$16 million settlement for 1990 oil spill reached

Eron Ben-Yehuda

As Huntington Beach recovers from the latest beach pollution, the City

Council signed off last week on a settlement stemming from an even worse

catastrophe in 1990.

“It’s been a long, long time in coming,” City Councilwoman Shirley

Dettloff said.

With a 6-0 vote, the council approved on Aug. 30 an agreement that would

pay $16 million for harm caused by the oil tanker American Trader, which

ruptured its hull on its own anchor, spilling 400,000 gallons of crude

off the coast. Councilman Ralph Bauer was absent.

Huntington Beach will receive only a portion of the money, which will be

split among a “coalition” of five cities and agencies that suffered

economic loss from the Feb. 7, 1990 incident, considered Orange County’s

worst environmental disaster, the city’s community services director Ron

Hagan said. At its worst, the oil contamination closed beaches from

Anaheim Bay to Corona del Mar for five weeks.

The exact amount the city will recover remains uncertain but could be as

much as $4 million, Hagan said.

“Huntington Beach will get the biggest share because we got the most

damage,” City Councilman Tom Harman said.

But the city does not have the freedom to unilaterally decide how the

money will be spent, Hagan said. That’s because every project must be

unanimously approved by the coalition made up of Huntington Beach,

Newport Beach, the county, and the state department of parks and

recreation and department of fish and game, he said.

The coalition will only consider projects that improve the city beach and

benefit ocean enthusiasts from across the region rather than just the

city, Hagan said. For example, fixing infrastructure problems -- while

important -- wouldn’t qualify as a regional benefit, he said.

The city’s most convincing pitch to the coalition will be spending the

money on improving the southern beach area extending from 1st Street to

Beach Blvd., Hagan said.

The money would help cover the cost of an $8 million redevelopment plan,

already devised by the city, that calls for replacing bicycle and

pedestrian beach trails, adding restrooms, sand walls, security lighting,

and even public art projects.

“We are going to do some things that are rather creative,” Dettloff said.

The coalition plans to meet in October and the money is expected to be

delivered by the tanker’s owners -- American Trading Transportation Co.,

Inc. and Attransco, Inc. -- and their insurers by December, Hagan said.

Hagan, who will take direction from the council, will vote on behalf of

the city during coalition meetings, he said.