Needed: Respect for the Orange County Coast

Re “A Rocky Life on the Edge,” May 15:

I was pleased to see front-page coverage about a serious problem affecting coastal areas. It was a well-written, well-researched article about the human impact on the rocky intertidal zone and the organisms that struggle to survive.

The Orange County Marine Life Refuge Coalition, composed of state, county, city and private groups, has worked diligently for nearly two years to educate the public about life in the tide pools. We have developed a brochure and companion video, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” that are distributed to all teachers booking tide pool field trips to either the Ocean Institute, Crystal Cove State Park, the city of Newport Beach or Doheny State Beach.

Additionally, we have facilitated two law enforcement training sessions to educate local police officers about the intertidal zone. We are in the process of creating new, attractive signs to be placed at the seven Marine Life Refuges in Orange County and finally are seeking to hire a coordinator to develop a countywide Community Watch Program to educate beachgoers about the problems associated with collecting and pollution and to teach tide pool etiquette.

Winter Bonnin

State Park Interpreter

Crystal Cove State Park

People are angry at developers and city council members who support them for many reasons, but one glaring example is in Huntington Beach. The same city council members in north Orange County cities that approve new developments without consideration for regional impact also sit as board members on the Orange County Sanitation District and approve the dumping of 245 million gallons of partially treated sewage daily into our local ocean.

More development brings more sewage. People are wiser now and angry at the developers and their political proxies. Local public officials and developers are generally irresponsible. Developers are an aberration of the free market. They do not depend on repeat customers. They come. They build. They leave. Their projects fill our freeways with traffic, our skies with pollution, our creeks and oceans with urban runoff and our ocean with sewage. Taxpayers get stuck with the bill to clean it up.

Furthermore, developments require bonds to bring in new water, new freeways etc. It is true that people need homes, but they also need to live healthy lives with clean water, clean air and clean power for themselves and their children. Home builders do not need to ensure that any of these things are going to be available. Southern Californians have watched their quality of life deteriorate, and they are angry.

Paul Arms

Huntington Beach

Re “Water Woes Don’t Stop at City Line,” Commentary, May 13:

Thank you for the excellent exposition on water runoff in Orange County. It is extremely helpful to have a key individual [Dave Kiff of Newport Beach] working on the front line to discuss the runoff issue in such an informative and intelligent manner. It’s good to know such thoughtful city employees are working to protect our environment.

William R. Mitchell

Coto de Caza