PLATFORM : A Narrow Escape

As long as there’s poison in the water, it’s very serious, especially for the animals that live and feed (in the wetlands). We were somewhat lucky because it went out to sea and then came back in. But Malibu got the brunt of it and, of course, the wildlife there is just as important as it is here. I understand this is the time of year when the halibut are spawning. We just missed the least-tern nesting season--that’s coming up in April.

We’ve worked 15 years trying to save this wetland. If we had a fully functioning wetland, and if we’d had full tidal flow into the wetland, and if the weather had been different, we could have had a full-blown disaster.

We are going to be spending millions of dollars to restore this wetland to what it should be, regardless of any disaster. Consequently, if you want to make people feel the impact in a way that people understand better than telling them about animals dying, tell them it’s at least $10 million going down the drain (in event of a disaster).