HUNTINGTON BEACH : Public Suggests Ways to Use Spill Money

A new pier. A beach boardwalk. A wildlife hospital. A new saltwater marsh.

Those are some of the ideas residents suggested Thursday as ways to compensate Orange County for the oil spill that blackened 15 miles of shoreline in February.

Officials from seven state and federal agencies held afternoon and evening forums to hear the public’s ideas. The agencies plan to sue the parties responsible for the American Trader tanker spill to recover an unspecified amount of money for the closure of the beaches and the harm to natural resources.

The turnout was small--only eight residents spoke at the afternoon session, which was adjourned early. But state officials said they were pleased with the ideas, which they called creative and intriguing. Now they must determine if any are achievable and affordable.

“We’ll have to go back and evaluate them. We will take a look at them all,” said Deputy Atty. Gen. Sylvia Cano Hale, who is preparing a lawsuit representing the state.

Victor Leipzig, executive director of the Bolsa Chica Conservancy, a local wetlands-protection group, recommended a permanent wildlife recovery center in Orange County to care for injured birds and animals. About 700 birds died when the tanker ran aground over its own anchor and spilled nearly 400,000 gallons of Alaskan crude off Huntington Beach.

He also suggested construction of a gate or other device to protect Orange County’s wetlands from spills and search for new technology to replace the plastic, snakelike booms that are currently used to contain oil slicks.

Gary Gorman, executive director of the group that manages the wetlands, suggested that the state use settlement money or fines to invest in new marshes. About 90% of the county’s coastal wetlands have been filled to make way for development, so the purchase and restoration of those resources “should be the No. 1 priority,” he said.

Gorman said the state should consider buying and restoring an undeveloped, 66-acre parcel along Pacific Coast Highway near Brookhurst Avenue owned by a private partnership.

“Restoring even just a portion of it would be better than none,” he said.

Tom Pratte, former director of the Surfrider Foundation, a surfing-environmental group based in Huntington Beach, suggested a new boardwalk or bike path along the Newport Beach coast, or a seawall to shore up the unstable Huntington Beach bluffs area.

State officials have not yet determined what companies will be sued. British Petroleum owned the oil, American Trading Transportation owns the tanker, and Golden West Refining operates the offshore terminal where it ran aground.

Some residents said nothing will ease their haunting memories of the spill.

“I don’t believe anything can compensate for the loss of the birds,” said Linda Patterson, a Huntington Beach resident. “I’ll never forget seeing that.”