Aliso Viejo Weed Abatement Raises Concerns : Environment: Critics contend that eradication is ruining some habitats and that proper permits may not have been obtained.

The county is investigating allegations that the Mission Viejo Co. may have cleared brush and other plants from hundreds of acres without proper permits.

The company’s work also caused soil to spill onto four sites at Aliso/Wood Canyons Regional Park in Aliso Viejo, but an inspection showed no illegal grading of that site occurred, said John Sibley, chief deputy director of the county Environmental Management Agency.

The agency is working with the Mission Viejo Co. to correct any damage to plants affected by the soil spillage, Sibley said.

In September and October, an EMA inspector filed reports citing excessive clearing in 500 to 600 acres in Aliso Viejo for which the company does not have grading permits.

If the agency determines that that occurred, the company will be fined and made to restore the area, Sibley said. A decision on the matter is expected Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mission Viejo Co. spokeswoman Wendy Wetzel said that the company’s work did result in soil spilling onto about 2 acres of parkland, prompting the company to hire a biologist to find a way to restore the habitat.

But she said there has been no improper grading on company property.

In August, the company notified the Orange County Fire Department that it planned to conduct weed abatement at 140 sites in Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo for fire prevention, Wetzel said. No permits are required for weed abatement, which usually includes the churning of weeds and grasses with a machine similar to a giant rototiller.

But some environmentalists say that the company’s work on up to 1,000 acres that may be designated as open space in the future was closer to grading than weed abatement. “They weed-abated down to dirt,” said Elisabeth Brown, president of Laguna Greenbelt Inc. “That’s not weed abatement.”

Grading permits have been issued for many areas in Aliso Viejo, which is expected to swell from 4,200 homes to 20,000 homes by the year 2010, and land movers regularly swarm over the hills.

But Sherry Meddick, a spokeswoman for Friends of the Canyons, said the company has done the equivalent of grading on other property still in the environmental review process.

The county does not issue grading permits until it has approved an environmental impact report. Part of the area in question lies along the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, for which environmental approval is pending.

Meddick believes that the Mission Viejo Co. is using excessive weed abatement to clear properties rich with endangered plants and wildlife in an attempt to circumvent the environmental review process.

“These guys are using a loophole in the public code . . . to absolutely decimate most of what is remaining in terms of endangered . . . species,” Meddick said.