State Finds No Fault With Excavation

After a brief investigation, state historical preservation officials have found no legal violations in excavation work at the historic San Buenaventura Mission conducted as part of a $5.5-million expansion of the aging Holy Cross School.

The decision follows accusations by archeologist Gary Stickel and his dig crew chief Robert Dunn that church officials ordered significant archeological sites to be paved over in an effort to build the school as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Gary Reinoehl, an associate archeologist with the state Office of Historical Preservation, said that after interviewing city officials, he found no evidence that the excavation work violated state environmental law.

But Stickel and Dunn are furious that the state office never interviewed them to see what evidence they had.

“How do you do an investigation if you don’t see the evidence?” Stickel said Friday. “They’re turning a deaf ear to this site, and I can’t believe they would ignore a site that’s on the National Register of Historic Places.”

Church officials have denied any wrongdoing. Reinoehl said it is the city, not the state, that has the responsibility to monitor the site, and the city has determined that no violations occurred.

Barring a visit by state officials to the site, Reinoehl said the city is the only impartial observer in the dispute that could give the state an unbiased account.

Interviewing Dunn, Stickel or church officials would yield only their sides of the story, he said.

However, Dunn denounced the office’s actions. “This is not an investigation,” he said. “This is a whitewash.”

Stickel and his team of nine archeologists were hired to excavate the spots where columns will be set 50 feet deep into the artifact-rich soil.

The scientists say the site is significant in that it could shed light on how Chumash Indians were treated by missionaries in the early 1800s.

Frustrated by what he called pressure from Msgr. Patrick J. O’Brien to do shabby work, Stickel walked off the job in September but eventually returned to finish the work after discussions with the church.

Earlier this month, the church fired Stickel after deciding to hire a different archeological firm for the construction phase of the project.