Chlorine Discharge Investigated at Crystal Cove State Park Creek

Environmental officials were investigating Tuesday whether an Irvine Co. contractor poured more chlorine than is allowed into a creek that flows through Crystal Cove State Park, causing no environmental damage but possibly violating a state permit.

Reports from environmental activists of a chlorine smell near Los Trancos Creek led to an investigation by wildlife and water officials. They found that an unknown amount of the chemical was deliberately discharged Monday into the creek by a worker who was sterilizing pipelines, said Kurt Berchtold, an assistant executive officer with the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. The creek drains onto the state beach.

The Irvine Co. has a water quality control board general permit that allows short-duration, low-level discharges. But the permit requires monitoring and limits chlorine discharges to less than 0.1 milliliters per liter of the affected water, Berchtold said.

The odor of a discharge that small is not detectable, he added. “If people were smelling chlorine, we’re concerned that the discharge may have been in violation of the permit.”

Officials also want to know if the contractor monitored the water quality after the discharge, as required under the developer’s permit. These readings, if taken, would indicate whether the discharge was excessive.

Irvine Co. spokesman Paul Kranhold said officials are trying to determine if monitoring took place. “It’s our standard practice to require contractors to conduct the monitoring that is established in the permit. They have a contractual obligation with us to perform that monitoring and to ensure that the chlorine levels meet the requirements established in the permit.”

Attempts to reach officials from the contractor, Griffith Co., were unsuccessful.

Berchtold said that if the discharge was higher than allowed or if no monitoring took place, the developer could be fined up to $10,000.

Chlorine can be extremely toxic to aquatic life, which is why any violation would be a cause for concern, he said.

“I would consider it to be more than a technical violation,” he said. “If they are conducting these types of activities in a very sensitive location and not doing anything our permit requires, than that’s pretty serious.”

The ocean water and reefs off Crystal Cove are designated as having special biological significance and are protected under the 1997 California Ocean Plan.

Wildlife officials found no environmental damage from the chlorine Tuesday.

“I went down and looked at the area . . . and looked at aquatic vegetation and weeds and whatnot,” said Chris Wiese, an environmental specialist with the state Department of Fish and Game. “I saw no biological impact. I observed nothing--just a beautiful day at the beach.”

But environmentalists say this is another sign that the development is a danger to the park.

“This underscores our continued concern with the impact of the Irvine Co.’s ongoing and proposed development at Crystal Cove,” said Susan Jordan, a board member with the League for Coastal Protection. “This is really what it’s all about--we’re talking about huge development in a very fragile area of Orange County’s coastline.”