Long Beach port nixes support of breakwater study

Long Beach port nixes support of breakwater study A split Long Beach Harbor Commission Monday shot down a city request to help fund a feasibility study looking into the removal of a portion of the Long Beach breakwater, siding with wealthy beachfront landowners and oil interests over local environmental groups.
   The nearly nine-mile-long stone breakwater, one of the longest in the world, was built in three sections from 1899 to 1949. The oldest section protects the Port of Los Angeles and the middle section protects the neighboring Port of Long Beach. The third and eastern-most section fronts a small portion of the port, then extends away to shelter the city's main beaches and the port's main anchorages. The Army Corps of Engineers built the breakwater, which remains owned and maintained by the federal government. The third section was specifically built to protect warships when Long Beach was more or less a Navy port during and after World War II.
   Last month, the Long Beach City Council, responding to decades of local pressure, approved a study into the removal of the third breakwater section. Waterfront property owners along the beaches have said any removal of this section would lead to damage to their investments. Environmental groups have charged that the third breakwater section is responsible for the poor circulation and water quality along the Long Beach waterfront.
   The water in the two-mile stretch between the breakwater and the shore consistently ranks as some of the unhealthiest along the Southern California coastline. Local groups have pointed to the breakwater for the demise of the once well-known surf on the city's beaches.
   The City Council study, estimated to cost $100,000, would examine the potential economic and environmental impacts of the breakwater removal. The council also asked the port at the time to possibly provide $50,000 of the study's total cost.
   Monday, the five-member port board heard comments on the issue from area businesses and residents before deciding in a rare 3-2 split vote that the port would not help pay for the study.
   Commissioners James Hankla, Doris Topsy-Elvord and Mike Walter voted against the expenditure. Commission President Mario Cordero and Nick Sramek voted in favor of supporting the study.
   Hankla said port tenants, workers at the port, and beachfront property owners rely on the breakwater for protection.
   A recent addition to the board, Sramek said he supports the study and believes gathering data on the issue is something that needs to be done.
   Proponents of the study, including the Long Beach Surfrider Foundation, expressed disappointment over the port's decision.
   “We’re confused because we thought the port was interested in maintaining and promoting a green environmental policy by bringing back clean water to Long Beach and restoring our beaches,” Gordana Kajer, a Long Beach Surfrider member told the Long Beach Press Telegram. “This study supports those goals.”