New Jail Gets Favorable Environmental Report : Santa Paula: The study uncovers nothing likely to halt plans for $53-million facility. Critics call the findings superficial.

Anew study of a County Jail scheduled to be built next year on farmland near Santa Paula reveals no major environmental hazards likely to block construction of the $53-million facility.

The study, released Wednesday by county officials, found that the new jail would pollute the air, cover 43 acres of prime farmland and help fill area garbage dumps.

But the report--addressing a chief concern of critics--said the jail would not necessarily prompt more construction on the sprawling agricultural lands that border it.

Nor would it be significantly threatened by earthquakes or floods, although it lies near a river and a major seismic fault, the report said.

“The jail is environmentally acceptable. There is no fatal flaw,” said Robert Braitman, the county’s project coordinator. “The basic findings are the same.”

County supervisors approved construction of the 752-bed first phase of the new jail last year after reviewing a preliminary environmental study that found few problems with the 157-acre site at Todd Road and California 126.

A second jail is needed, officials said, because existing facilities can handle fewer than one-third of the 3,500 inmates projected for Ventura County in the year 2010. Currently, the central jail at the County Government Center usually accommodates about 1,000 inmates, 2 1/2 times its designed capacity.

Critics immediately blasted the new report as superficial and self-serving.

“You can prove anything with figures when you control the people who are doing the study,” said Margaret Ely, a councilwoman in Santa Paula, which has sued the county unsuccessfully to try to stop the new jail.

Ely cited findings in the study that tend to support Santa Paula’s position. She said residents there have opposed the jail 4 to 1 because they fear that it is a step toward eliminating the agricultural greenbelt between Ventura and Santa Paula.

According to the study, which was prepared by a private consultant, “the extension of municipal water service beyond the city of Santa Paula and the conversion of agriculture to another use are considered to be potentially growth-inducing. . . . “

But the report added that growth need not accompany jail construction if sewer and water lines are sized only to serve that facility.

Ely said a new 20-inch water line, larger than needed by the jail, is already being installed near the Todd Road property. And she said she cannot believe that the study found the threat of earthquakes and flooding to be insignificant.

“In my lifetime, I’ve seen that area under water half a dozen times,” said the 45-year-old councilwoman. “And the jail is right on the Oak Ridge Fault.”

Art Goulet, director of the Public Works Department, said the county needs a 20-inch water line for fire safety and has no plans to change the agricultural zoning on adjacent properties.

In fact, the Sheriff’s Department has said it plans to use inmates to harvest the remaining 95 acres of orchards on the jail site.

An assistant to Goulet said the new jail will be built with floors a foot higher than originally planned to prevent flood damage. And Goulet said federal officials recently declared that even a 100-year flood would not damage the new jail, which would be several hundred feet from the Santa Clara River.

Goulet said contamination from old gasoline and diesel tanks and oil wells had been considered a significant problem. But the toxic soil is being cleared away for less than $300,000, well below the $500,000 original estimate, he said. There is no evidence of ground-water contamination, he said.

While traffic is not considered a major concern, Braitman said he will probably recommend a new $2-million freeway interchange at Todd Road to prevent tie-ups.

Overall, the new environmental study found that in three of 15 categories the jail would have significant adverse effects that could not be overcome.

It will have virtually no impact on water supplies because water now used for orchards will be switched to jail use, the report said.

Though visible from nearby California 126, the jail will not be an eyesore because of extensive landscaping, the consultants found.

Nor will the new jail have a significant impact on Indian burial grounds, the report said, although a Chumash leader has said he fears that the remains of his ancestors could be disturbed.

John K. Flynn, the only supervisor who opposed a Todd Road jail last year, said that the new study has not changed his position. Flynn preferred a $29.4-million construction package to add onto the existing jail and work camps.

“I don’t know where we’re going to get the money to operate it,” Flynn said.

The Sheriff’s Department estimates that it will cost $10 million to $12 million a year to operate the first phase of the jail, which could open by 1994. That compares with a current department budget of $68 million.

County Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg said the county has not been served with a court order to release inmates from the crowded county jail because officials are trying to build a new jail.

Jail construction is expected to begin next spring. The facility eventually would house about 2,300 inmates.