Charges Filed in Wetlands Pollution

A former Huntington Beach councilman who campaigned against development of fragile Bolsa Chica was in court Tuesday facing felony charges that he polluted nearly 14 acres of wetlands there.

John A. Thomas, who served on the council from 1978 to 1986, faces 33 felony counts of dumping into national waters, one felony count of dumping oil and a misdemeanor count of altering a stream bed.

“The damage is extensive,” said Capt. Steve Edinger of the state Department of Fish and Game. “In fact, we brought in the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s] national wetlands expert who said this was the worst wetlands violation they had ever seen.”

Thomas’ arraignment at the Orange County West Justice Center in Westminster was delayed until Aug. 1. He did not return calls for comment. He faces up to five years in prison and fines of $50,000 per day if convicted.

His attorney, Julian W. Bailey, did not dispute many of the assertions, but said his client had done nothing illegal, and was willing to spend millions on cleanup costs.

“I agree with a lot of the facts. I disagree that any crime has been committed,” Bailey said.

Thomas, 60, of Huntington Beach owns about 50 oil well leases on the northeast corner of the Bolsa Chica wetlands. The land is owned by Hearthside Homes, would-be developer of the Bolsa Chica mesa. Decades-old access roads carve up the property, creating irregularly shaped wetland patches.

Thomas, in an unsuccessful bid for county supervisor in 1994, campaigned against residential development on the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Hearthside Homes’ plans to build there were stopped in court.

He is accused of dumping 38,000 cubic yards of wood chips and dirt onto 13.5 acres there between 1996 and 1998, and releasing an unknown amount of oil that pooled on one-tenth acre of land in 1998, said Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Zidbeck.

“It basically destroyed ecosystems,” Zidbeck said. “The plants died, the water dried up.”