Trestles Saved Again.

SAN DIEGO REGIONAL WATER QUALITY BOARD REJECTS ORANGE COUNTY TOLL ROAD PERMITS

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board today rebuffed the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) in its attempts to secure a necessary water quality permit for its Tesoro Extension project. The Board voted unanimously 6 to 0 to adopt findings that reinforced its decision of June 2013, when the Regional Board rejected the requested Waste Discharge Requirements permit because the full project impacts of the entire road were not disclosed to it. The Save San Onofre Coalition applauds the Board’s decision. 

The Tesoro Extension comprises the first five miles of TCA’s plan to connect the 241 toll road in Orange County to Interstate 5 in San Diego County. The project is part of TCA’s 16-mile toll road project that would bisect San Onofre State Beach, California’s fifth most popular state park, and protected natural lands in the Donna O’Neill Conservancy. If the full project is built, the state parks department has indicated it will abandon 60% of the state park because of the damage the toll road would cause.

The Board rejected TCA’s application for a Waste Discharge Requirements permit because TCA had failed to adequately disclose and mitigate the damage the project would cause to water quality and other natural resources. The vote today to adopt legal findings explaining why it rejected the toll road project represents the third time the Board has voted to stop the 241 extension project because of environmental concerns.

The TCA has spent more than $300 million in public funding for a project that has been repeatedly turned down. In fact, 78 percent of Orange County opposes building the proposed toll road through San Onofre State Beach, according to an August 2014 poll. 

Following is a statement from Elizabeth Goldstein on behalf of the Save San Onofre Coalition:

“The Board today voted to protect our water quality, our parks and beaches from this destructive toll road project. We commend the Board for upholding California’s water quality laws and protecting the public interest,” commented Goldstein.

“The Board responded to the overwhelming evidence that the Tesoro Extension is no more than an attempt to commence construction of a larger, environmentally destructive that has been rejected by the Board and every other agency that has considered the project to-date.”

“This project needs to be rethought from the ground up, or abandoned, rather than twisted to accommodate every rejection the TCA experiences.” 

About the Save San Onofre Coalition
The Save San Onofre Coalition includes a wide range of organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the California State Parks Foundation, Endangered Habitats League, Surfrider Foundation, Sea and Sage Audubon Society amongst others convened to prevent the destruction of San Onofre State Beach by the Foothill-South Toll Road.

Extra, Extra! Hearing Guide.

We are getting excited for Monday! We are prepared and ready for a long day.  Here is the Hearing Guide.  It contains logistics about the hearing and talking points.  Be sure to share with your friends!

Remember to wear an old Save Trestles shirt....we will have a limited amount of shirts at the hearing. We will have materials to make signs as well.

Thanks for all your continuing support. The Save San Onofre Coalition calculated our wins fighting this road--we are 4 for 4! Let's keep our winning streak alive and make it 5 for 5!

Take Action. Stop Zombie Road from Being Built in Pieces

Our last blog re-capped how "we got here"... Toll road developers want to build their road in "segments."

Please help us stop them.

Send a letter to the Regional Water Board asking them to "adopt the Staff Findings for the denial of the Tesoro Extension."

The sure-fire way to stop them is to show up in person on March 16th in San Diego.  The hearing is scheduled to start at 9am, however try to arrive before 9am. Fortunately, they reserved a bigger venue this time, but showing up early always guarantees you have a place to watch the drama unfold. Surfrider will post talking points to this website as the hearing nears. In the meantime, we have a FaceBook invite we hope you will share with your friends in SoCal.

Meeting Details: 

WHEN: March 16th 2015.  Meeting starts at 9am, but please arrive before 9am to guarantee a seat. 

WHERE: NTC at Liberty Station, McMillin Companies Event Center, 2875 Dewey Road, San Diego, CA. 

WHAT: Save Trestles once and for all! 

PS: Thanks for your continuing support!

Save Trestles Again. Help Topple the Toll Road

Urge Decision-makers to Deny Toll Road Again.

We know, we know....you can't believe we are still fighting this road.   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 San Onofre State Beach and coastal resources.

Since 2011, the TCA has been purposing to build the road in “segments”—five miles at a time.   Their segmentation approach is an ultimate guise to build the entire road down to San Onofre State Beach.  The Regional Water Quality Control Board saw through their ruse to build the road in pieces and denied the first segment in June of 2013. TCA appealed that decision to the State Board.  Fortunately, the State Board upheld the original decision.  Now, the Regional Board is scheduled to “adopt its findings” at a March 16^th hearing.

Please send a letter to the RWQCB here urging them to adopt the staff-recommended findings for denial of the "Tesoro Extension." Help us remind the Board that the findings properly reflect the law and the negative impacts to water quality and coastal resources.  If you live in southern California, please attend the March 16^th hearing in San Diego.   

 
Surfrider will also be developing materials that can be used at the hearing.  Please circulate our action alert to friends!  

EVENT DETAILS:

WHEN: March 16th 2015.  There is no time certain for the toll road item, but the meeting begins at 9::00 am.  Once we know the exact time the item will be heard, we will update this blog. 

WHERE: NTC at Liberty Station, McMillin Companies Event Center, 2875 Dewey Road, San Diego.

WHAT: Save Trestles once and for all!