State withdraws $3 million grant

Runoff from four cities feeds into the Herondo Storm Drain. State officials said last week that they were taking back a $3.3 million grant South Bay cities had received to address pollution from the storm drain. Image courtesy City of Hermosa Beach

The State of California has withdrawn a grant of more than $3 million that Hermosa Beach and other South Bay cities had planned to use to clean up water quality at local beaches, after opposition from South Hermosa residents blocked the project for which it was intended.

The decision came last week in a letter from Joe Karkoski, the assistant deputy director of the division of financial assistance for the state Water Resources Control Board, to Hermosa City Manager Suja Lowenthal. Lowenthal, who announced the decision at Hermosa’s City Council meeting, said that the state wanted to prioritize limited funds for projects that were shovel ready, and that Hermosa would be able to reapply for other funds in the fall.

The Greenbelt Infiltration Project would have created an underground structure along the Greenbelt between Second and Herondo streets that would capture runoff from the Herondo Storm Drain before it was released into the ocean. The area surrounding the Herondo Street outfall has traditionally had among the worst post-rain water quality of all South Bay beaches, and the failure to reduce the number of days in exceedance of pollution thresholds by 2021 could expose Hermosa and neighboring cities to massive fines under the federal Clean Water Act.

The cities of Hermosa, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance, who all contribute to the Herondo drain, as well as the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, had partnered to jointly fund construction of the Hermosa project, and received a $3.3 million grant, which would have covered about half the estimated cost. But, starting last year, residents in the area surrounding the project location began to protest, and in March the city voted to pursue other alternatives to the Greenbelt project, including a possible location across the street in Redondo.

However, there are multiple unknowns associated with the Redondo plan, including the possibility that the soil at the suggested site has been contaminated by the nearby AES power plant. Last month, Lowenthal explained these steps to the state board in a phone call.

“During the call, it was apparent that there was a significant amount of uncertainty and challenges that would impact the timely implementation of the project at the new site,” Karkoski wrote in the letter taking back the grant money.

Because none of the grant funds had been expended, neither Hermosa nor any of the other cities owe any money to the state.

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