Wetlands Preservation Deal Advances

A 181-acre piece of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in Long Beach would be transformed from an oil field eyesore to a plant and wildlife sanctuary under a deal being worked out by state, federal and local agencies.

The deal, years in the making, took a major step forward Thursday when the California Coastal Conservancy voted in San Jose to enter into an option agreement to purchase the 181-acre parcel from the Bixby Ranch Co.

Located on the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway between Westminster Avenue and the Los Cerritos Channel, the land has figured in a long-running dispute between potential developers and environmentalists.

Along with Malibu Lagoon and the Ballona Wetlands adjacent to Marina del Rey, the Long Beach acreage is one of Los Angeles County’s three largest remaining coastal wetlands.

“This is a dream come true,” Melanie Denninger, the conservancy’s south coast regional coordinator, said after the vote. “For the last 15 years, this has been one of the prizes that the conservancy and other environmental interests have been attempting to bring into public ownership.”

Although significant obstacles remain before the land comes under public ownership, the vote represents an agreement between the conservancy, the State Lands Commission, Bixby and the Port of Long Beach, which would ultimately put up the money to buy the land in exchange for approval on future port expansion.

The parties have agreed to a purchase price, but the amount was kept confidential.

Long coveted by environmentalists because of its strategic location, the Bixby property is viewed as a wedge to gain public ownership of more parcels in a mostly privately owned 760-acre stretch of east Long Beach property now dotted with toxic landfills and working oil wells, as well as the wetlands that are part of the San Gabriel River estuary system.

Thursday’s proposal was met with guarded enthusiasm by environmentalists in Orange County, where part of the privately held property extends. Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman with the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, said there are many challenges still ahead, however.

“The fight, as we’ve learned before, isn’t over,” she said. “But if [the Coastal Conservancy] can save it, it would be wonderful news for us too.”

Over the years, various wetlands property owners have put forward plans for commercial and residential uses, ranging from Marina del Rey-style high-rise condos to strip malls and a destination resort featuring a championship golf course.

But each plan has met stiff resistance from environmentalists, who see the Los Cerritos Wetlands as a vital remaining link of what once was a continuous system of coastal wetlands used as feeding and nesting grounds by migrating birds.

“This step today is important because we think it kills all the other plans for commercial and residential use,” said Don May, a spokesman for the Los Cerritos Wetlands Task Force.

Environmental laws require ports to mitigate the effects of their landfills by restoring natural habitat somewhere else.

Ever eager to expand, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles agreed in 1997 to spend nearly $80 million purchasing 880 acres for the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Orange County. The Port of Long Beach also spent $7 million restoring the Anaheim Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The Los Cerritos Wetlands would be purchased in a similar fashion, with the potential in years to come to create a wildlife sanctuary comparable to Anaheim Bay and Bolsa Chica, according to its supporters.

But each step promises to be costly and potentially litigious.

A plan for an 18-hole golf course by the owner of one of the parcels near the Bixby property has already been approved by the California Coastal Commission, generating a lawsuit now on appeal.

One problem for anyone wanting to develop the land is that it has been used for oil drilling since the 1920s, creating massive ground contamination problems.

The recent overhaul of a shopping center across Pacific Coast Highway from the Bixby property uncovered far worse land contamination than expected.

Costs of cleaning up the land, to say nothing of the time and expense required to clear various city, state and federal regulatory hurdles, could make commercial development of the land prohibitively expensive, said May, who has been interested in preserving the wetlands since the 1960s.

No one from Bixby was available for comment Thursday.

Under the plan, oil drilling equipment would be removed, wells would be capped, and the land would be cleaned up.