San Diego
The owner of a parcel of land on Famosa Slough has been ordered by the state Water Quality Control Board to vacuum the remaining residue and water from a culvert that feeds the marshland.
The board asked that Terry Sheldon sandbag the north end of the culvert while the residue is vacuumed out. After the work is complete, his firm, T.L. Sheldon & Co., will have to submit a written report to the board.
On Friday, that culvert was dammed with cement. It was unplugged Sunday, but the residue from the cement apparently caused the water to turn alkaline.
Greig Peters, an inspector for the control board, analyzed samples Wednesday of the water that remained in the culvert under West Point Loma Boulevard and found it to be very alkaline.
“We found that the water had a high pH level and that it killed aquatic organisms that were previously there,” Peters said.
Peters said it had been established that workers for Sheldon had dammed the culvert.
T.L. Sheldon & Co. officials said that the culvert was blocked to prevent sewage from the San Diego River from entering the property, where they propose to build a 400-unit condominium project.
Environmentalists have fought for more than a decade to prevent construction on the 20-acre marsh in Point Loma.
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