Sensitive habitat a secret battleground

Jenny Marder

Trees are stained neon pink and orange. Paintball canisters, BBs and

beer bottles lay scattered on the ground.

On one side of the East Garden Grove Wintersburg Channel, deep

trenches are carved into the soil for paintball players to crouch

inside. On the other, 6-foot moguls bearing the scars of BMX bike

tires have been built.

Trespassers are trashing delicate wetlands habitat and

jeopardizing the well-being of plants and wildlife in the Bolsa Chica

Wetlands, environmentalists say.

Much of the destruction comes from paintball players, BMX bikers

and BB gun fighters who bike and battle over the 40 acres of

state-owned land that lies southeast of the Hearthside Homes property

and north of the flood control channel.

Branches are severed and trees torn down to be used as obstacles

on paintball courses. Objects such as couches and mattresses, even an

old washing machine, have been dragged in.

“It’s just wanton destruction,” said Adrianne Morrison, executive

director of the Bolsa Chica Conservancy.

The list of objects that have been found there is long.

Until it was discarded by a maintenance crew last year, the Bolsa

Chica Conservancy kept an “evidence box” of objects found on the

land. In the box were shotgun shells, IV needles, hash pipes,

pornography and vast quantities of BBs and paintballs.

It’s easy to mistake the jar of paintballs on Morisson’s desk for

gumballs. The jar is full of the small colorful ammunition that has

been collected from the Bolsa Chica.

The land is under the jurisdiction of the Orange County Sheriff’s

Department, which has stopped, but not cited, seven people on the

property since March 1 for trespassing, said Sgt. Mark Levy, who

works with the department’s neighborhood enhancement team. All were

younger than 18.

“It’s an attractive area for someone who wants to do something

illegal,” Levy said. “We are trying to work from a couple different

angles on this and hoping to curtail it. We’re hoping to cite some of

these juveniles for trespassing.”

Going in frequently and writing up citations is the best way to

control trespassing in the area, he said. A misdemeanor citation

could mean a fine or an arrest.

The Huntington Beach Police Department also handles calls about

destructive trespassers on the wetlands from time to time.

“We chase them off as people call and complain about it,”

Huntington Beach Police Department Lt. Dan Johnson said.

But the destruction continues.

Conservancy members such as Morrison think more could, and should

be done to correct the problem.

“Signs need to be reposted every time they’re torn down,” Morrison

said. “There needs to be more public awareness through the schools

and through the press that this is not the place.”

Mark Bixby, who heads the Neighbors for Wintersburg Wetlands

Restoration, frequently monitors a 50-acre lot at 17301 Graham St.

near Bolsa Chica. He said he has spotted several paintball players in

goggles and full camouflage.

“If you go out on Shea Homes parcels, paintballs are everywhere,”

Bixby said. “They’re broken and leaking onto pickle weed and salt

grass.”

Bixby, who is pushing to have the land preserved as a wetlands

site, said that the activity is destroying wetlands values.

“It’s going to be the presence or absence of wetlands values that

will determine whether the [California] Coastal Commission will

approve the parcel,” Bixby said.

Others fear for the safety of the children playing out there as

well as the sensitive habitat.

Residents, who have voiced concerns about the safety of the

children riding bikes and shooting BB guns and slingshots far from

parental supervision, say this is not the ideal playground.

The proximity to the contaminated Fieldstone Property adds health

risks.

“There are PCBs in the oil fields, and they could be windborne,”

Morrison said. “It’s not a designated safe place for people to be

mucking around in.”

The Sheriff’s Department is looking into long-term options to

“make the land less attractive to the kids,” Levy said. And the Bolsa

Chica Conservancy is doing its best to educate the community on the

effects of these activities.

Public officials have also taken notice of the problem.

Assemblyman Tom Harman, a longtime environmental supporter in

Huntington Beach, has joined the battle and says he will seek greater

law enforcement in the area. Harman said he will ask the State

Department of Toxic Substances Control to test the area for toxins,

which have been found nearby and could pose a health risk for

children playing in the area.

“There’s a lot of damage going on,” said Morrison, who estimates

the activity has been occurring for the past two to three years. “You

can see that where they are [building] moguls, they had thrown dirt

on top of plants. They’re decimating vegetation in area. The package

of paintballs may say it’s biodegradable, but so is my car.”

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at [email protected].