Company ordered to clean up water

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- One of the principal construction companies of the San

Joaquin Hills toll road will have to take steps to prevent

phosphorous-laden sediment from entering the Back Bay, under a permit

amendment announced Friday by state water officials.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board instructed Silverado

Constructors to remove about 1,500 cubic yards of sediment annually from

San Diego Creek, which drains into the Back Bay.

The removal is intended to compensate for Silverado’s introduction of

phosphorous into the watershed, said Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive

officer for the water board.

A spokesman for Silverado Constructors did not return calls Friday for

comment.

The nonmetallic chemical substance enters the creek because parts of the

toll road are built below the water table, Berchtold said, and water must

continually be collected and drained from around the road. During the

process of preparing the water to be dumped, a small amount of

phosphorous is added -- an amount that has environmentalists concerned.

“It’s one of the nutrients that help the growth of algae,” said Jack

Skinner, a local water quality advocate. “The main one is nitrates or

nitrogen that’s found in fertilizers or sewage effluent, but phosphorous

is another substance that is needed by marine plants to grow.”

The problem with the phosphorous -- which was being added by Silverado

Constructors at a rate of about 1,200 pounds a year -- is that by

promoting algae growth it can lead to foul waters. The algae, in large

concentrations, can choke off the oxygen in the bay, killing fish and

other organisms.

Berchtold said the amount of phosphorous being released by the company is

relatively low. But the board still thought it was an issue that needed

to be addressed.