More studies needed on environmental threats...

More studies needed on environmental threats to Back Bay

Jim Cokas’s letter to the Daily Pilot raises important questions

(“Back Bay deserves protection,” Wednesday).

He has observed the disappearance of animals from the Back Bay and

the destruction of their habitat. What are we doing to the Upper

Newport Bay? Are we destroying this precious resource, one of the few

natural estuaries remaining on the California coast?

The state of California has authorized the renovation of

Shellmaker Island, located in the Back Bay, and has given $5 million

for this purpose. This improvement, no doubt, will bring more

visitors to the Upper Newport Bay. With increasing development and

increasing population, the destruction of the environment will

continue.

Recently, the city of Newport Beach signed an extension of the

settlement agreement for John Wayne Airport authorizing 10.8 million

annual passengers. Most planes usually take off over Newport Bay

toward the ocean. To date, there has never been a study of the

contamination from aircraft exhaust over Newport Bay. Such a study

would shed light on one source of damage to the bay. It would seem

that this is long overdue.

It should not be too difficult to finance such a scientific study,

either from the government or a private fund. Such a study would

allow us to understand the source and amount of contamination and

would also allow us to take corrective measures so as to protect the

environment of the Upper Newport Bay.

SHIRLEY A. CONGER

Corona del Mar

Westside business owners aren’t the only ones with rights

As Costa Mesa finally lurches toward fixing the broken Westside,

we will be hearing sad tales about obtrusive government stomping on

property rights, and we’ll read the usual letters and columns from

some who do not fully understand that property rights exist on both

sides of the fence.

The breezes that blow over a factory on a piece of property on the

Westside that uses airborne toxic chemicals soon blow over the

adjacent properties, including homes, schools and day-care centers,

and affect the right to the quiet enjoyment of those properties by

those who live there. Maybe this is why most of the industrial users

on the Westside don’t live on the Westside, or even in Costa Mesa.

Most live in Newport Beach and other enlightened cities where the

quality of life of the residents of the city are protected from the

very types of toxic chemicals used in some Westside factories.

We may not be able to see odors, but they are as real as the air

we also can’t see. Odors are molecules of chemicals that enter our

nasal passages and lungs. As they do so, they are often absorbed into

our blood stream, where they travel throughout our bodies and can

sometimes cause damage, disease and death.

And, apart from the airborne chemicals, what about soil

contamination? What about the water table?

At the last Planning Commission meeting when the subject of

redevelopment was raised, I held up an 11-page government report that

listed almost 200 toxic chemicals that cause everything from liver

and eye damage to cancer. Many of these chemicals are used in the

types of businesses we have on the Westside. Hopefully, our city

leaders will see through the toxic clouds and smoke screens rising

from some industrial buildings and their occupants and will have the

political courage to free the bluffs from pollution and improper

uses.

Back to this subject of obtrusive government taking properties.

Those factory owners who are using this argument have it wrong. The

toxic industries on Costa Mesa’s Westside have been protected by

local government for many years. Local government has consistently

buckled to the wishes of non-Costa Mesa residents who make their

money by polluting our city. The local government has done this

primarily through the simple device of keeping incorrect zoning and

land-use designations in place that keep the Westside mired in

toxicity.

It’s time we free the Westside bluffs from the heavy hand of

government and let the private sector fix the problems by using

long-standing highest and best uses for the land. After all, people

are willing to pay a premium to buy land for housing that has views

-- and housing doesn’t pollute -- but such views are of no value to

factories. What then is the value of the bluffs to these factories,

if it’s not the views? It is the natural ocean breezes that blow the

toxic fumes away from the factories.

It’s time to free the bluffs from the pollution and from the heavy

hand of government that allows the pollution and other problems to

exist. It is time to care about the citizens of Costa Mesa and not

the bottom line of factory owners. It’s time to change Costa Mesa

from being the city dump of Newport Beach into the Shining City on

the Hill.

MARTIN MILLARD

Costa Mesa