EPA Joins Probe of Runoff From Pipes Near Beach

A federal agency has joined the state in investigating whether the Irvine Co. is illegally discharging runoff onto the beach next to a biologically sensitive marine area at Crystal Cove State Park.

An engineer with the Environmental Protection Agency will inspect a controversial underground pipe network today, and state water regulators will meet with Irvine Co. officials Thursday to learn more about its runoff practices at a construction site on the bluffs above the park.

The developer is building hundreds of luxury homes on one of the most scenic stretches of Orange County coastline. Regulators are trying to determine if drainage from the construction site is running through pipes to the state beach.

The probe was triggered after activists crawled into a culvert on the beach last month and found a labyrinth of pipes snaking uphill, some with apparent runoff dripping through them.

The concrete culvert now being scrutinized opens onto the state beach near a collection of historic wood-frame cottages. On Sunday, a pool of stagnant water stretched across the sand from the culvert’s mouth, but did not reach the ocean.

Irvine Co. spokesman Rich Elbaum said Monday that the pipe system is a storm drain for a section of its Crystal Cove development now under construction. He said the company has all the needed approvals for work at the construction area.

But Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, said that direct discharge into the ocean is not allowed under the state Ocean Plan because the state has designated the cove as an area of special biological concern.

“If indeed they are discharging into the ocean, they’d need to stop,” Berchtold said.

Catherine Kuhlman, associate director with the EPA regional water division, said the network of pipes is news to the federal agency.

“If there are pipes that are discharging, and we don’t know where those pipes are coming from, that’s a concern to us,” Kuhlman said.

While the homes above Crystal Cove are still largely unoccupied, sprinklers and other irrigation systems are being used to grow lawns and plantings.

Runoff from residential areas can include sediment, pesticides, fertilizers and motor oil. Regulators nationwide are growing increasingly concerned that such runoff--especially during storms--is a significant cause of ocean pollution.

Crystal Cove is one of 34 “areas of biological significance” along the California coast. Under the state Ocean Plan, waste cannot be discharged into such areas, and discharges must be located “a sufficient distance away” to ensure that water conditions remain natural.

Elbaum of the Irvine Co. said that many of the 34 special areas along the coast have storm drains leading from residential, recreational and other areas.

“This issue is not specific to our project,” Elbaum said. He added, “What we are doing is consistent with the plan that was approved by the regional board.”

Regional water regulators launched their investigation after environmental activists with the Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove contacted them and presented photographs of the underground pipe system.

The regional board staff has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to delay issuing a permit to the Irvine Co. for another home construction project above Crystal Cove until it resolves questions about the pipes.