11:35am | The effort to study possible alterations to the Long Beach Breakwater took a step forward today, as Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district engineer Colonel R. Mark Toy signed a cost-sharing agreement to solidify the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study.
The study was approved earlier this year by the Long Beach City Council and the Army Corps of Engineers, and the cost-sharing agreement is the first step. The city and Corps will each contribute $4 million to produce the four-year study.
The Army Corps of Engineers may now officially move forward with studying potential alterations to the structure that they constructed themselves from 1941-1949, a pile of massive rocks several miles long built in order to protect docked Navy ships from attack. With that threat long gone for decades, advocates of removing the breakwater began to gain momentum in recent years as the Navy left Long Beach and the idea that the structure contributed to notoriously poor water quality became more widely accepted.
The idea of removing the entire structure is simply out of question for several reasons, but there could be many methods of altering the structure to improve water quality while also enhancing local wildlife habitats, encouraging recreational diving and boating and possibly even restoring small waves to local beaches. Mayor Foster pledged that the public will be kept up to date with the study, through several planned community meetings and forums.
“No action is going to be taken until this study is concluded, and that will take some time,” Foster said at the signing overlooking the ocean. “This will be an open, transparent process. Community involvement is important and essential to ensuring that we have a win-win situation.”
But not all agree with the idea. Some residents have voiced concerns over various issues for years. Most vocal have been residents of the upscale Peninsula waterfront homes, due to fears that removing the breakwater could allow waves that damage their properties. These fears seemed to ease earlier this year as the Corps promised not to act on any plan that could potentially damage any property, especially residences.
Still, some are not convinced. Bill and Penny Brush are Long Beach residents and frequent divers in local waters, and brought signs to the event reading “A Waste Of Money, Sink This Study” and “Save The Breakwater, Fix The River.”
“We’re not opposed to the study, we’re opposed to the waste of money,” said Penny. “The real issue is sand erosion because of the [Los Angeles] river.”
The Brushes also said the breakwater is an important marine life habitat that is home to several species of fish, crustaceans and birds.
“The issue with water quality has nothing whatsoever to do with the breakwater,” said Bill, an oceanographer who said the problem is turning the L.A. River into a concrete waterway that doesn’t properly carry sediments, thereby causing beach erosion and accelerating pollution.
“We’ve messed up the system and are trying to fix one aspect of the breakwater,” he said.
But opponents like the Brushes may be encouraged to learn that the Army Corps intends to study the entire “messed up” system, and not just the breakwater. That’s what Colonel Toy hopes, anyway.
“We will evaluate a multitude of alternatives to benefit the area as a whole,” he said. “I commit to you that the Los Angeles District will work very hard on your behalf.”
Col. Toy reiterated what the Corps has said in the past, that the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study is basically an all-encompassing effort that will look to improve water quality, erosion, pollution, recreation, ecosystem and other concerns before acting. That means examining not only the breakwater but the L.A. River as well.
“It’s a big concern of mine,” he told the Long Beach Post today. “The first thing you learn as an environmental engineer about pollution is you have to go to the source.”
Colonel R. Mark Toy addresses the crowd.
Bill Brush voices his opposition to the study. Others brought “Thank You” signs in support, as well.
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