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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-10-22 - AGENDA REPORTS - NOTICE TO CLEAN WATER ACT (2)AGENDA REPORT City Manager Item to be P NEW BUSINESS DATE: October 22, 1991 SUBJECT: ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS' NOTICE OF VIOLATION OF CLEAN WATER ACT TO NEWHALL LAND AND FARMING CORPORATION DEPARTMENT: Community Development BACKGROUND. On September 11, 1991, the City received a copy of a letter (attached) dated September 6, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the Valencia Company, notifying them of several violations of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the Corps. The violations include: the channelization of Bouquet Creek in the vicinity of the Builder's Discount site northwest of Bouquet Canyon road and Bouquet Creek; widening of the McBean Parkway Bridge (and associated dumping of construction debris and vegetation clearing in the Santa Clara River), and dumping of debris along •the northeast bank of the River north of Valencia Boulevard and the Old Road, all without proper authorization by the.Corps-of Engineers. The Valencia Company was previously cited by the California Department of Fish and Game for related violations at the confluence of Bouquet Creek and the Santa Clara River. The Corps has not specified what the Valencia Company will be required to do to -repair the damage caused by these activities. According to the letter, penalties may include monetary -fines and specific restoration work on the river. The Corps has also requested suggestions from the City and other agencies. We have reviewed the construction of the current U-shaped concrete channel as it relates to the Council's direction to provide natural, soft -bottom channels wherever possible. Since this area is outside of the City, much of this information was received verbally, i.e., without the benefit of design plans, but it is consistent with the County's current design standards. A diagram indicating the variouschannel sections is attached for your reference. • The Valencia Company does have- a permit to construct a fully -lined concrete trapezoidal channel in Bouquet Creek. • The County has recently increased its design flood flows by, approximately 100% throughout much of the Santa Clarita Valley, including Bouquet Canyon. • A soft -bottom concrete -lined. trapezoidal channel, similar to the one which exists upstream from Bouquet Canyon Road, would not be adequate to . carry the County's expected flow, nor would it be approved by them. Agenda ARMY CORPS OF .ENGINEERS' NOTICE Page 2 • A soft -bottom concrete -lined trapezoidal channel would be approximately 400 feet wide or nearly double the width of the channel currently under construction in order to carry the County's design flood flows. • The bridges at Bouquet Canyon Road and Newhall Ranch Road as they currently exist are not wide enough to, carry the latest anticipated design flow. • The decision to construct the U-shaped concrete channel was based on the requirement to carry the County's increased design flows within the right-of-way that exists for the channel improvements. • The costs to remove the existing U-shaped channel and replace it with a soft -bottom concrete -sided trapezoidal channel are as follows: • Removal of Existing (Cost) $ 250,000 • Difference in Cost (Savings) -1,740,000 Savings $-1,540,000 • Replacement of Newhall Ranch Road Bridge $15,000,000 • Utility Relocation 1.000,000 Expense $16,000,000 • Value of Additional Right -of -Way $ 9,750.000 Expense $ 9,750,000 Net Additional Cost $24,210,000 • The savings of $1,540,000 of a soft -bottom channel is offset by the cost of right-of-way and the bridge construction at Newhall Ranch Road. The attached letter, prepared for transmittal to the Corps, requests that the Corps require the Valencia Company to redesign the project to remove concrete lining and conform to US Army Corps - and California Fish and Game requirements. If such redesign is completely infeasible, these mitigation measures are proposed: 1. A conservation easement for the Santa Clara River west of Bouquet Canyon Road to the I-5 Freeway, and south of Bouquet Canyon Road on Bouquet Canyon Creek. 2. Donation of high quality habitat area to a public agency to mitigate the loss of habitat caused by the channelization project, including but not limited to: . a. The area just east of I-5 on the Santa Clara River adjacent to Magic Mountain Parkway near the old railroad trestle. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS' NOTICE Page 3 b. The land at the confluence of the Santa Clara River and the south fork of the Santa Clara River. c. A.portion of the Newhall Land and Farmingpanhandle area, just east of Bouquet Canyon Road. 3. Easements for a multi -use trail to restore the connection of the Bouquet Canyon trail to the Santa Clara River east -west trail, and construction of the necessary ramps to pass under Newhall Ranch Road and Bouquet Canyon Road. 4. A cash contribution to a public agency for the purpose of establishing an environmental education program for local elementary school children related to the habitat contained in the Santa Clara River. 5. Construction of a percolation basin on Newhall Land and Farming property outside of the highwater area for the Santa Clara River. RECOMMENDATION Receive report and direct staff to transmit attached letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Letter Letter from City to Army Corps LMH:CMR:616 City of October 22, 1991 Santa Clarita Colonel Charles S. Thomas District Engineer U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 300 North Los Angeles Street P.O. Box 2711 Los Angeles,.CA 90053-2325 Regulatory Branch Attention: Ms. Elizabeth Varnhagen Re: Notice of Violation of Clean Water Dear Colonel Thomas: Carl Boyer, 3rd Mayor The City of Santa Clarita appx Corps' Notice of Violation of Jill Klalic and Farming Company (NL&F) . Mayor Pro -Tem (including Bouquet Creek) are Jo Anne Darcy natural resources, and we comm Councilmember on existing- Federal policy for Jan Heidt States." Violations of this Councilmember process administered by public Land and Farming Co eciatethe opportunity to respond to the the can Water Act to the Newhall Land yeandsanta Clara River and its tributaries de red bythe Citytobe important he Corpsforitsdiligence in acting and other"Watersof the United are a serious affront to the permit regulatory agencies. Howard "Buck" McKecRumerous 23920 Valencia Blvd. Phone General Plan (adopted June 1991), as Suite 300 (805) 259.2489 Clar River City of Santa Clarita Fax .March 1991) California 91355 (805) 259-8125 City of October 22, 1991 Santa Clarita Colonel Charles S. Thomas District Engineer U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 300 North Los Angeles Street P.O. Box 2711 Los Angeles,.CA 90053-2325 Regulatory Branch Attention: Ms. Elizabeth Varnhagen Re: Notice of Violation of Clean Water Dear Colonel Thomas: Carl Boyer, 3rd Mayor The City of Santa Clarita appx Corps' Notice of Violation of Jill Klalic and Farming Company (NL&F) . Mayor Pro -Tem (including Bouquet Creek) are Jo Anne Darcy natural resources, and we comm Councilmember on existing- Federal policy for Jan Heidt States." Violations of this Councilmember process administered by public Land and Farming Co eciatethe opportunity to respond to the the can Water Act to the Newhall Land yeandsanta Clara River and its tributaries de red bythe Citytobe important he Corpsforitsdiligence in acting and other"Watersof the United are a serious affront to the permit regulatory agencies. Howard "Buck" McKecRumerous policies in theity's General Plan (adopted June 1991), as Councilmember well as. in our 'Santa Clar River Water Features and Recreation Study" (adopted .March 1991) expr as the City's interest in protection of the resource value of the Riv r. The River anda porti n of the Creek are contained within the Santa Clara River Significa Ecological Area (SEA 23) identified by. Los Angeles County. The nta Clara River and Bouquet Creek either directly provide or are cont'guous with habitat of two Federally Endangered Species, the The Bell's vireo and the Unarmored; Threespine Stickleback. They arry floodwaters and allow :groundwater recharge. They have present a d future recreational value: Bouquet Creek, as well as the. Santa Clara iver, is identified in both City and County plans as a critical link our regional trail system. Channelization of any portion of the Ri er, and tributaries seriously encumbers. their ability to serve these di arse needs. Both the City'seneral Plan and the Recreation and Water Features Study for the Santa C ars River call for the Bouquet Canyon Creek to have a soft bottom cha el. The action of NL&F to construct a concrete -lined box culvert ch el from Bouquet Canyon Road to Newhall Ranch Road and a lined concrete trapezoidal channel from Newhall Ranch Road to the main River channel, presents several significant impacts. The channel lining will substantially reduce the creek's ability to recharge groundwater supply, and will destroy (or has destroyed) existing vegetation within the channel. The channelization project will also effectively sever the regional trail linkage. Additionally, the box culvert channel design makes it extremely difficult to maintain the bicycle trail beneath the Bouquet Canyon Bridge and the Newhall Ranch Road bridge. i NL&F's apparent disregard for the permitting requirements imposed by. the Army Corps of 'Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" and the . California Department of Fish and Game are serious. Penaltie imposed should be substantial and precedent -setting, so that both_AnF and other companies faced with similar situations aremore like to comply with required permitting procedures in the future. t would also be reasonable to provide incentives to encourage com ance. .. 1 The feasibility of redesigning the project conform to the Army Corps, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and California apartment of Fish and Game requirements should be emphasized and plored. If it is not feasible to redesign the project and construct it so that it avoids impacts to the environment, significant mit iga on should be exacted from Newhall Land and Farming. This mitigation could take one 9i more of several forms. 1. A conservation easement or the Santa Clara River west of Bouquet Cyn Rd. to the I-5 Fre ay, and south of Bouquet Cyn. Rd. on Bouquet Creek. 2. Donation of high.qu litq habitat area to a, public agency to mitigate the loss of habits caused by the channelization project, as follows: a. Land" east oY I-5 on the Santa Clara River adjacent to Magic Mountain Pa way, near the old railroad trestle. b. Land att e confluence of the Santa Clara River and the south fork of_ f t e Santa Clara River. c. A p/oad. of the NL&F "panhandle° area, east of Bouquet Canyon Roa 3. Easemena multi -use trail to restore the connection of the Bouquetn trail to the Santa Clara River east -west trail, and construof ramps to pass under Newhall Ranch Road and Bouquet Canyon 4. A cash/ contribution to a public agency to establish an environmental educatVion program for local elementary school children related to the h bitat contained in the Santa Clara River. 5. Cons ruction of a percolation basin on, Newhall Land and Farming pro; rty outside of the high water area for the Santa Clara River. Again, he City of. Santa Clarita thanks you for providing us with an opport ity to comment on this incident. Please keep us informed as -the negotia ions continue. Our staff contacts are Lynn M. Harris, Deputy City Manager/Community Development and Jeff Rolin, Deputy City Manager/Parks and Recreation; both may be reached at (805) 259-2489. Sincerely, Carl Boyer, Mayor City of Santa Clarita CB:CMR:621 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY LOS ANGELES DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS September 6, 1991 SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION OF THE .CLEAN WATER ACT Valencia Company Attention: Stephen Schmidt 23823. Valencia Boulevard Valencia, CA 91355 Gentlemen: CEIVED ,SE€:,1 i 1991 �n;:.:,,,,• ca:vr�„-Mery It has come to my attention that Valencia Company has performed several activities in the Santa Clara River that are in violation of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. First, Valencia Company widened McBean Parkway bridge without the benefit of a Section 404 permit. This activity impacted a portion of the mitigation site for a previously issued permit to Valencia Company, # 86-255-RH. A large stockpile of dirt and construction materials were placed in the -middle of the river bed and construction equipment was operated.during the .time. of year when high flows in the Santa Clara River are likely to occur. Furthermore, it appears that your contractors did not try to minimize impacts to native vegetation and take precautions to protect water quality, environmental measures which would have been required by our office if the project were properly reviewed and permitted. A second violation is in lower Bouquet Creek and its confluence with the Santa Clara River. A compliance inspection by Liz Va_rnhagen of Corpsregulatorystaff and John Harlon from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on August 6, 1991 revealed that your work in both drainages does not comply with the terms and conditions of the nationwide'permit authorization issued on December 6, 1988 (permit #89 -028 -EV). Under Nationwide permit #26, no dredged or fill material can be placed below the ordinary high water mark of the Santa Clara River downstream of its headwaters. However, Valencia Company discharged unauthorized dredged material into the Santa Clara River using heavy equipment which also destroyed a large amount of vegetation associated with the river bottom and banks. Additionally Valencia Company graded and started lining the lower portion of Bouquet Creek for which only side slope concrete protection was authorized. Valencia's pre -discharge notification letter dated October 28, 1988 represented the portion of Bouquet Creek below Newhall Ranch Road as being left undisturbed (natural, soft bottom). Impacts from alteration of this creek bottom were never included in our project evaluation. Further, Valencia Company appears to be constructing a box channel upstream of Newhall Ranch Road in an -2 - area that was authorized to be lined as a trapezoidal channel. Lastly, the required revegetation plan which you submitted to•our office to satisfy mitigation requirements for this project was not reviewed and coordinated properly with the resource agencies prior to project initiation (see special condition #1 for permit #89 -028 -EV). A compliance. inspection of your mitigation site by staff from the resource agencies and Corps will be arranged in the near future. Finally, the third important violation is located by the Old Road along a stretch of the river north of Valencia Boulevard. A large quantity of concrete rubble has been discharged along -the northeast bank of the Santa Clara River and is encroaching below the plane of ordinary high water impacting the proposed critical habitat for least Bell's vireo and unarmored threespine stickleback. Regulatory staff is in receipt of your letter to Department of Fish and Game dated February 27, 1991 addressing this situation. We would like to see this unauthorized fill material removed from the river bank as soon as possible and measures taken to restore the area to natural, pre- discharge conditions. Under Sections 301 [33 U.S.C. 1311] and 404 [33 U.S.C. 1344] of.the Clean Water Act and Corps regulations promulgated pursuant* thereto, the discharge of dredged and/or fill material into waters of the United States is unlawful unless such discharge has been specifically authorized pursuant to Section 404 of the Act by the Secretary of the Army through a Corps of Engineers permit. The potential penalties for violation of this Section include a maximum criminal fine of $50,000 per day and imprisonment for up to three years, and a maximum civil penalty of $25,000 per day of violation [33 U.S.C. 1319]. Within the next 20 days, you are required to contact this office regarding these activities so that we can work out specific restoration measures required to mitigate their impacts and bring Valencia Company into compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. During the next few weeks, Regulatory Branch personnel will be conducting an investigation of these activities. By copy of_this-letter...I am requesting input.from <•the'agencies'_indicated on the enclosed list to facilitate this- investigation hisinvestigation and my -decision on what initial__corrective.measures. may be necessary. 'Once this evaluation is complete I will issue you an order -for required restoration and, in the case of McBean Parkway bridge, will accept an after -the -fact permit application for processing. Regulatory staff will work with you to bring the Bouquet Creek channel and McBean Parkway Bridge to an acceptable level of compliance with the Clean Water Act. We have informed you in the past that we will not process individual permit applications for permanent improvements to the Santa Clara River until your program EIS is completed. Although -3 - we will need to address the McBean Parkway Bridge widening separately, we should explore alternate forms of bank stabilization for the river in the vicinity of its confluence with Bouquet Creek. We 'therefore expect to negotiate some form of minimal and temporary bank stabilization for the Santa Clara, River in the vicinity of Bouquet Creek that will function during the time it takes to complete this comprehensive environmental document. Failure to comply with this order may result in my recommendation to the United States Attorney to institute appropriate legal proceedings to enforce this order. Additionally, compliance with this order does not foreclose the Government's options to initiate appropriate legal action or to require the submittal of a permit application. By copy of this letter, I am requesting that the United States Attorney open a file on this unauthorized activity. If you have any question regarding this matter, please contact Liz Varnhagen or Diane Noda in our Regulatory Branch at (213) 894-5606. Sincerely, 4/. o Colonel, Corps of Engineers District Engineer Copies forwarded: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Attention: Mr. Jack Fancher 24000 Avila Road Laguna Niguel, California 92656 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Attention: Mr. Clyde Morris Wetlands and Dredged Material Section (W-7-2) 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, California 94105 California Department of Fish and Game Attention: Mr. Bruce Eliason 330 Golden Shore, Suite 50 Long Beach, California 90802 U.S. Department of Justice U.S. Attorneys Office Attention: Mr. Leon W. Weidman Room 7516, Federal Building 300 North Los Angeles Street Los Angeles, California 90012 City of Santa Clarita Attention: Lynn Harris 23920 Valencia Boulevard Suite 300 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 Ira Reiner District Attorney County of Los Angeles Attention_: Erica Martin 320 West Temple Street, Room 340 Los Angeles, CA 90012 166 16' UNDER CONSTRUCTION 1351t 161 in 1 f•� WATER SURFACE DIRT BOTTOM EXISTING BOUQUET CHANNEL WATER SURFACE DIRT BOTTOM REQUIRED CHANNEL TO SERVE CURRENT --Pt-"7 COUNTY FLOOD FLOWS 16'