Crews Ready, but Breakwater Is on Hold

Two idle barges, one loaded with rocks and the other carrying a crane, anchored off Imperial Beach on Friday at a cost of $20,000 a day while a bevy of attorneys argued over the construction of a breakwater first proposed 28 years ago.

Superior Court Judge Jack R. Levitt issued a temporary restraining order last week prohibiting the city of Imperial Beach and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who contracted for the project, from beginning construction of the 5,000-foot, box-shaped breakwater. Levitt acted on a request by La Jolla resident William C. Kellogg, who argued that the environmental impact report prepared by the Corps of Engineers in 1978 is outdated.

On Thursday, Imperial Beach resident James M. Knox filed a similar request in federal court. Knox acted after Corps of Engineers officials argued that they were immune from Levitt’s order because state courts do not have jurisdiction over a federal agency.

Knox’s request is scheduled to be heard later this month, and it is not clear what will happen in the interim.

“Nothing’s going to happen today (Friday),” said University of San Diego law Prof. Richard J. Wharton, who acted as Knox’s attorney. “But the U.S. attorney (representing the Corps of Engineers) told us they didn’t know about tomorrow.”

U.S. Atty. Peter K. Nunez said Friday that the only legal step so far taken by the federal government in the matter was filing to transfer the litigation to federal court. Nunez said he expected a federal judge to hear arguments early next week on whether Levitt’s restraining order should be overturned.

In the meantime, he said, the ban on commencing work on the breakwater remains in force and his office has not counseled the Corps of Engineers to defy it.

Imperial Beach Mayor Bill Russell rushed to the city pier off Ocean Lane Friday morning after learning that the barges had anchored and that workers were prepared to begin dropping rocks into the ocean, in defiance of Levitt’s order.

“We (the city) don’t want to be held for contempt,” said Russell. “But we met with the corps Tuesday and they told us that they could not be restrained by a state court.”

Russell said the city has favored the breakwater since it was proposed in 1957. The California Coastal Commission approved the plan in 1981 and granted a construction permit in July, Russell said. At this point the city’s only involvement with the project is tied to local permits granted to the corps, he said.

Contractor for the $5.9-million project, paid for with federal, state and local funds, is Riedel International of Portland, Ore. Riedel officials declined to comment Friday and referred questions about the controversy to the Corps of Engineers.

Corps spokeswoman Susan Kranzler said she had been instructed to refer calls about the project to Nunez.

Russell said the breakwater, which would be built just north of the Imperial Beach pier, would benefit fishermen and swimmers, and bring badly needed revenues to the city. He argued that the breakwater would create a mini-economic boom by stopping beach erosion, which in turn would encourage builders to develop the city’s beachfront.

“We really need it. The corps’ environmental impact statement said that unless it is built, the beach will be eroded down to the rock bed by the year 2009,” Russell said. “The breakwater would save the sand, and the sandy beach is our biggest asset. We’re a relatively poor city, and we’re being hurt because developers are hesitant to come here and build on a beach that may soon erode away.”

But while the breakwater may benefit swimmers and fishermen, surfers complain that the project would tame the waves.

The Surfrider Foundation filed suit in August against the Coastal Commission in an effort to halt construction. The suit charges that the commission failed to abide by the state Coastal Act and approve the least environmentally damaging alternative, which the foundation says would be sand replenishment. The suit claimed the commission also failed to follow a section of the act that calls for protection of ocean wave recreation.

However, it was clear Friday that fishermen--most of them retirees--who use the pier have no sympathy for the surfers, Knox or Kellogg.

“It would improve the fishing, no doubt about it,” said Ralph Sunkel, 69. “Besides, I don’t know why individuals who live in La Jolla, like that Kellogg fellow, should have anything to say about what happens here.”

Nestor Rosas, 60, said he would be happy if if the breakwater is constructed and surfers are discouraged from using the beach. “Surfers get on my nerves. They cut my fishing lines and get all of us mad,” he said.