Van de Kamp Challenges Plans for Park Complex

State Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp has sided with environmentalists in challenging plans for a biomedical complex on 100 acres in Caspers Wilderness Park.

Van de Kamp on Tuesday filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana supporting a lawsuit by the Fund for Environmental Defense. Last May, Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary L. Taylor rejected the lawsuit challenging the 1986 action by the Board of Supervisors.

In a press release, Van de Kamp said the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which approved the project, violated the state Environmental Quality Act by failing to require a revised environmental impact report. The biomedical complex, originally approved in 1981 to be built on private property at the edge of the park, has since been enlarged, and the park’s boundaries have been extended to surround the site.

Opponents of the project said it would create unacceptable noise from helicopters and traffic and would not fit the natural environment of the county’s largest wilderness park.

The Nichols Institute, which would operate the complex, performs diagnostic tests for hospitals. Albert Nichols, who heads the San Juan Capistrano-based facility, could not be reached for comment, nor could county supervisors.