Environment Concern Comes to Fore in O.C. : Activism: Recent events have sparked a sense of urgency about the quality of life--and some action.

After years of being accused of having no environmental heartbeat, Orange County is showing signs of life.

The Huntington Beach oil spill, malathion spraying over much of North County and final development plans for Laguna Canyon have all fueled public concern and spawned a new collection of activists--even politicians--pushing environmental causes.

Grumbling opposition has always existed to growth, offshore oil drilling and traffic congestion in Orange County, but only recently has this concern been forged into action. And environmentalists are already outlining a county environmental agenda for the 1990s that includes planting 1 million new trees, mandating recycling and banning or sharply reducing the use of ozone-depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons.

“Five years ago, people were generally in a state of bliss. Most folks were happy, pursuing the Orange County dream,” said Brian Jacobs, chairman of the recently formed Orange County Environmental Coalition. “But now people are conscious of what is going on. They look around and realize this isn’t the same place. And they are upset.”

Even state and federal lawmakers from the county are talking up environmental topics and issues. U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan, the ultraconservative Garden Grove Republican, conceded that he has softened his stand on offshore oil drilling and now considers himself a moderate “Pete Wilson-style Republican” on some environmental issues.

Developers too are feeling the heat. Billionaire Donald Bren found himself suddenly across the table from Laguna Beach environmentalists after activists last fall helped turn public opinion against his company’s Laguna Laurel project.

More than 8,000 people marched against the proposed development at the mouth of Laguna Canyon, a winding chaparral-covered gorge leading to the famed art colony and the Pacific beyond. And many of the protesters were not from Laguna Beach--a marked difference from past rallies and one of many signs that the environment is now an issue troubling residents across Orange County.

Newport Beach activists in recent months have been enlisted to help rural residents east of Orange challenge another Irvine Co. proposal to build more than 12,000 homes on the edge of the county’s dwindling backcountry.

Anger and fear over malathion spraying to eradicate the Mediterranean fruit fly has spurred many otherwise passive residents to turn out at city halls and street corner demonstrations from Brea to Garden Grove to protest the aerial pesticide assault.

And along the coast, scores of people--mothers with small children, merchants and students--flocked to the oil-fouled shores of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach in early February, volunteering to sop up the petroleum that spilled from the wounded tanker American Trader.

But some observers wonder whether the rush to embrace environmental causes reflects genuine concern that will last in a county noted for its growth and consumption. Or will it slowly evaporate after next Sunday’s nationwide observance of the 20th anniversary of Earth Day?

Rallies and speeches decrying development, polluted air and failed leadership are not enough to sustain the movement, veteran environmentalists warn. Some even fear that once the hoopla and headlines surrounding Earth Day end, so might the surge in grass-roots interest in repairing the region’s tattered environs.

“Born-again environmentalists are sprouting everywhere in the spring sunshine,” said Richard Arklin, a member of the radical environmental group Earth First!. “Right now, it’s the thing to do. It’s hip to sign up. Everybody is talking environment. But let’s see how many stick with it. Remember what happened 20 years ago?”

After a burst of activism and unity following the first Earth Day in April, 1970, Orange County’s environmental movement splintered and by the early 1980s was nearly invisible. In a conservative county where President Reagan was revered, those who talked about excess and growth controls were not. The economy was expanding, traffic problems were still largely confined to rush-hour commutes and open space--although disappearing--was not yet a burning issue.

Only a handful of single-issue groups, waging high-profile campaigns to protect upper Newport Bay, the Irvine Coast and the Bolsa Chica wetlands, home to several endangered bird species, carved out sizable followings.

“Most environmentalists were in the closet,” said Lorraine Faber, past president of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a Huntington Beach-based group that has fought since the mid-1970s to preserve the Bolsa Chica wetlands. “There was a lot of environmental bashing going on. We were considered freaks bent on destroying Orange County.”

That changed. Concerns about quality of life increasingly preoccupied those living and working in a region where computer chips replaced citrus as a leading cash crop. By the late 1980s, the bubble had burst, and Orange County, for all its wealth and splendid weather, was choking on its own success.

Overcrowding, clogged freeways and suburban sprawl had touched a nerve. Talking and acting environmental moved into the mainstream.

“People began encountering environmental issues on a daily basis,” said Mark Chamberlain, a Laguna Beach photographer who has actively campaigned to halt development in Laguna Canyon. “They would wake up to watch stories about global warming on the morning news programs, then get on the freeway and drive bumper-to-bumper to work in the smog. The problems were inescapable and it finally started dawning on people.”

Tom Walkins, a Greenpeace activist, views the wave of new converts more cynically: “Propose a freeway, housing tract or shopping center in someone’s back yard and watch how quickly he becomes an environmentalist.”

Elisabeth Brown, chairwoman of Laguna Greenbelt, credits Measure A, the countywide slow-growth initiative that was defeated in 1988, for igniting the environmental fires, particularly in South County. Even though the measure was defeated, 56% to 44%, it sent a message, she said, “that the masses were angry. They wanted business as usual to stop. The environment was now more important then new shopping centers, movie theaters and houses.”

Twenty years after the first Earth Day, observers such as political consultant Robert Nelson believe the county’s environmental movement is on firmer footing. It has a better chance of sustaining itself, Nelson says, because of the county’s robust economy and what he called the “environmental ethic” of the baby boom generation.

“We’ve had a long period of peace and prosperity, so most people aren’t worried about war or finding a job. Their attention has turned to other things, like the environment,” said Nelson of Nelson/Ralston/Robb Communications in Costa Mesa. The environmental bug was bound to bite Orange County because, he said, “concern is highest among educated people, like baby boomers, who were raised with a greater sensitivity to the environment.

“And baby boomers are running this county now.”

Activists are better equipped today to tap new recruits. After years of waging lopsided struggles against bigger and better-financed foes, county environmentalists have emerged more sophisticated politically and seem ready to set aside differences to support each others’ causes. Computers, databases and fax machines have become invaluable weapons, allowing the county’s 50 known environmental groups to swap mailing lists, the lifeblood of groups short on cash and long on need for volunteers.

For example, organizers of last November’s Laguna Canyon march--which some say helped prod the Irvine Co. to reconsider its 3,200-unit Laguna Laurel project--electronically recruited key environmental figures by fax, who in turn attracted thousands of protesters.

“Computer technology is allowing us to network like never before,” Faber said. “We are no longer isolated groups, acting independent of each other. It’s much different than 10 or 15 years ago.”

Evidence of this environmental awakening is everywhere.

Membership in the Orange County chapter of the Sierra Club has jumped to 9,420. “For years people joined as a way to go on outings,” said Alan Lopez, the club’s local membership chairman. “But we’ve picked up 1,400 new members in less than a year, and most sign up because of environmental concerns.”

High school and college campuses countywide are hotbeds of environmental activism.

At Cal State Fullerton, a small band of students last year formed the Rainforest Action Club to discuss the destruction of tropical rain forests, valued as major oxygen producers. The group now meets weekly and has a mailing list of more than 200, including a dozen professors. Members even sent a small donation recently to the Costa Rican National Park Service for rain forest replenishment.

In Newport Beach, overflow turnouts are common when Corona del Mar High School’s six-month-old environmental club meets.

“I was astounded. I didn’t think it would fly,” said Maya Decker, a biology instructor at the school and a longtime Audubon activist. “The goal is to change lifestyle patterns. But at first when I talked about water conservation and the importance of four-minute showers, some of the kids looked at me like I had come from another planet. A four-minute shower is an alien concept to most people. But now I think we’re getting through.”

Troubled by Orange County’s consumptive prowess and astounded that with all the county’s resources, wealth and brain power there was no game plan to slow the trend and heal the deteriorating environment, businessman Tom Larson called activists together last year for a chat. What resulted was the “Guide for Environmental Restoration in Orange County,” a collaborative effort by a wide range of parties to set an agenda of environmental issues and goals.

“People realize that future generations can’t enjoy the rate of consumption and growth that has distinguished this county,” said Larson, an executive with a wholesale Irvine nursery. “We are not seeking to derail progress, or halt growth, but send a message that a strong economy must be built on a strong environmental base.”

On a personal level the message appears to be hitting home.

A recent Times poll found that 77% of county residents have become more interested in the environment within recent years. Moreover, a vast majority support new government regulations, such as mandatory recycling, to cut waste and protect the environment.

Six Orange County cities offer some form of curbside collection for recyclable items, including glass bottles and jars, aluminum and tin cans, plastic soda and milk containers, newspapers and even cardboard. Half a dozen other cities are considering similar programs. Currently, an estimated 175,000 to 200,000 county residents voluntarily participate in curbside recycling in Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Orange and Irvine, which was the first city in the county to adopt a program in September, 1987.

“When we started the program we were hoping for 40% participation,” Irvine Mayor Larry Agran said. “But it’s over 70%, and that tells me people are looking for ways to get connected to the environmental movement.”

But in general, environmentalists say county officials and political leaders have been unresponsive and ineffectual in curbing growth and development, which is blamed most often for many of the area’s ills. They complain that government planners are too busy promoting growth-oriented projects rather than seeking solutions to overcrowded roads and dwindling open space.

“How come our leadership is trying to get trains from Las Vegas to Anaheim but hasn’t uttered word one about a countywide recycling program or appointed an environmental coordinator,” said Sherry Meddick, a longtime backcountry activist and founder of the Rural Canyon Residents Assn., who now works for Greenpeace. “We don’t have environmental leaders. We have environmental followers.”

Don R. Roth, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, defended the proposed high-speed rail link with Las Vegas, saying it will also carry weekday commuters to the county from the boom towns of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, easing traffic on area freeways. As proposed, the train will be privately financed, a direction Roth said government must take to solve transit and other environmental problems.

“Government just doesn’t have the resources to solve all the problems,” Roth said. “The initiative and money increasingly must come from the private sector. And we’ve got to act now.”

Environmentalists share Roth’s urgency because the impact of the county’s explosive growth--and its effects on the environment--are everywhere.

Orange County generates more trash per capita--2.1 tons for every man, woman and child--than any county in the nation. The region’s chronic air pollution--identified in a recent Times Poll among county residents as the No. 1 environmental threat--is the worst in the nation. And the county’s high-speed growth will taper only slightly in the coming decade with 300,000 new arrivals pushing the population to more than 2.6 million by the year 2000.

“It’s really sad, but this county is becoming strictly an urban area,” Cal State Fullerton biology professor Jack Burk said. Noise, congestion and pollution, he said, have driven many people indoors. “In the 1970s, people wanted housing with big yards. But now they don’t want any outside space. . . . They want to isolate themselves in environmentally controlled homes where it is always 72 degrees.

“They have their VCRs, computers and Nintendo games. We used to play croquet, badminton and tennis outside. Now we go to ritzy clubs and play indoors. It seems people are retreating from the environment.”

Others, like art photographer Carol Havens, have even left Orange County, trading away established careers to live in quieter and less spoiled surroundings.

A native Southern Californian, Havens had lived in Laguna Beach for two decades, but a year ago she and her husband moved to a small island north of Seattle, Wash. It became “harder and harder” to remain in Orange County, she said. The bulldozers and giant earthmovers reshaped the hills she “loved photographing.” Then came the houses, “row after row. And even if you couldn’t see them, you could feel them. You knew they were there from traffic, the congestion.”

“Every time we’d go for a drive around South County or toward the mountains, I’d end up in tears,” she said. “It’s expensive to live Orange County. But it had always been worth the price--the weather, the people, the work. But the environment got to the point where it wasn’t worth the price any more.”

Even some developers--long perceived as the villains in the county’s environmental equation--are coming around to the notion of “environmental balance.” Peter Denniston, president of Signal Landmark Corp., which waged a 15-year battle to build homes, a marina and restaurants at the Bolsa Chica wetlands, said that if developers “are not willing to find a balance, show some sensitivity to the environment, they shouldn’t be in the business.”

A year ago, Signal Landmark and Amigos de Bolsa Chica reached an agreement that allows construction of homes on 412 acres in the wetlands but eliminates plans for a 1,400-slip marina, hotels and eateries. About 1,104 acres will be left as open space or wetlands, where scores of migratory waterfowl nest and feed, including a pair of endangered bird species.

“Environmentalists used to be considered extremists, fringe types who were a threat to property and political values,” Denniston said. “No more. Being environmental is now middle America.”

EARTH DAY EVENTS

A calendar of some of today’s Earth Day highlights in O.C. B2

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION: FIVE PROFILES

Five who are having an impact in the Orange County environmental movement:

Gary C. Gorman, 44, of Huntington Beach spearheaded a campaign to restore a dying 25-acre salt marsh near the mouth of the Santa Ana River, making it habitable once again for scores of migratory birds, including several endangered species. This week, nearly five years after helping launch the effort to revive the Talbert Marsh, Gorman will be honored by the U.S. Environmental Agency in Washington for his work to save coastal wetlands, which have all but vanished in California. Gorman, a Long Beach firefighter, admits that he did not know what wetlands were before he helped bring local, county and state officials together to restore the Talbert Marsh along Pacific Coast Highway east of Brookhurst Street. Now he is regarded as an expert. “He has been a tireless worker, an example of somebody who decided to make a difference,” said Louann W. Murray, a UCLA professor.

Richard Kust, 57, of Irvine is president of the 2,500-member Sea and Sage Audubon Society. He helped negotiate an unprecedented agreement last fall with the Irvine Co. requiring a series of mitigation measures and changes to protect wildlife and reduce the density of the company’s 12,500-unit planned community in the hills east of Orange. “Some viewed the agreement as a sellout. . . . We viewed it as an opportunity to shape a project that was going to be built one way or another,” said Kust, a part-time business and computer instructor at Cal State Fullerton. A 20-year county resident, Kust was involved in Friends of Newport Bay before joining the Audubon group nine years ago. He is one reason the group is more politically active today, speaking out on a range of environmental issues. An active member of the newly formed Orange County Fund for Environmental Defense, Kust is a major proponent of creating a Santa Ana River park, a series of greenbelts and recreation areas along the river.

Tom Larson, 43, of Irvine was the catalyst behind a 26-page document that is now considered Orange County’s first environmental manifesto: A Guide for Environmental Restoration in Orange County. It was Larson who carried the idea a year ago to the county’s diverse environmental groups in hopes of unifying a fragmented movement. “He is part of the new wave of environmentalists,” said Elisabeth Brown, a veteran activist who heads the Laguna Greenbelt. “He got a bunch of us into a room, and even more amazing we agreed on something. I didn’t think he could pull it off. He is very sincere.” Larson, a horticulturist who is executive vice president of a wholesale nursery, said the scientific evidence about the environment’s deterioration became “so obvious” that it was time to act. He is not aligned with any specific group, but supports the newly organized Orange County Environmental Coalition.

Sherry L. Meddick, 36, of Silverado Canyon has been a backcountry activist for more than a decade, challenging efforts for developments in the hills and canyons of eastern and southern Orange County. In the backcountry where residents are fiercely private and opposed to organized movements, she has successfully united diverse interests under the Rural Canyon Residents Assn. She is aggressive, unwavering and highly outspoken. “At times she’s viewed as part of the environmental movement’s shock troops,” said Audubon official Richard Kust. But she is also knowledgeable about complicated land-use issues and laws, a point even her opponents concede. At hearings, it’s not uncommon for an appointed official to publicly seek her opinion. “No matter her style, she gets results because she is impeccably prepared,” said one county planner who has opposed Meddick on several projects. To work on regional issues, Meddick recently took a position as field director for the Los Angeles office of Greenpeace.

Jean H. Watt, 63, of Newport Beach has successfully moved from the ranks of environmental activist to elected official without losing touch with her activist roots. In 1988, she won a seat on the Newport Beach City Council after helping guide the group SPON (Stop Polluting Our Newport) for more than a decade. The group twice in the 1980s thwarted the Irvine Co.’s expansion plans for Newport Center, a major office and retail complex that includes Fashion Island. She also played a significant role in the eventual compromise with company officials over development of the Irvine Coast (now known as Newport Coast) south of Corona del Mar. Since her election she tried to win support for a city ordinance restricting the use of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, and is pushing to win adoption of curbside recycling in the beach town. She is also vice president of the Orange County Fund for Environmental Defense.