Waves May Once Again Roll Ashore at Long Beach
Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 | Updated 2:44 PM PST
www.helppatrickwalk.org
Patrick Ivison surfing in the U.S. Open with pro surfer Bryan Jennings.
Waves may once again roll ashore at Long Beach, as the local Congresswoman seeks federal funds to complete a study on removing part of the artificial breakwater at Long Beach Harbor.
Rep. Laura Richardson is seeking $30,000 federal funding to complete the first stage of Long Beach breakwater's reconnaissance study, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
Dating back to 1941, the 2.5-mile Long Beach Breakwater is federally owned and under control of the Army Corps of Engineers. The breakwater prevents significant wave action along city beaches that once were world-famous for surfing.
The Surfrider Foundation and other environmental groups are asking for the rocks to be removed from the eastern section, which would return waves to much of the beach and increase ocean currents in the artificial port, flushing out water pollution from the Los Angeles River.
However, the breakwater is also presumed to reduce flooding risks in Belmont Shore, along the Peninsula and on Naples Island.
Richardson told the Press-Telegram that she feels confident that the breakwater request has a better chance of getting funded with a Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama in the White House. Previous breakwater-related study requests by Richardson and her predecessors have been denied.
The House and the Senate are expected to vote on the spending requests in the fall. The congresswoman submitted the breakwater request with a multimillion-dollar wish list for her 37th Congressional District.
Tom Modica, manager of government affairs in the Long Beach City manager's Office, told the Press-Telegram that the $30,000 federal appropriation would be enough for the Army Corps of Engineers to review the city's study and make the official determination if there is federal interest in moving to the next step, which would be a more expansive engineering and environmental study.
A $100,000 review to determine whether it is economically feasible to do a more expensive and detailed engineering review of the breakwater is already underway, Modica said. The City Council approved the funding for that last year but expects to get about half of it back from the California Coastal Conservancy.
With city oversight, the Moffat and Nichol engineering firm is performing the study to Corps of Engineers specifications. The study should be completed by May or June, Modica told the Press-Telegram.
