Industrialization's and Coastal Environments

"One of the largest environmental cleanup projects in county history is languishing, with no clear start date for work that was proposed in 2005. Details on how to handle contaminated sediment in San Diego Bay — initially pegged at $96 million — remain buried in secret mediation talks. Those negotiations have dragged on for an unexpected 16 months, and that's on top of the three years it took for regional water regulators to prepare documents associated with the case. The main points of contention include defining the cleanup area, determining the acceptable level of pollutants and forming ways to monitor progress.A schedule issued Thursday by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board set Oct. 30 as the deadline for a revised cleanup proposal to be made public."

Back in the news again this week is the ongoing postponement of any effort to clean up the sediment contamination in San Diego Bay near the former Campbell Industries shipyard near the San Diego Convention Center. While the dumping of toxic wastes in the bay has occurred for decades, the public outcry and demand for removal has been in the news for more than 18 years. Yet somehow, the principal parties involved in the largest coastal cleanup in San Diego County have managed to stall any effort to remove the toxic sludge for more than four years past schedule.

It's really frustrating when our most effective local coastal watchdog organizations like San Diego Coastkeeper and the Environmental Health Coalition have to refuse to participate in mediation efforts because of the tactics and level of influence by the big industry polluters. Why is it the the Regional Water Board has developed a "reputation for inaction"? Who's interests are they protecting? Why are they covertly negotiating with the polluters? What plans are in order to begin the clean-up process? When will it finally begin?

The next time I read an article about this issue, I want to see an enforceable deadline, soon. I want to know the game plan where, when, how, who. Who is in charge, overseeing the clean-up. What will be the temporary impact during the project? How long will it take? Who is paying for it? Most important, what policies are now in place to prevent this from happening again in our local water ever again.

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