Attendees:

J. Michael Lyons, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
Dennis Eschen, City of Long Beach, Parks, Recreation and Marinas
Tom Johnson/Rick Cameron/Ari Steinberg, Port of Long Beach
Terri Ely/Hayley Lovan/Mo Chang/Doland Cheung/Dan Pomerantz, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Ralph Appy/Todd Le/Gary Cardamone, Port of Los Angeles
Lauma Jurkevics/Jaime Kooser (via phone), California Coastal Commission
Korie Johnson, National Marine Fisheries Service
Don May, California Earth Corps
Steven John, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Dean Smith, Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors
Tim Piasky/Bill DePoto, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
Mitzy Taggart/Mark Gold, Heal the Bay
Guang-yu Wang, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project
Abbie Winter, Congressman Kuykendall’s Office

Welcome, Introductions, and Announcements (Lauma Jurkevics and Michael Lyons)

Lauma welcomed the members and everyone introduced himself or herself. Jaime, who was unable to be at the meeting in person, attended by phone. New faces were seen at this Task Force meeting. Korie Johnson from NMFS is replacing Bob Hoffman in Task Force activities. Gary Cardamone, POLA, is taking over the role for Dick Wittkop, who has since retired from POLA. Abbie Winter from Congressman Kuykendall’s Office was able to join us at the Task Force meeting. In addition, Tim Piasky and Bill DePoto (LACDPW), who normally participate in the Watershed Management and Source Reduction Subcommittee, also attended.

Michael informed the members of Catherine Tyrrell’s recent job change. As of March 1^st, she now works for the Playa Vista Development Company as Environmental Program Director and is no longer with the LARWQCB (Catherine can be reached by E-mail at ctyrrell@playavista.com). Michael anticipates Jim Kuykendall, one of the Assistant Executive Officers at the LARWQCB, will be participating in Task Force activities. The LARWQCB will be in its new downtown LA offices by March 15^th: 320 West Fourth Street, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (on the corner of 4^th and Broadway; main reception phone=213-576-6600; fax=213-576-6640).

The order of the agenda was moved around to have the Interim Advisory Committee item come after the Subcommittee Results.

Ralph passed out information about the Southern California Academy of Sciences 1999 Annual Meeting to be held on April 30^th and May 1^st at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Ralph is organizing the Restoration of Wetlands and Other Habitats symposium and included a draft of it.

Task Force Status Report

Memorandum of Understanding (Lauma Jurkevics and Dean Smith)
Los Angeles County finally signed the MOU and its amendment; the Board of Supervisors adopted the MOU on March 2^nd (Dean provided the Task Force with copies). The MOU is now completely signed by all agencies listed in it. These include: City of Long Beach, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Coastal Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. With the help of POLB, the press release (slightly modified from the one the Task Force reviewed in January) was faxed to key Task Force members and local newspapers on March 5^th. In the future, we should consider having the local stakeholders be in charge of the press releases because of their experience and ease in getting the information out to the newspapers. In addition, Ralph requested to be informed in advance about press releases.

Funding Progress (Implementation Subcommittee)

i. State Process (Lauma Jurkevics and Michael Lyons):
We will not be seeking funds through the state bill process. Although Karnette’s staff put in a spot bill for the Task Force, both Karnette and Lowenthal decided we should pursue funding through the state budget process instead. The LARWQCB is willing to request additional funding, on behalf of the Task Force, to be included in that agency’s budget. To pursue funding through the budget process, we will need to get Lowenthal’s and Karnette’s support and provide them with more detailed information on the proposed studies. Then the legislators will go and try to get the funding on Members’ Day, which usually occurs in May but no definite date has yet been set.

Michael had drafted a letter to Lowenthal and Karnette requesting their support for the Task Force projects and included a summary of the studies. These are the same projects for which we were trying to get support through the bill process. A modified version of the draft letter and summary was presented to the Task Force for comments due by the end of the week. This letter with summary will be signed by Dennis Dickerson (LARWQCB) and sent to the legislators.

[Note: The State Water Resources Control Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency are currently reviewing this letter.]

ii. Federal Process (Lauma Jurkevics):
In addition to pursuing state funding, the members are also investigating federal sources. C-MANC (California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference) is supporting the Corps’ request for $400,000 to do coastal studies. Per Tony Risko (Corps), we would be able to include the studies for which we’re seeking state funding through the budget process. Based on Tony’s template on this funding, Lauma drafted a letter for Peter Douglas’ (CCC) and Dennis Dickerson’s (LARWQCB) signatures on behalf of the Task Force supporting funding for the Corps’ studies. This draft was presented to the Task Force for comments due by the end of the week. The local stakeholders (POLA, POLB, City of Long Beach, LA County, and HTB) will also develop support letters. Dean will provide us with contact names and addresses we could use.

[Note: Peter and Dennis have signed a final revised letter, which was sent out to the legislators. In addition, LA County and HTB have also sent letters of support.]

Subcommittee Data Gap Progress

i. Sediment Screening Thresholds (Steven John):
Steven announced that at the end of the week (March 12^th) the group would be holding a Sediment Quality Values Workshop. Tom Gries from the State of Washington will be presenting current information and progress on sediment quality analyses. Steven passed out copies of the draft agenda and encouraged us to attend. Everyone on the Task Force mailing list was previously notified about this workshop.

ii. Aquatic Disposal and Dredge Operations (Tony Risko):
Tony was not able to attend the Task Force meeting. Instead, Lauma informed the members about the February subcommittee meeting whereby Corps’ staff from the Waterways Experiment Station presented their results from studies conducted on the North Energy Island Borrow Pit, off of Long Beach. Mo and Michael briefly summarized that meeting. Preliminary modeling results were encouraging – these results indicate that a properly designed cap will be effective in containing metals contamination, that we should be able to achieve a relatively uniform cap layer of the desired thickness through barge dumping of the cap material, and that loss of cap material during winter storms may be on the order of 1 foot even during the worst cases. We will know more when the Corps completes its studies.

iii. Upland Disposal and Beneficial Re-Use (Michael Lyons):
Michael would later be discussing some of the disposal options the subcommittee is investigating. The March subcommittee meeting was rescheduled so Wolfgang Roth, POLB’s consultant, could present a workshop on port construction activities and constraints. Tom still needs to see if POLB can get a consultant to do a web information search and assemble data that will help identify data gaps for the subcommittee.

iv. Watershed Management and Source Reduction (Mark Gold):
Mark was arriving later, so Mitzy and Michael informed the members of what had occurred at the subcommittee’s December and January meetings (the March meeting had been cancelled). CH2M Hill has been contracted by the Corps to analyze existing data and determine what additional data needed to be collected on the sediment quality of Marina del Rey and Ballona Creek. In December, scientists from UCLA and USC presented their viewpoints and studies previously done or underway for that area. At the January meeting, Guang-yu presented a table identifying various approaches to take to identify pollutant sources, while Michael presented sediment quality data and their relation to existing screening thresholds.

Dredging Role Flow Chart - Implementation Subcommittee (Lauma Jurkevics)
The members will be developing a permit streamlining report. To facilitate the progress of the report, a flow chart on current review and permit processes was developed. Ralph presented the Task Force members the 3.8.99 version of the flow chart and asked for their comments by the following week. The subcommittee plans to evaluate the flow chart and develop recommendations for improving these processes. In addition to the permit streamlining report, the members will also be developing a report on the ways the four regulatory agencies (Corps, USEPA, CCC, and LARWQCB) might be able to adopt the proposed management strategy that the Task Force is developing.

Subcommittee Results (Michael Lyons)

Upland Disposal Options (Upland Disposal and Beneficial Re-Use): Michael presented a preliminary screening of alternatives and provided members with a handout. He discussed pros and cons for each of the options, which included: disposal to landfills; daily cover at landfills; physical separation of contaminants; concrete stabilization of contaminants; constructed fill within ports; and Brownfield remediation.

Sediment Contaminant Sources (Watershed Management and Source Reduction): Postponed to next meeting.

Interim Advisory Committee

Progress on Agency Coordination (LAR & MDR Dredging, Slip2/Pier E Fill) – Hayley Lovan, Tom Johnson, Ari Steinberg and Dan Pomerantz:

Los Angeles River - The Corps will finish dredging contaminated material (115,000 cy) from the LA River by the end of March. That material is going into the Slip 2/Pier E site. The silt curtain is in place, there’s turbidity monitoring, and there are weekly coordination meetings between the Corps, POLB, and the contractors. However, the Corps will still have to continue dredging clean sediment beyond March (disposal will be to the ocean site – LA2). CCC staff, however, received the Corps’ request for a time extension on March 8^th. Therefore, CCC won’t be able to provide approval by March 10^th, as requested by the Corps. In addition, CCC won’t act until it hears from USFWS regarding potential impacts to endangered species. John Hanlon (USFWS) won’t be reviewing the biological assessment until the following week. Hayley will request John to review first the LA River assessment so CCC can make a determination (it appears the biological assessment included both LA River and Marina del Rey). As a side note, Tom informed the members that the shallow water habitat for the Pier T project was finished three weeks ahead of schedule.

[Note: The Corps has since determined it will also need to dredge contaminated sediments from the river beyond March because production is not as high as anticipated. CCC has agreed with the Corps’ negative determination for the project and has issued a letter to that effect. Doland will be coordinating with POLB on making sure the Corps can still continue to dispose the contaminated sediments to the Slip 2/Pier E site beyond March.]

Marina del Rey – Hayley provided a three-page handout updating the members on the maintenance dredging and addressing Heal the Bay’s concerns about species impacts. CCC staff had not yet received a formal request from the Corps for a consistency determination, although a draft environmental assessment had been sent. Hayley indicated that request was faxed the day before. It was noted that CCC staff could not provide a final recommendation to the Commissioners until USFWS had made a determination on potential species impacts.

Tom indicated that POLB would not be able to accept any of the MDR material until October (give or take two weeks). Members were provided with copies of POLB’s response letters on this issue (letters dated January 25^th and March 3^rd). Ari identified the MDR material to be of good structural quality, which POLB will use near the top of the fill. However, POLB will need to put in its own contaminated sediment from the West Basin project first to ensure it has sufficient space for disposal. By the time the LA River material is deposited, the dike is created, and the West Basin material is placed, POLB will be ready to accept the MDR sediments, which is suitable cover fill for the container terminal.

Since MDR disposal is now postponed until September at the earliest, there will be no dredging during the least Tern season. Dean indicated that LA County seems to be accepting this restriction. Meanwhile, the County’s concern is ensuring that funding for this County’s fiscal year is not lost, so Dean is trying to commit funding from the Corps by the end of June to include the County money. However, the County is still $2.3 million short because of the additional cost to be incurred for lifting the sediments over the POLB dikes. There is potential legislation for funding dredging activities; Dean will look into this legislation. Regardless, both the County and the Corps seem optimistic that the shortfall will be covered.

The Corps is also anxious to start dredging before its own fiscal year ends, so as not to lose its funding. The Corps would like to award a base contract before September 30^th. At the present time, the base contract for this fiscal year is for about 130,000 cubic meters with option items to include 170,000 additional cubic meters, depending on funding. The Corps will be ready to dredge by late August, in case POLB has finished with its own work. The Corps is also trying to include in the contract work within the north jetty, which is outside federal boundaries but adjacent to the area where dredging is going to occur. The north jetty area contains hazard risks when there’s unauthorized public use. At low tide, people could potentially walk on the exposed sand and be unaware that the slope drops off sharply towards the channel. The north jetty has about 50,000 cubic meters but it’s uncertain as to whether this sediment is contaminated (the area tested clean but is adjacent to "area 4," which is contaminated). If the sediment is clean, then the Corps anticipates disposing the material to Redondo Beach. In addition, there are 85,000 cubic meters in the sand trap the Corps wants to dredge and dispose to Dockweiler Beach. Redondo Beach is still being considered as an alternate disposal site for the sand trap material.

The Corps is also seeking additional funding for the next fiscal year to dredge below design depths. However, only 300,000 cubic meters of sediments will be allowed at the POLB site (capacity is limited). The Corps believes most of the other material would be suitable for disposal to Dockweiler or Redondo Beach, or to the LA2 site. Based on the November 1998 survey, if Marina del Rey is dredged to project depths, the Corps will need to dispose of 101,000 cubic meters of clean material and 283,000 cubic meters of contaminated sediments (to be on the safe side, we should add about 5% to the numbers to include potential sediment inputs from this past winter’s storms).

Once dredging starts, the Corps will need to dredge at night (24-hr dredging) in order to meet production schedules. Last year (March 1998), the contractor was able to dredge 3,500 cubic meters in a 24-hour period. Based on that production rate, the Corps will need to dredge continuously to meet POLB’s 90-day deadline. Ari indicated that the terminal would need to be completed within 90 days (with a start date of October 1) because of the delivery date of the terminal contract. There might be concerns about pelican and raptor roosting if night dredging were to occur. Mark and Dean, however, had no concerns. It seems the main issues, for the time being, have been resolved.

[Note: The Commissioners will not be hearing the item at the April meeting in Long Beach. The Corps has postponed having the consistency determination heard until the CCC’s May meeting because it is trying to resolve USFWS issues regarding night dredging.]

Establishing a Dredged Material Management Office: Postponed to next meeting.

Additional Issues

City of Long Beach intends to do maintenance dredging in Alamitos Bay, Rainbow Harbor, Los Angeles River area by September. Although sediments to be dredged may be clean, Steven recommended that Dennis Eschen discuss this project with the Interim Advisory Committee.

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