Sierra Club Action Alert

Five years after we won a big victory in stopping plans for building the 16
mile Foothill South Tollroad through San Onofre State Beach, the
Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) has unveiled plans to build the highway
in segments. Known as the Tesoro Extension, the first 5.5 mile segment would
extend the Foothill Eastern Tollroad from Oso Parkway to just short of
Ortega Highway. Segmentation of a planned project is illegal under
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

The TCA has not applied for a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report
(SEIR) but is relying on an addendum to the original EIR for the whole 16
mile tollroad. Without a revised review there is no way to analyze the
impact on the environment.

TCA recently applied for an environmental permit with the San Diego Regional
Water Quality Control Board (SDWB) for the first section of the road to
discharge their waste into State waters. Their SDWB 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. The San Juan Creek watershed is already degraded due to erosion
from past development. Further erosion from tollroad construction would
seriously impact water quality that could impact watershed habitat. 

The SDWB 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

Also please send a letter to SDWB 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. 

Both the Surfriders and NRDC have suggested wording for your letters that
can be sent on-line and your response will be tallied. Please modify as you
wish.

http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7351

 

 

LETTER TO: David Gibson, Executive Officer

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

 

Dear Mr. Gibson,

 

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.

 

I am deeply concerned about the TCA's unyielding efforts to build its
destructive toll road through one of the last unspoiled watersheds in
Southern California.

 

In 2008, both the California Coastal Commission and the Bush administration
rejected the toll road because of potentially devastating impacts to the
coastline. Despite those decisions, TCA remains undeterred and now plans to
build the road in segments. This segmentation approach is an obvious attempt
to circumvent the decisions rejecting the road, and is illegal under both
state and federal law.

 

This first five-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. The agency's permit application also overlooks
impacts to important wetlands that could potentially affect the coastal
zone.

 

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,

 

[Your name and address]

 

 

 

 

 


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