Fairy shrimp fallout: Fairview Park environmental costs top $100,000

The cost of mitigating environmental damage in Costa Mesa’s Fairview Park and dealing with the legal fallout reached more than $100,000 following City Council approval of additional spending on the matter Tuesday night.

It was also revealed at the meeting that the U.S. Attorney’s Office got involved after concerns were raised about harm done to a population in the park of San Diego fairy shrimp, an endangered species protected by federal law.

The council’s vote allotted an additional $38,190 to a Los Angeles-based law firm that, for more than a year, has been working with federal authorities to satisfy complaints over damage done in summer 2013 within the 208-acre park.

The firm, Meyers Nave, recently asked for the additional funds over the original $50,000 approved by the council in December 2013.

For more than a year, Meyers Nave has been in consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigators and, more recently, the U.S. Attorney’s Office over possible violations of environmental protections.

A Daily Pilot investigation found that some of the tiny shrimp were harmed in summer 2013 after a pair of trails were topped with decomposed granite and widened onto a portion of the shrimp’s wetland-like habitat, or vernal pools, in the park’s southwest quadrant, near Estancia High School and the Waldorf School of Orange County.

The city responded later that year by studying the habitat and removing the trails in an “emergency action” ordered by federal authorities. The study and trail removal cost was nearly $19,000.

That area of Fairview was also roped off from public access to protect the biological resource that many people were unaware of.

No one has claimed responsibility for the trail work or placing of the granite.

Federal investigators have spoken with city officials, including Mayor Steve Mensinger, who recused himself from Tuesday’s vote.

“I don’t think I have a conflict, but by the recommendation of counsel, I’m going to recuse myself,” Mensinger said without elaboration.

Deputy City Atty. Yolanda Summerhill said she couldn’t explain Mensinger’s recusal or who gave the recommendation, but added that it wasn’t because of any financial conflict Mensinger has with the law firm.

Councilwomen Sandy Genis and Katrina Foley questioned the U.S. Attorney’s Office involvement, saying they hadn’t heard any details about it.

Summerhill said the Fish and Wildlife Service has completed its investigation and forwarded its findings to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which has yet to take action.

Councilwoman Sandy Genis said she felt dismayed about what happened in the park.

“Rules are being broken, yet in the end, it costs the city, it costs the taxpayers,” she said. “It could all be avoided if we just look at what the rules are.”

A Fish and Wildlife Service official in Sacramento declined to comment Tuesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

Meyers Nave is also working to respond to a Fish and Wildlife Service report issued last summer that concluded that Costa Mesa needs to take additional steps to protect the fairy shrimp throughout the park.

Those steps may include new fencing to limit public access to large swaths of the park’s popular southwest quadrant.

Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz said Tuesday that the city is still working with the Fish and Wildlife Service to address its concerns. Meyers Nave is aiding in that effort, he noted, and the city is creating a special report that will offer the city’s steps to protect Fairview Park’s protected species and achieve habitat restoration.