Residents complain about dust from developments

Eron Ben-Yehuda

As large construction projects rise up in Huntington Beach, so does the

“fugitive dust” they kick up, leaving residents coated in discontent.

“It’s a tremendous problem,” said Jack Miller, contract administrator for

the city’s public works department. “Any project of any major size has

had complaints, and it’s usually the neighbors, one way or another.”

Frederick Reif lives near the Waterfront Hilton expansion, where

“humongous” earth movers busily load and unload thousands of cubic yards

of “dusty” dirt, he said.

The “fine silt” covers surrounding cars, roofs and foliage. “It’s just

all over,” he said. “It looks like my tree leaves are gray.”

The problem grew so bad last week that the South Coast Air Quality

Management District warned the developer, the Robert Mayer Corp., to

clean up its act, district spokesman Bill Kelly said.

Although Kelly considers “fugitive dust” a minor “nuisance,” repeat

violators of air quality regulations could face fines of as much as

$50,000 per day, he said.

One way to control the dust is to water down the dirt, but too much water

creates another mess -- mud, said Miller of public works.

Either way, residents near construction sites will grumble.

“People are going to be unhappy when it’s too wet and people are going to

be unhappy when it’s too dry,” said Steve Bone, president of the Mayer

Corp.

And the sour mood spreads, like dust.

City Councilman Tom Harman works at the office complex near the new

Seacliff Shopping Center, under construction at the corner of Main Street

and Yorktown Avenue. “I’ve had to wash my car three times a week,” he

said.

If Harman had his way, 10 water trucks working 24 hours a day would

control the dust at construction sites, but he realizes that may be too

expensive.

Reif doesn’t care about the developers’ cost of managing fugitive dust.

“It’s not cheap,” he said. “But I don’t give a damn that they’re trying

to spend as little money as possible.”