Point Reyes Light - December 12, 2002

Army drops lagoon plan

By Ivan Gale

Finally succumbing to overwhelming negative public opinion against draft environmental documents, county open space officials and the US Army Corps of Engineers last week announced they will not be implementing current plans to restore the sediment-choked Bolinas Lagoon.

Outrage over plan

Roger Golden, project manager for the US Army Corps of Engineers, said the engineers will take measurable steps back to examine the comments that led to outrage over their proposed plan.

"We’re going to reformulate the project, taking into account the comments [received] in the public review," Golden said.

The corps came up with two alternatives that both called for the removal of 1.5 million cubic yards of sediment.

Golden revealed this week that those plans were "not implementable" based on the comments from the public and the scientific community. "The comments that came in addressing the whole array of issues were such that you couldn’t really proceed with selecting a plan to go forward with," said Golden.

The Department of Fish and Game and the Coastal Commission, as well as the Environmental Action Committee (EAC) of West Marin, stepped forward during the comment period with concerns that eventually led the corps to declare their findings "incomplete."

Timeline not yet set

County officials said a timeline hasn’t been established for a second draft report.

Before a report is started Golden said an examination of the corps’ relationship with its environmental consultants will be implemented.

The nature of the relationship came under fire from Bolinas Lagoon Technical Advisory Committee (BLTAC).

Before stepping down as chairwoman last week, Andrea diMarco released information that consultants for the corps ignored the technical committee and its concerns to go ahead with the ill-advised initial plan.

In related news, BLTAC board members last week voted Ralph Camiccia chairman.

Ed Ueber, manager of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, was elected as vice-chairman. Former chairwoman diMarco will be moving out of the area.

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