When the Dust Settles : Residents Upset Over Dirt From Santa Ana River Flood-Control Project

Residents near the Santa Ana River say they are enduring an invasion of construction trucks that have whipped up too much dust and dirt and have transformed their once-quiet neighborhood into a noisy vicinity.

Trucks with uncovered loads rumble west on Garfield Avenue, which is a designated truck route, carrying dirt and sand from a Santa Ana River flood-control project to dumping sites in Huntington Beach and elsewhere.

“It’s such a pain, you can’t keep your car clean,” said Nancy Cooper, who lives in the neighborhood. “The dust is settling on everything. I have a sun room and the glass is impossible to keep clean.

“At first you say: ‘OK, it’s for the good.’ But week after week, it gets tiresome and you can’t take it anymore.”

Rose Stevens, who also lives in the area, says the dust and dirt are so bad that she had to buy a $3,000 cover for her swimming pool.

“The dirt has been terrible,” Stevens said. “My eyes have even got infected.”

Another resident, Omera Davis, says the dust has not only killed her back-yard garden but has also made her husband’s emphysema worse.

Elaine Gray said the dirt has clogged her spa and her plants have died. She has to keep her windows closed, she said.

About 1.3 million cubic yards of sand and dirt are being removed from the river so the channel can be widened and deepened to provide flood protection.

The work is part of a $1.4-billion flood-control project by federal and local governments. The project is planned for completion by the year 2000 and includes work on the river in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Construction is underway between Pacific Coast Highway and the area just north of the San Diego Freeway. The project covers:

* The stretch from Pacific Coast Highway to Adams Avenue, which is expected to be completed in March.

* The portion from Adams Avenue to the San Diego Freeway, which is scheduled for completion in November, 1993.

* The area stretching from the freeway in Fountain Valley north to 17th Street in Santa Ana, on which construction is expected to begin in July, 1993.

Residents’ frustrations began after work started north of Adams Avenue in May.

While everyone agrees the flood-control project is needed, residents say it is unfair that they have to deal with the side effects of the construction.

“We don’t feel we should take the brunt of this,” said Stevens, who has lived in the neighborhood for 22 years. “Why make one neighborhood suffer?”

Kyrk Reid, project manager for E.L. Yeager Construction Co. Inc. in Riverside, the contractor for the area between Adams Avenue and the San Diego Freeway, said the company has taken steps to reduce dust and other problems caused by the trucks.

“We’re aware of the problem and we have tried to be responsible,” Reid said. “It’s unfortunate that the design of the project requires so much export (of dirt) and unfortunately there’s not any better way to move it off the job.”

Trucks are weighed before leaving the site and loads are watered to reduce dust, he said. Garfield Avenue is also being swept.

He also said there has been a crackdown on truckers who speed or violate other traffic laws.

During the summer months, Reid said, about 60 trucks were hauling the dirt. Recently, truck traffic has been reduced to about 25 trucks a day.

Reid said excavation work, in which 700,000 cubic yards of dirt will be taken out of the river channel, is expected to stop in a couple of weeks. However, there could be some minimal hauling during the winter months.

But in April, work will start again on the removal of the remaining 600,000 cubic yards.

“From now until this April, we hope to come up with different routes and disposal sites to minimize the impact to the community,” Reid said.

Residents agree that using different truck routes is a good solution.

“They should use other streets as an alternate and give us a break,” said Cooper, who has lived in the neighborhood for nine years.

Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach officials said they have received scores of complaints--ranging from noise and dust to problems with rude truck drivers.

In recent months, there have also been five waterline breaks on the north side of Garfield Avenue, which is the same side of the street that trucks drive with full loads. And Fountain Valley officials blame the trucks.

On Sept. 23, Huntington Beach officials closed several sites where truckers dumped dirt, and ordered environmental reports, said Steve May, the city’s principal engineer.

This week, May said truck drivers resumed taking dirt to sites in the city. But they must wet down the loads when they leave the riverbed, and when they leave dumping locations, they must clean the trucks.