Wetlands Announcement Due

A complex deal to save the Bolsa Chica wetlands, hammered out in negotiations involving nearly a dozen state and federal agencies and three private firms, was scheduled to be announced today at the entrance to one of Southern California’s largest and most fought-over coastal properties.

And as it has been so many times in the past, the agreement on Bolsa remained a cliffhanger Monday night, with several government officials and the landowner reporting that a key agreement covering cleanup of the wetlands remained to be signed.

Still, many people involved in efforts to clinch the state’s purchase of the wetlands said they hoped that the deal would be struck by early today--in time for a 10 a.m. news conference at the entrance to the state ecological preserve. If not, officials will use that press conference to outline for the first time details of how state and federal officials hope to buy and restore the land.

“I’m very optimistic. I’m planning to get on the plane,” said Assistant Secretary of the Interior George Frampton, who is to be among the high-level state and federal officials flying into Orange County to attend the gathering and explain a $90-million plan to buy and restore 880 acres of wetlands.

Monday evening, Frampton and others said some details of that plan were still being worked out.

“We’re an inch away, but we haven’t totally crossed the threshold yet,” Frampton said.

Others, too, were cautious.

“I can’t imagine anything going wrong, but this is Bolsa Chica, so we all have to be careful,” said Lucy Dunn, senior vice president of landowner Koll Real Estate Group, as she left her attorney’s office Monday night following 12 hours of negotiating and reviewing drafts of possible agreements.

The state Lands Commission is poised to vote on the $25-million purchase of Bolsa Chica on Wednesday morning, and state officials have called for assurances that taxpayers will not be burdened with cleanup costs from decades of oil-field contamination.

The state purchase would rule out the construction of 900 homes on the ecologically sensitive wetlands next to Huntington Beach, although another 2,400 homes are still planned for a nearby mesa.

Bolsa Chica, home to a number of rare birds, is believed to be the largest unprotected coastal wetlands in Southern California, which has already lost 75% of its wetlands.

State and federal agencies plan to restore the wetlands, add a tidal inlet and create a major wildlife preserve. If the sale is approved Wednesday, the land could be transferred to the state as early as Friday.

In a complex plan hammered out over the last year, the two ports would provide nearly $80 million for buying and restoring the wetlands, and in exchange the ports would be allowed to proceed with planned expansions.