Developer Admits Fouling Habitat in Illegal Excavation of Riverbed

The largest developer in the Santa Clarita Valley has agreed to pay $94,600 and plead no contest to charges of illegally altering the Santa Clara riverbed and jeopardizing the habitat of two endangered species.

Valencia Co., a division of The Newhall Land & Farming Co., also agreed to replant 21 acres of nearly barren riverfront property at an estimated cost of $300,000 and to refrain in the future from farming, grazing cattle or developing a two-mile stretch of the riverbed running east from the Golden State Freeway to Bouquet Canyon Road.

Biologists from the state Department of Fish and Game said the case is a milestone in the effort to protect fragile riparian corridors.

“This shows we are serious about going after companies that illegally alter stream beds,” state biologist Mike Giusti said.

Illegal excavation of the Santa Clara River at two construction sites began last year and threatened the survival of the unarmored threespine stickleback, an endangered fish, and the least Bell’s vireo, an endangered bird that nests near and forages for food in the river, Giusti said.

“Valencia Co. demonstrated a blatant disregard for the environment by bulldozing and dumping acres of fill” into the river and into Bouquet Canyon Creek, one of its tributaries, Giusti said.

The Santa Clara River is the last mostly natural--not concrete-lined--river basin in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. It meanders 84 miles from Acton to the Pacific Ocean through unincorporated portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including a 12-mile section through the city of Santa Clarita.

The criminal complaint filed by the county district attorney’s office against Valencia Co. alleges that the firm altered the riverbed without obtaining the necessary state and federal permits at one construction site and violated the conditions of a permit at another site.

“We did do that, and we should not have,” said Marlee Lauffer, a spokeswoman for the company. “We’re glad this is behind us and we plan to stay in conformity with the procedures from now on.”

The violations were discovered by a Fish and Game warden last October during the widening of the McBean Parkway bridge and at the future site of Builders Discount at Newhall Ranch and Bouquet Canyon roads, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Erica Martin.

Martin said the company diverted the riverbed and used several acres of the former channel as part of the building pad for the Builders Discount project.

Valencia Co. will also pay up to $10,000 in administrative costs incurred by the Department of Fish and Game, Martin said. Part of the penalty--$90,000--will be used to fund studies for environmental preservation.

The crimes carry a maximum penalty of a fine of $4,600 and unlimited restitution.