LBPOST.com: Breakwater Update Planned For February Public Meeting

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Breakwater Update Planned For February Public Meeting

by Ryan ZumMallen | Long Beach News | 01.27.10 |

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3:45pm | A public meeting will be held to present updated information about the process of reconfiguring the Long Beach Breakwater, according to the office of 4th District Councilmember Patrick O�Donnell.� The meeting will take place on Monday, February 8 at 7:00pm, at Ecco�s Pizza on 2123 Bellflower Boulevard.

The meeting will be hosted by O�Donnell and Tom Modica, Manager of Government Affairs for the city.� Modica has been working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers as they work to determine whether a reconfiguration of the breakwater is fiscally feasible and environmentally beneficial.�

�The idea is to educate and activate the public on this issue,� O�Donnell said in a phone interview this afternoon.� �I think this is something that can have significant environmental and economic advantages to the city.�

In October, President Obama signed a bill that included $90,000 for the Army Corps to study a report authored by local firm Moffatt & Nichol regarding possible scenarios to modify the breakwater.� The report was independently commissioned by the City of Long Beach and has been the basis of the Army Corps� study.� The Army Corps is currently reviewing the report and could come to a decision as early as this May.

Modica will present an update on the current state of the modification process during the meeting at Ecco�s.

Comments

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27 Comments so far.

lbresident
The study proved we can make changes to improve our beach and still protect the peninsula. The peninsula is no longer a credible issue. It's a scare tactic from port interests who don't want to pay for the reconfiguration. The issue is money. The expansion of Pier J caused the problem so the port should pay to fix it by opening up a portion of the breakwater at the western end. Which councilmembers will vote to fund the final study with port funds? The port opposes this because they want the money for expansion in the short term. DOES YOUR COUNCIL CANDIDATE / MEMBER STAND WITH RESIDENTS OF LONG BEACH OR DO THEY STAND WITH THE PORT? We want our beach back.

no answers here.
the study proved that there needs to be another study. It sure would have been nice to get more answers for $100,000. who cares if they partially lower the breakwall? it is not going to flush sewage much faster or bring big waves. ridiculous hype.

did you read it?
The study concluded water quality would improve and small waves would result and provided 5 options to accomplish the goals. But yes there is one last study required as per the army corps defined process.

CHARLIE
The needed improvements of our Port must be given priority and you all know why!

JKaner
The M&N study was biased and incomplete: Their study never took the breakwater below sea level. I thought that kinda missed the point. Here's the equation: Waves = $$$ for LB.

CHARLIE
As stated before - The Port must take priority over the breakwater for economic & air pollution reasons...

90803_Resident
Charlie, residents of Long Beach must be taken priority over the port. All the other beach cities in SoCal manage to generate lots of city income with out a port. You know why? Because they have waves and beaches that people actually want to go to. Reconfiguring the breakwater will be a great economic boost for Long Beach. Residents quality of life will greatly improve from having our own clean usable beach. It amazes me that any resident of Long Beach could actually be against this. This will benefit all of us.

to charlie
We have let the port take priority over residents for too long. It's time for the residents to take priority. The port can still make their "improvements" but they need to give back the beach they took first.

iDrive
Our little global village by the sea is long over due for it's day in the sun. We are the sixth largest city in the tenth largest economy in the world. There is absolutely no excuse why we cannot leverage both economic engines of trade and tourism to our advantage. Whether the world rides in on a wave or a tanker we must fulfill our destiny as a leader on the world stage and here at home. If any community could build a balance between these two wonderful assets it would be my Long Beach. We are too smart, creative, and driven to let this opportunity stagnate.

CW
Forever, friends and family of mine have teased me about living in Long Beach, where the "Debris meets the Sea" I have a second home in Avalon and when leaving the port on the Cat Express I hear the comments of people from around the world. The water is disgusting. Something needs to be done. The problem is it can't be done at the expense of the folks that live on the Peninsula. Also as Charlie has stated the port is of great importance to our City. Mitigating the pollution in the port is as important to Long as fixing the water quality issues maybe even more so. I would hope all sides would work together for the best solutions possible and try to leave the special interest thinking on the shelf. iDrive is spot on!

lbresident
CW, I think you're right. But we know now that there are at least 5 options to improve the situation that don't impact the Peninsula. This really is about money at this point. The port is the only entity that has any money. Given that and that the expansion of pier j is what killed the water circulation and waves, it only makes sense that the port pay to fix the problem. It's not like the port can't do the other things it wants to do. The port needs to be a good corporate citizen for long beach residents on this.

Casey
I have a friend I used to work with in ABC Unified School District who was born and raised on Nieto in the Shore. She said before the breakwater was built they used to go in rowboats up to 2nd St to get groceries at Howies...just about every winter when it rained. I think we felt like this in the last great Jan.storm...even 2nd St flooded. I pray the Army Corps know what they are talking about...more than in New Orleans...

resident
I'm curious to know what the selling points are for federal interest. Is there really still a question of whether this will economically and environmentally benefit the city? I don't even think you need a study to know that restoring the beach to what it was pre-breakwater will benefit the environment and boost city tourism. But how does LB convince that there is a federal interest?

CHARLIE
Well gee wiz I guess I raddled a few chains, but that's a good thing because it really brought us all out on two matters that are very important to the survival of our community - the residential property owners and our largest income producing industry in Long Beach which really does demand equal time and financing to make it all work out profitably and safely for all concerned; I didn't mean to shun the resident or the importance of making and keeping our community clean and attractive to the visitors and beach goers. The Port has many things it needs to do to clean up its act to remain viable competively, and the importance of getting the right people in our City Council is certainly relative to making our community successful in both areas. Thank You everyone for your thoughtful response - Let's hope the City Council and The Port of Long Beach will do the same!

to resident
federal interest is based on 4 things. One of them is restoring an ecosystem and this is the one that the breakwater reconfiguration is based on.

to Charlie
If there is one thing this city has learned it is that putting all your eggs in one basket is not a good move. We did that with aerospace and it wasn't pretty. We shouldn't do the same with the port. Yes is should be one of many economic engines for the city. But making LB a great place to live includes diversifying our business base and restoring our beach. We and the port owe it to residents. $3M for the final study is nothing to the port. The construction costs are likely to be in the $10M to $75M range and that is something the port can afford to pay as well. And they should. Again, we moved the LA river path for the port and pier j expansion stopped the circulation. Time to do what is right for the residents of Long Beach. Even if it means some outside long beach interests aren't all that excited about it.

to casey
stop the scare tactics. it's getting old. the breakwater is not a levee.

Just watchin'
Am I the only one who thinks it is odd to have a public meeting with public officials at a PRIVATE restaurant? At dinner time?

StopItAlready
I agree, Casey, stop the scare tactics. Do people have to go in row boats to get groceries in Seal Beach? Surfside? Sunset Beach? All those places have bigger waves than what LB will have post-breakwater and they are fine. No other SoCal beach community has a breakwater and they are fine. In fact, I would argue they're collective quality of lives are better than ours in LB BECAUSE they do NOT have one.

Agree
Just watchin', that is a little odd. I also think it's odd to have the meeting a few miles from the ocean in a part of LB that doesn't even feel like your close to the beach. But I'm too happy that they're even discussing modifying the BW to care.

meeting location
Surfrider is holding the meeting I think. Not the city. They don't have an office to my knowledge. Where would you like them to hold it? And, having it in inland Long Beach is a great idea because restoring our beach helps ALL of the city not just the Peninsula, Downtown, etc.

Federal Interest?
It was the Feds that put the break water there in the first place...then the Navy left and now we residents are dealing with it. Would it not be of Federal interest to clean up after themselves? They put it up, so they should take it down, right?

Gayle Lowen-Buol
I am a LB native & retired ILWU. I have seen the harbor covered in filth. If we can send a man to the moon there has to be a solution.

Dean
Uh, even if the breakwater is 'reconfigured' who would want to go in the water ? With the largest container port in the world just yards away , the water will never be clean enough for swimming, breakwater or no breakwater, as long as CONTAINERS are KINGS at 'THE SEWER BY THE SEA" imo

Anonymous
Dean, almost all of the water pollution in LB comes from the rivers and lack of water circulation (due in part from the BW) not from the ships (they do cause a lot of air pollution though). San Diego has an enormous Navy Base and people still go to those beaches near it, because they have clean water and waves.

Meeting Location/Fed Inte
The meeting location (Ecco's Pizza) IS the usual Surfrider Foundation meeting spot, but SF is not hosting this event - Patrick O'donnell's office is. Yes, the Federal interest would be as "ecosystem restoration". I would contend that waves are a vital part of this coastal ecosystem. -JKaner

Dean
Anon. Since when is a navy base the same thing as a shipping container port? First of all you're assuming the Other Countries adhere to the same requirements as our NAVY. oh well, i tried.

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LBPOST.com Managing Editor Ryan ZumMallen keeps up on all the current and breaking Long Beach news.

Ryan ZumMallen has served as the managing editor of the LBPOST.com since 2007. He graduated from CSULB with a degree in Print Journalism in 2008 and is a member of the 2009 class of Leadership Long Beach. You can find him on various basketball courts around the city.

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