DEC cites City of Long Beach for illegal dumping

A state environmental agency has cited the City of Long Beach for illegal dumping of construction debris on public land, state officials said.

The city deposited an estimated 1,000 cubic yards of dirt, cement, bricks and other material without permission alongside the edge of Reynolds Channel west of Long Beach Boulevard, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which issued a notice of violation on May 7.

The DEC cited the city for "illegally disposing" waste and ordered it to remove the debris.

City officials said they had placed infill at the site, an industrial zone on the city's north shore, as an emergency measure to control flooding and erosion in the wake of the March nor'easter.

"This wasn't dumping," City Manager Charles Theofan said. "It wasn't anything that we were profiting by not going to a commercial dump."

"This was intentional . . . to try to protect city property," Theofan said.

State officials said the city has removed virtually all of the material, including asphalt, pipes, and tile. Some remaining debris close to the water's edge is to be removed this week, a DEC spokesman said. The DEC does not intend to fine the city at this time, he said.

The DEC discovered the piles in early May during a visit by regional director Peter Scully, who was touring the zone with Long Beach Latino Civic Association members.

The civic group was funded by the DEC to conduct an environmental study of the area by high school students and a teacher. "Project Beach" investigated contamination in the North Park area, a middle-class, largely black neighborhood adjacent to the site.

Councilman Len Torres, a grant writer for the group, said the city showed a lack of respect in failing to notify North Park residents of plans to deposit the material and called the DEC citation and its resolution "a triumph."

During a site visit Tuesday, Gregory Scott, superintendent of the city's sanitation department and a North Park native, said he's built berms abutting that section of the channel for decades to enable people to access the roads after storms.

Kevin Mulligan, the city's commissioner of public works, said the city intends to seek permits from the DEC to rebuild the berms and plant vegetation on them.

Recent environmental law violations in Long Beach:

May 2010: State DEC cites city for breaking environmental law by "illegally disposing of solid waste" at "an unauthorized disposal facility" alongside Reynolds Channel in an industrial zone on the city's north shore, and orders the city to remove the debris and deposit it at an authorized location.

September 2009: DEC tells city it violated state law by excavating vegetated dunes at six sites along city beaches, and by expanding beach walkways without state permits. No fines were levied. The DEC eventually agreed to let the city keep the walkways intact.