Agencies Revisit Idea of Bolsa Chica Wetlands Purchase, State Official Says

In what is being called an 11th-hour effort to protect the Bolsa Chica wetlands as a public reserve, state and federal authorities are once again exploring the possibility of a public purchase of the bird-rich marshes between Huntington Beach and the sea.

News of the joint study, coming just 13 days after approval of controversial plans for a private housing development at Bolsa Chica, appears to leave open the door for creating a public wildlife reserve there and staving off construction of 900 homes in one of the most ecologically sensitive coastal wetlands in Southern California.

Douglas P. Wheeler, state resources secretary, said Wednesday that state and federal agencies together will conduct a three-month survey of reported contaminants to determine how much cleanup would be needed at the wetlands, an oil-drilling site for decades. An earlier plan put forth by the federal government for public purchase foundered last month amid cleanup questions.

Some feared that the prospect of a public wildlife refuge had faded when the California Coastal Commission voted Jan. 11 to allow Koll Real Estate Group to build homes in and around the wetlands. The Koll plans calls for 900 homes on part of the wetlands and another 2,400 on a mesa to the north. It also lays groundwork for restoring remaining wetlands.

But Wheeler’s comments this week suggest that a public wetlands purchase could still materialize, perhaps with the state taking a larger role. Such a purchase could mean the 900 lowlands homes would not be built but would not affect the mesa development.

In addition, a task force of state and federal officials will study how to deal with cleanup liability if the wetlands are purchased by a public agency, Wheeler said.

Although previous talks have focused on the federal government buying the lowlands as a federal wildlife refuge, Wheeler said in an interview that funding technicalities could mean the state instead would own the land.

Nonetheless, he said, “Public ownership would be the outcome.”

An Interior Department official in Washington said: “Secretary [Bruce] Babbitt recognizes that the wetlands restoration effort at Bolsa Chica might be the most significant urban wetlands restoration project in the country. . . . We’re willing to consider every possible avenue.”

Some environmentalists were skeptical. They speculated that Wheeler’s announcement of the study is simply political maneuvering by the Wilson administration, attempting to make state government appear sensitive to wetlands restoration, despite a state commission vote that has been widely criticized by environmentalists.

“Maybe they realize they made an error,” said Connie Boardman of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, which opposes the Koll plan. The only new development in Wheeler’s announcement appears to be the plan for the three-month study, Boardman said.

“I just really see it as an attempt to placate people who may be upset with the commission vote,” said Marcia Hanscom, who works on Bolsa Chica issues for the Sierra Club. She described Wheeler as “very loud and very vocal in favor of the Koll plan” when he sat as an ex officio commissioner at the Jan. 11 meeting.

The Sierra Club and some other environmental groups are threatening legal action because they believe the commission violated the state’s Coastal Act by permitting the Koll plan.

Wheeler announced the joint state-federal effort at a meeting of Gov. Pete Wilson’s wetlands task force in Sacramento. In a press release, he called Bolsa Chica wetlands restoration a high priority. He said the Koll plan “ensures substantial restoration of wetlands at private expense,” but added: “Whether full restoration of all degraded wetlands at Bolsa Chica is possible remains to be determined.”

Although the company fought hard for Coastal Commission approval of its development, Lucy Dunn, senior vice president, said Koll remains open to further discussions about a public purchase of the wetlands.

“We appreciate Secretary Wheeler’s decision to accept a leadership role,” Dunn said. Although details about testing on Koll’s property still need to be negotiated, she said, “We’re very willing to work with the state to achieve the state’s goals.”

Some opponents of the Koll plan had hoped the Department of the Interior would buy the wetlands under a plan announced last year. Wetlands restoration would then be financed in part by $62 million contributed by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in exchange for permission to proceed with port expansion plans.

But the Interior plan faltered just weeks before it was due to be considered at the Coastal Commission’s January meeting. Federal officials blamed nagging questions about possible oil field contamination at the site, saying it was unclear whether the land could be brought up to the standards of a federal wildlife refuge.

The upcoming study of possible contaminants will cost about $200,000, with the state and federal governments sharing the cost, Wheeler said.