Urge Regional Water Board to Deny Toll Road Permit

The Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) has been trying to build a 16-mile toll road in Orange and San Diego Counties for nearly 20 years. Yes, the same road that Surfrider and thousands of people fought—and the same road that was rejected by the California Coastal Commission and the Bush Administration in 2008 because of its devastating impacts to the environment, San Onofre State Beach and cultural resources.

Since 2011, the TCA has been proposing to build the road in “segments”—five miles at a time. Their segmentation approach is a guise to build the entire road down to San Onofre State Beach.

“Segmenting” is illegal under state and federal law. Not only does TCA’s plan circumvent important laws, this approach makes absolutely no sense. This first 5-mile segment is literally a “road to nowhere,” ending at a dirt road and threatening to create traffic nightmares for thousands of Orange County residents.

The TCA recently applied for an environmental permit with the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) for the first section of the road (this is one of many permits they need to obtain). Their RWQCB application is flawed—TCA is overlooking impacts to important wetlands, the San Juan Creek, and the surrounding watershed—which could affect the coastal zone and ocean resources.

A federal agency even admitted in 2005 that San Juan Creek watershed is already degraded due to erosion from development and cannot endure any more growth, saying that continued erosion could cause the failure of buried water and sewer lines, as well as the disappearance of watershed habitat.

Let’s get this straight, experts believe the area is under too much “development stress” and more projects (like a toll road) would further harm the watershed, potentially expose water and sewer lines and pose a safety risk to humans.

Please send a letter to the RWQCB urging them to deny TCA’s application. We need your help to remind the TCA (and decision makers) that the public doesn’t want their destructive toll road.

Also, The RWQCB will be hearing TCA’s application March 13. WE NEED YOU TO ATTEND! Please join us at 9am at the Costa Mesa City Hall 77 Fair Drive Costa Mesa, California

Subject:

Your Letter:

I urge the Regional Board to deny the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency’s (“TCA”) application for waste discharge requirements (“WDR”) for the so-called Tesoro Extension, the first five-mile segment of the proposed Foothill-South Toll Road in southern Orange County.

In 2008, both the California Coastal Commission and the Bush Administration rejected the toll road due to its devastating impacts. Despite being rejected the TCA remains undeterred and now plans to build the road in segments. This segmentation approach is illegal under both state and federal law.

I am concerned the TCA’s application does not meet the standards as required by the Southern Orange County Hydromodification Management Plan (HMP).  TCA is overlooking impacts to wetlands, the San Juan creek, and the surrounding watershed that could subsequently impact coastal resources.  The first section of the road is not only environmentally damaging, but this segment of the road would give the TCA momentum to complete the full road.  Their full road would absolutely devastate fragile watersheds, greatly impact San Onofre State Beach and the beloved recreation spot for more than 2.4 million visitors/surfers each year.

As if the impacts to the environment were not bad enough, this first 5-mile segment would be a literal “road to nowhere,” ending at a dirt road and threatening to create traffic nightmares for thousands of Orange County residents.

For these reasons, I urge the Regional Board to DENY waste discharge requirements for the so-called Tesoro Extension project. I also urge the Board to extend the public comment period to March 13th to allow my comments to be included in the official record of proceedings.

Sincerely,

San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board
9174 Sky Park Court, Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92123