Waste Water Plan Needs Careful Study

* On my front doorstep this morning, I received a flyer encouraging its readers to mail letters to water authorities, city councils and local newspapers to voice opposition to the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) plan to release tertiary-treated waste water into the wetlands habitat above Upper Newport Bay.

Several of the points are intended to inflame rather than accurately inform.

The specific details of the IRWD plan should be scrutinized by experts in tertiary treatment and public health, and citizens should not be alarmed just at the idea of waste-water release into the Back Bay.

Our decision of whether to support the IRWD plan should be based on a levelheaded evaluation of whether the ecological benefits of the plan outweigh the cost of setting up and maintaining a tertiary-treatment plant and any risk it presents to public health. Clearly, this plan needs to be carefully scrutinized for such risks, including not only the method of tertiary treatment to be used, but also the safeguards against the release of untreated water through mishaps that can occur at the facility.

The IRWD plan could be a tremendous boon to the image of our community as well as to the ecology of our Back Bay. Over the past two decades, large-scale tertiary-treatment projects in other regions have drawn nationwide attention and have served as models of humans establishing a measure of harmony with the environment.

JEFFREY T. IHARA

Newport Beach

* Te City Council of Newport Beach is evaluating the Irvine Ranch Water District proposal to discharge 5 million gallons of reclaimed water into San Diego Creek on a daily basis during a five-month period in late fall and winter. We will oppose the project unless we are convinced there will be no adverse impact on the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve and no adverse impact on public health.

The IRWD proposal presents water quality and human health issues that are technical and complex. According to the environmental impact report prepared by IRWD and some members of the scientific community, the project will improve bay water quality and provide habitat for waterfowl without any impact on human health. We are not yet convinced this is the case. But we will not support or oppose the project without having all of the information necessary to ascertain the potential adverse effects on or benefits to the environment and our constituents.

The IRWD proposal does not require any license or permits from the city of Newport Beach. Consequently, the City Council does not have the authority to deny the project.

The City Council will do everything within our power to oppose this project if our consultants and our review conclude there is potential adverse impact on the environment or public health.

JOHN HEDGES

Mayor

Newport Beach