350.org, a group started by environmentalist Bill McKibben.

Members of 30 Santa Barbara and Los Angeles-area environmental groups and their supporters will gather at 3 p.m. on the Manhattan Beach Pier for the "Amazing Waving Human Tide Line" to highlight the sea rise expected from climate change. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted last month to endorse the International Day of Climate Action. (Click here to download a description of the South Bay 350 Climate Action Group.)

In Orange County, the Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center will feature an International Day of Climate Action Festival from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., highlighted by an aerial photo of attendees gathered to form the number 350 on a field. Other activities will include a nature hike, a 5K walk, tree planting and talks by Orange County environmental and religious leaders. The United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa will host a lecture on "creation care," a movement to protect the Earth from climate-related threats.

This morning, a group was planning to meet at 6284 Mulholland Highway in Los Angeles to pose with a giant "350"  banner beneath the Hollywood sign. 

The group 350.org advocates reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million from the current 390 parts. Before the Industrial Revolution, the atmosphere contained about 280 parts per million, but the concentration is rapidly heading toward more than 500 parts as a result of the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of rain forests.

The group, which seeks to spur grass-roots consciousness of climate-change dangers, has its work cut out for it. Polls show that Americans are growing less, not more, concerned about global warming -- despite warnings from scientists that warmer temperatures, drought, melting glaciers, water shortages, species extinctions and sea rise will result from the buildup of carbon dioxide.

-- Margot Roosevelt and Jeff Gottlieb

L.A. and Orange County residents to protest today over global warming

Groups of Los Angeles-area residents today will hike to the Hollywood sign to pose for a photo calling for tough measures to combat climate change, gather near the Manhattan Beach Pier to form a human wave to draw attention to sea level rise, and join in a climate action festival in Irvine. For details, see our Greenspace blog.

Monterey Bay Aquarium report: Demand for seafood leading to oceans' decline

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been working for years to improve the health of the planet's oceans, and today it has announced new collaborations to spread the word through chefs, seafood buyers and others.

The aquarium, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, released a report today on the state of the oceans. Prospects for the oceans are improving with a growing consensus to manage wild and farm fishing, the report says. But it also sets out significant problems that remain for the oceans and cites the human demand for seafood as the primary factor in the oceans' decline.

It also released a "Super Green" list, developed with the Harvard School of Public Health and the Environmental Defense Fund, of seafood that is healthy for people and the planet. On the list are some albacore tuna caught in the U.S. or British Columbia, wild-caught salmon from Alaska and pink shrimp from Oregon, among others.

Large crowd expected for Malibu septic tank meeting

A Los Angeles regional water board has moved the location of its November meeting from Simi Valley to downtown L.A. to better accommodate a large crowd expected when it discusses a proposed ban on septic systems in central Malibu.

The Nov. 5 meeting of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board will begin at 9 a.m. in the boardroom of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, 700 N. Alameda St.

The public will be allowed to comment on the proposed ban.

-- Martha Groves

Pomona College gets $7.5-million gift for "green" residence hall

Pomona College in Claremont has received a $7.5-million donation to help build a new residence hall with high levels of energy efficiency and the use of solar power, officials have announced.

The gift for the "green" building comes from Rick and Susan Sontag, a couple with deep family connections to the college. Susan Sontag, a Pomona alumna, and Rick Sontag, a former aviation businessman who now manages his own investment firm, have a daughter who graduated from Pomona.

His late uncle was Frederick E. Sontag, who taught in Pomona’s philosophy department for more than 50 years. The $18.4-million Sontag Hall is under construction and is scheduled to open in May 2011, campus spokeswoman Cynthia Peters said. It is part of a two-building complex that will house 150 students.

-- Larry Gordon

California agribusiness pressures school to nix Michael Pollan lecture

Agribusinesses across the U.S. have a beef with sustainable food guru Michael Pollan, but at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo it has taken on a definite sizzle. 

Threatening to pull donations from the school, a major California agribusiness has succeeded in turning what was to be a campus lecture by Pollan tomorrow into a panel discussion involving Pollan, a meat-science expert and one of the largest organic growers in the U.S.

"While I understand the need to expose students to alternative views, I find it unacceptable that the university would provide Michael Pollan an unchallenged forum to promote his stand against conventional agricultural practices,'' David E. Wood, chairman of the Harris Ranch Beef Co., wrote in a scathing Sept. 23 letter to the Cal Poly president.

Wood has pledged $150,000 toward a new meat processing plant on campus. In his letter, he said Pollan's scheduled solo appearance had prompted him to "rethink my continued financial support of the university.'' He also criticized an animal sciences professor who said that conventional feedlots like the one run by Harris Ranch were not a form of sustainable agriculture.

Wastewater treatment would cost homeowners $1,000 a month, Malibu says

With a proposed ban on septic systems in central Malibu looming, the city today said residential property owners would be on the hook for $1,000 a month to pay for a centralized wastewater treatment system. Commercial property owners could be forced to pay significantly more, the city said.

Malibu said such a system would cost $52 million. That is more than three times the $16.7-million projection that the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has mentioned at recent community workshops.

Upset at what it calls Malibu's slow pace of correcting water pollution issues in Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon and Surfrider Beach, the water board has proposed a prohibition on septic systems in the city's core. The agency says pollutants leaching from aging and overtaxed septic systems are a big cause of the pollution. It plans to consider the issue Nov. 5.

The city has been moving forward with a treatment plan, but its consultants say the operation and maintenance would cost $420,000 a month. Assuming the water board's prohibition zone would include 400 to 500 land parcels, the costs would result in payments of about $1,000 per month per parcel, the city said.

"We are deeply concerned that the regional board has not completed its due diligence and has not considered the overwhelming monthly cost to local homeowners and landowners," said Malibu Mayor Andy Stern.

The city has asked the water board to put the the proposed ban on hold.

For a map of the proposed prohibition area, go to the water board's website.

-- Martha Groves

Foothill residents prepare for mudslides as storm approaches [Updated]

Terrified. That's the word Olivia Brown has used since she heard rain was headed for her La Cañada Flintridge neighborhood.

Standing behind her one-story stucco house near the corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Earnslow Drive, Brown, 44, pointed to the steep terrain rising above her.

"All that is supposed to come down," she said. "There are some big boulders up there. And we've had daily landslides since the fires. This is ground zero right here."

L.A. County beaches going green with recycling bins

Crews are placing 32 recycling containers on Los Angeles County beaches in an ongoing effort to keep aluminum cans, glass and bottles out of the ocean. The bins were purchased with a grant from the California Department of Conservation.

The new beach recycling program went into effect this week.

Here's more from the Argonaut:

Approximately 60 million people visit Los Angeles County beaches annually and until now, there has not been a widespread recycling program encouraging visitors to recycle beverage containers instead of placing them in the trash or leaving them behind, county officials said.

Last year Californians recycled more than 16.1 billion beverage containers, an increase of more than 1.4 billion containers compared to 2007. California continues to lead the nation in total quantity of cans and bottles recycled. It is estimated that implementation of the recycling program will divert 20 percent of beach trash from local landfills, county officials said.

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Concerns are voiced over Pacific Palisades project

Los Angeles public works officials met with Pacific Palisades residents this week to address their concerns about possible problems arising as crews start work next year building a new storm water system just north of Pacific Coast Highway.

The $15.9-million project to capture storm water runoff will be built under Temescal Canyon. Residents have expressed concern about geology, odors, operation and maintenance problems that might be associated with the project. The city plans to start work on the project, which includes a 1.25-million-gallon, cement-reinforced holding tank, in October 2010. It will take about 20 months to complete.

The Palisadian-Post has more:

About 50 residents listened at the Palisades Branch Library as Dorothy Meier, a consultant for Camp, Dresser, McKee (who was hired by the city to perform the project's initial study), explained that there were no geology issues, and that Temescal Canyon is not a seismic-prone location.

Meier said that odors from the detention tank would be less than significant, but that diesel fumes during construction could be expected. As far as operation and maintenance (since the money to fund the project is from Prop O and can only be used for construction), the city would include maintenance in future budgets.

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Small brush fire breaks out near Thousand Oaks [Updated]

A brush fire has broken out today in Ventura County, but no homes are in immediate danger.

The fire is burning near Thousand Oaks south of U.S. 101 near California 23 and Rancho Road. About four acres have burned.

Fire Capt. Ron Oatman told the Associated Press that the blaze was burning in “open space.”

[Updated at 1:05 p.m.: Oatman told The Times that no homes were threatened and no evacuations had been ordered. He said the fire was burning south of the 101 at Rancho Road and north of Potrero Road, in an area of open space between Thousand Oaks and Hidden Valley.

Oatman said two water-dropping helicopters and one air tanker were on scene, in addition to numerous fire engines. Two more helicopters are on the way as well as three additional air tankers.

Cooler temperatures are in the firefighters’ favor, Oatman said, but the winds are gusting up to 20 mph in the area.]

[Updated at 2:50 p.m.: The blaze is now about 20 to 25 acres and 60% contained. It is burning in a grassy area with medium to heavy chaparral south of the 101 Freeway and north of Potrero Road.

Fire officials are confident that no homes will burn, because the county has strictly enforced wide clearance limits around nearby houses, which are primarily larger horse-keeping properties. The blaze is, however, threatening a popular hiking trail, Los Robles Trail.

There have been no evacuations, though some residents nearby have been warned that they should prepare just in case.

About 400 firefighters have been deployed, but the blaze is not reachable on the ground, so helicopters and at least one air tanker have been bombarding flames hard with water drops.]

-- Catherine Saillant and wire service reports

Amid concern about mudslide risk, Glendale volunteers fill 1,000 sandbags

Kenny Senstad lives near a grim reminder of what mudslides have wrought in his community.

It’s a memorial, erected close to his home in Montrose, marking the deaths of 12 people in the New Year’s Eve Flood of 1934, which followed a disastrous 1933 fire.

“Every time I look at it, it reminds me of all the people that died,” said Kenny, a 12-year-old Boy Scout.

And it’s why he came out this morning to help fill sandbags at Dunsmore Park in La Crescenta, an event put on by the city of Glendale after two recently packed community meetings at which residents voiced concern about mudslides this winter as a result of the Station fire.

The fire left many burn areas — including nearly all of the 712-acre Deukmejian Wilderness Park — devoid of vegetation that would stop debris from flowing toward homes when the winter rains start.

Head of L.A.'s water and power utility steps down

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's top executive, H. David Nahai, has resigned from the agency effective immediately, the mayor's office announced this morning.

In a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Nahai said he was leaving to take a position as an advisor to former President Clinton's climate initiative.

Nahai had served two years as a DWP commissioner before Villaraigosa elevated him to the post of chief executive and general manager in 2007. Ever since, he had been under fire from an array of forces.

He drew strong criticism from the head of the powerful International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, which represents thousands of DWP workers, who accused Nahai of doing too little to secure the passage of Measure B, a solar power ballot proposal that narrowly fell short of passage in March.

Neighborhood councils also complained of a proposal to increase electric rates. Residents of the San Fernando Valley have been upset in recent weeks over the DWP’s water conservation measures, which limited sprinkler use to two days per week. And residents across the city were perplexed by a string of water main breaks, including one that resulted in a sinkhole that gobbled up a portion of a fire truck.

Nahai did have support from environmental circles, however. Last spring, a series of environmental leaders sent Villaraigosa a letter urging him to ignore the complaints and keep Nahai.

"I would like to thank David Nahai for his four years of service at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where he led the team responsible for increasing the city's renewable energy portfolio, reducing water consumption to record levels, and putting us on the path to be coal free by 2020,'' Villaraigosa said in a statement released this morning.

Villaraigosa has asked the DWP's board of commissioners to temporarily appoint his top environmental advisor, David Freeman, as interim general manager of the utility. Freeman is a former DWP general manager and also served as president of the city harbor commission.

-- Phil Willon and David Zahniser at L.A. City Hall