Water from line break flows into Crystal Cove

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- An accident at a construction site Tuesday afternoon

sent a river of water rushing through drainage channels and into the

ocean at Crystal Cove, a spokesman for the developer said.

Standard Pacific Homes project manager Thomas Olson said a grading

accident at the project site above Crystal Cove State Park ruptured one

of the development’s own water lines.

Specific figures on the amount of water released were not available, but

the 15-minute flow was “significant,” said Kurt Berchtold of the Santa

Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Video of the discharge shot by a witness showed a quickly moving,

ankle-deep flow of water coursing across the sand and into the surf at

Crystal Cove.

Initial reports found the water was possibly of drinking quality. Michael

Eaton, the supervising ranger at Crystal Cove State Park, said he

believed the discharge would not create significant environmental

problems in the area.

“It seems like the impact will be minimal, if any, aside from additional

sediment being washed into the ocean,” he said.

The incident raised concerns among environmentalists because it comes on

the heels of heavy fines that were dished out last month to Western Golf

Properties, the managing company of Pelican Hill Golf Club, for illegally

and repeatedly discharging waste water into Crystal Cove.

Berchtold said Tuesday’s spill will probably not result in fines. He said

it may be viewed differently than the Pelican Hill case because it

appeared to be accidental and the water involved appeared to be clean.

The developer’s promptness in responding to and reporting the incident

also played well in its favor, he said.

“We’ll have to dig into it a little further to figure out what happened,”

he said.