Coastal Commission exec calls Lagoon "untouched natural resource," unaware the former bombing target range is on USACE/DTSC toxic clean up lists

DTSC Official: EnviroStor Database Listing

BIG LAGOON TARGET RANGE BIG LAGOON, CA HUMBOLDT COUNTY SITE TYPE: FUDS ACRES: 153 ACRES APN: NONE SPECIFIED NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST: NO CLEANUP OVERSIGHT AGENCIES: DTSC - SITE MITIGATION AND BROWNFIELD REUSE PROGRAM SUPERVISOR: DONN DIEBERT DIVISION / BRANCH: OMF - NO (SACRAMENTO) ENVIROSTOR ID: 80001175 SITE CODE: ASSEMBLY DISTRICT: 01 SENATE DISTRICT: 02 SPECIAL PROGRAM: FUNDING: DERA PRESS CONTACT: CAROL SINGLETON

STATUS INACTIVE - NEEDS EVALUATION AS OF 7/1/2005

REGULATORY PROFILE PAST USE(S) THAT CAUSED CONTAMINATION: NONE SPECIFIED POTENTIAL CONTAMINANTS OF CONCERN: EXPLOSIVES (UXO, MEC, DMM) POTENTIAL MEDIA AFFECTED: NONE SPECIFIED

SITE HISTORY FROM THE CORPS PUBLIC GIS SYSTEM: Property Description - The 153.03-acre site is located in Humboldt County, Big Lagoon, California, near the Big Lagoon Indian Reservation. The property is currently part of the Dry Lagoon State Park and is adjacent to the Big Lagoon County Park. During the 1920s and 1930s, cabins were built at the south end of the lagoon and the area was a popular destination for weekend and summer travelers. Many of the old cabins still exist alongside newer houses, several of which appear to be inhabited year round. The area remains a popular destination for camping, boating, fishing, swimming, and beach combing. Property on the southeastern side of the lagoon is part of the Big Lagoon Rancheria, inhabited by the Yurok and Tolowa tribes. Property History - The Big Lagoon Range consists of land that was acquired by leasehold condemnation on 13 June 1944. The mission of this site was the installation of rocket targets for the training of Fleet Air Squadrons from NAAS Arcata. Due to existing hazardous conditions, the Fleet Air Training Detachment withdrew from the Station on 1 July 1945, stripping its targets and removing all squadrons, Fleet personnel and equipment. The lease was terminated on 14 April 1946. After this, the site was divided among the state of California and Humboldt County. This property is known or suspected to contain military munitions and explosives of concern (e.g., unexploded ordnance) and therefore may present an explosive hazard.

So-called 'Pristine' Big Lagoon on DoD/DTSC Clean Up List

As it turns out the area in Humboldt County that Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission called “pristine” and “untouched” in an essay he wrote for Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle was once part of a 156-acre bombing and rocket target range. Perhaps Douglas meant “untouched” since it was abandoned by the Defense Department as a bombing range.

Both the Big Lagoon and the Big Lagoon Rancheria Indian Reservation have been on the Defense Department’s list of pending Defense Department/Army Corps & California State Department of Toxic Substance Control’s pending clean up lists for at least a decade.

The Defense Department in its last report to Congress estimated it would take $7.2 million to complete clean up of the Big Lagoon identified sites.

Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS)

California Inventory List

DOD - Defense Environmental Programs Annual Report to Congress

Military Munitions Response Program

Big Lagoon Bombing Target	Trinidad Bombing Target
Map	Map

Calif Department of Toxic Substance Control

BIG LAGOON TARGET RANGE

Big Lagoon bombing Target (BIG LAGOON INDIAN RESERVATION)

TRINIDAD BOMBING TARGET

		SITE NAME	SITE TYPE/ STATUS	DESC	CITY	COUNTY
[REPORT]		BIG LAGOON BOMBING TARGET (IND RESERV)	MILITARY EVALUATION /DERA	INACTIVE - NEEDS EVALUATION	BIG LAGOON	HUMBOLDT
[MAP]
[REPORT]		BIG LAGOON TARGET RANGE	MILITARY EVALUATION/DERA	INACTIVE - NEEDS EVALUATION	BIG LAGOON	HUMBOLDT
[MAP]
[REPORT]		TRINIDAD BOMB TARGET	MILITARY EVALUATION /DERA	INACTIVE - NEEDS EVALUATION	TRINIDAD	HUMBOLDT
[MAP]

CA Coastal Commission Chief’s mischaracterization irresponsible; suggests closer scrutiny in future

Either Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, is full of bologna or perhaps like we suspected of Andrea Hoch, Governor Schwarzenegger’s legal affairs secretary, he has naively fallen prey to the overstated rhetoric ghost written for him by Detroit casino syndicators.

In an op-ed bylined by Douglas and published in the San Francisco Chronicle this past Sunday, April 8, 2007; the Coastal Commission’s administrative chief writes:

"...on the pristine shores of Big Lagoon in Humboldt County"

"…unique unspoiled natural treasure…"

But then Douglas seems to contradict himself when he writes in the brief essay that annually “60,000 visitors come to the area [Humboldt Lagoons State Park] for recreation and relief from pressures of urban living.”

How is it 60,000 people can come and go and yet leave the Big Lagoon pristine and unspoiled? Those words imply something much different.

Webster's defines "pristine" as follows:

1 : belonging to the earliest period or state : ORIGINAL;the hypothetical pristine lunar atmosphere;

2 : not spoiled, corrupted, or polluted (as by civilization) : PURE;a pristine forest; b : fresh and clean as or as if new

Conservation, protection and restoration activities in the region have been at play for decades. Certainly Douglas knows that. Save The Redwoods League raises money for such efforts and for acquisitions because it indicates there are already a number of threats and challenges impacting the Humboldt Lagoons State Park:

· Contamination and pollution including chemical spills along highway, septic system failures, former Louisiana-Pacific mill site, and use of 2-stroke engines and MTBE-laced fuel in water craft.

· Enforcing water speed limit on for motorized vehicles to minimize noise pollution and accidents.

· Upstream erosion and sedimentation in streams draining to lagoons, and associated flooding in the Redwood Trails area.

For Peter Douglas to say the Big Lagoon and surrounds are “pristine” and “untouched” was nothing short of irresponsible – and either ignorant or intentionally manipulative.

You may want to read these additional posts:

• Coastal Commission exec calls Lagoon "untouched natural resource," unaware the former bombing target range is on USACE/DTSC toxic clean up lists
• So-called 'Pristine' Big Lagoon on DoD/DTSC Clean Up List