Governor’s 24/7 Work Order For PCH May Preclude Malibu’s Request For Weekend Road Openings

On Friday … California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered 24/7 work on Pacific Coast Highway … to reopen the road by the end of May.

That came on the same day that the Malibu launched the idea of allowing traffic to use PCH Friday nights … Saturdays … and through Sunday nights.

Only carpools … was the Malibu idea. 

It was just an idea … it would be up to the city council to approve the request to the state.

But then came Gov. Gavin Newsom’s news release late Friday … he wants 24/7 work to remove debris and repair the road.  Newsom wants PCH reopened by the end of May.

And that leads one city council member to say the city’s concept is off the table now … because of the Caltrans commitment for overnight and weekend work.

Doug Stewart … who also serves as the rotating mayor … says the city’s request would have provided an incentive for carpooling and more open access when the work volume was reduced for nights and weekends.

Stewart says the Governor is being realistic about how much capacity for the near term will be open in the burn areas even with the debris and most of the construction completed.  

In fact, Caltrans still has yet to remove the wreckage of burned RVs on the side of the road near Topanga Point.

The state has not done anything at all to shore up the retaining walls on either side of the highway that show visible signs of crumbling.

The state has been able, however, to restripe the road and put in concrete railings to make sure the construction crews are protected as they do their work … next to the slow-moving traffic.

The city’s proposed weekend opening of PCH was in the form of a letter … that might be sent to the state … asking for it. 

The city council tonight will discuss that possibility. 

Dark Stuff On Beaches Is Not Hazardous, Testing Shows

The dark, ashy sediment appearing on Malibu and Santa Monica beaches does not appear to contain chemicals related to wildfires at levels that are dangerous to human health.

That’s according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

But … soil testing from the Palisades Fire has found elevated levels contaminants downwind from the fire area … contaminants that may or may not have come from the fire.

Late last week … the county finally released sample data from dirt in Malibu and Pacific Palisades … both within and downwind of the fire.

No evidence of widespread contamination, officials said. 

But the Palisades-area tests did reveal isolated “hot spots” of heavy metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the dirt. 

No lead.

But the tests did find arsenic, a known carcinogen. … on the northeastern side of the fire area.

And down on Will Rogers Beach … cadmium levels were higher than recommended. 

The worst results were found on properties just outside the Palisades Fire boundary.

About 1 in 4 of parcels showed arsenic levels above the “background level” of what naturally occurs in Southern California soil.

The arsenic is possibly a natural soil condition.

One scientist says “This doesn’t look like a general plume effect.”

Getting back to the beaches ….tests were run looking for metals … PCBs and other harmful fire residue. 

All of the beach sand and sediment test results were below those values or within background concentrations.

It’s ugly … a black high tide line that moves around on the white sands.

LA County has no plans to remove the sediment. 

Attempting to scrape it from rocks and sand would destroy marine habitats, erode the shoreline, and cause long-term environmental damage. 

The county says natural tides and weather will gradually break down and wash away the sediment, allowing the ecosystem to recover naturally.

Big Announcement From SCE Looks Like Old News, Restaged For Rate Hike Request

News from Southern California Edison last Friday … an announcement that it will put more than 90 miles of overhead electrical lines into underground pipes.

Its announcement is nothing new … and it left out some important facts.

The announcement was a letter from the company president sent to the governor … with copies to the news media.

It was a pledge to underground 90 miles of lines in Malibu, plus 40 miles in Altadena. The cost: $850 million and $925 million .. additional costs to its ratepayers. 

Left unsaid in its letter was that the company is guaranteed a profit of 11 percent on that expense.

That’s a lot of profit … a surcharge placed on ratepayers statewide.

But the company is already responsible for operating a safe and reliable power system … it;’s already being paid to do that. 

Southern California Edison last year made 1.62 billion dollars.

Edison is currently in front of the CaliforniaPublic Utilities Commission .., with a requested 17 percent rate hike … on top of rates that are among the highest in the nation. 

Much of that is for undergrounding.

The there;’s the issue of the last several hundred feet. 

Once Edison puts its power liens underground … making profit on that … it will be up to individual ratepayers to pay to connect.  

Trenching costs average about $9,000 per property … that’s on ratepayers. 

SCE president Pedro J. Pizarro tells the governor … the company “urgently seeks additional assistance in identifying and accessing federal, state and philanthropic funds … defray customer interconnection costs.”

Pizarro’s letter says SCE has heard Malibu residents about “the need to underground, including undergrounding beyond the Palisades burn scar due to the city’s high fire risk and PSPS experience.” 

Malibu has an astronomical rate of intentional blackouts in high winds, called PSPS by SCE.

In his letter to the governor … Pizarro said SCE has heard frustrations: – a history of prolonged impacts from (power outages), taking out communications … silencing evacuation notices … impacting senior citizens. ”

And what about the communications lines that are up on poles???  

Pizarro told the governor that Malibu customers “emphasized the need to underground telecommunication utilities alongside electric circuits.”

SCE made money selling them access to the poles … 

But there is no law that requires it. 

The letter to the governor does not represent a change in SCE policies, but instead is a restatement of the financial impacts.

Pizarro admitted in his letter to the governor … Edison is already required to underground in its Wildfire Management Program … and the costs are reflected in its pending 17 percent rate hike request.

In its current rate case before the CPUC, Edison was already asking ratepayers to pay to underground about 600 miles of lines systemwide underground by 2028.

Several miles over overhead lines have been added to the undergrounding project in areas with severe damage, for example, along Pacific Coast Highway.

In summary … SCE’s announcement on Friday was not so much about undergrouding Malibu … but getting paid to do it. 

Building Sewer To Beachfront Fire Lots May Only Benefit Wealthy Speculators, One Councilman Worries

Additional details now from last Thursday’s city council meeting … on the future o the burned beach areas and the possibility of a sewer.

You might remember … we ran a 2 minute tap elf longtime Malibu architect Ed Niles … who said the cliffs along PCH in eastern Malibu would be better off left without replacement housing.

Here’s a small part of what he said:

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“I can tell you clearly that the simple answer for the ocean … and I don’t want to step on anybody. I’m not trying to … is to stay away from it. 

“The simple matter for the ocean is to get the state to build the highway properly for everybody.

“The simple way for the ocean is not to build … to ask the state to or the federal government to come up with a reimbursement for the value of the property as it stands today.”

Malibu City Council member Bruce Silverstein called that remark courageous.

And Silverstein points to his own experience in dealing with insurance companies and trying to replace a house.

Silverstein’s house was damaged by a flood coming from a broken fire hydrant … and then part of it burned last December in the Franklin Fire.

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“I’m fighting with my insurance company. I’m underinsured.

“It’s gonna take me years to get the money that they owe me … and it’s not gonna be enough.

“And I know that’s what a lot of people on the beach are gonna be facing that …and I hate to have to say that.

“So, who are we doing this for?  

“We want to do this for you, who want to rebuild your house.

“But the cold, hard truth is: a lot of you are not going to be able to do that, even with a sewer.

“So we’d be actually doing this for the wealthy … for the even-more-wealthy people …. that buy these properties and who will build them up.

“Who absolutely will build them up.

“And I’m not saying that’s a foregone conclusion. I’m not saying that would prevent me from saying ‘let’s try to do something as best we can.’

“But it’s something we need to keep in this consideration. 

“Who are we doing this for? 

“We want to do it for you, but who are we really doing it for? 

“Because are you really gonna be doing this a year form now?

“Or two years from now?

“Or, are you going to be running out of money after three years … and then realize you can’t do it …having spent a bunch of money.”

Bruce Silverstein.

His point was taken up by Carl Randall … part of a longtime Malibu family whose house on the oceanfront burned down.

He said his insurance just won’t go far enough. 

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“It’s a real deal.

“And we know, as find out which contractors are really available, which materials are available, how hard PCH is and how long it’s going to take to be bringing materials in … because you’re gonna have 100 houses hopefully building at the same time? 

“I’m realizing that my 10% contingency is not really gonna cover it.

“And again I have more insurance than  anybody on the beach. And if I can’t make it … unless somebody is gonna take out a $2 million construction loan … it looks like a lot of these folks who’ve been here ain’t gonna be coming back.”

BRUCE SILVERSTEIN: “And my concern is that some people… and I hate saying it … my concern is that we are enabling people to go down the road a little further … and spend more of the limited resources that they have …  and the limited life that they have … thinking that they’re going to get to an end.

“And then they realize six months from now that they are not going to get to it. 

“And I don’t want to be an enabler.”

Beachfront resident, Carl Randall followed by Brice Silverstein form the Malibu city council.

Randall and his family are now renting a house in Malibu Park.