Marine contractors expect business upsurge if two coastal landfill projects are approved: Disney project and ports expansion await approval.

Marine contractors expect business upsurge if two coastal landfill projects are approved

Two huge landfill projects planned to rise off the coast of southern Los Angeles County could mean a boom for marine contractors if the projects, a 2,000-acre expansion of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and the 250-acre Port Disney amusement park, are able to quiet environmental concerns.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers withdrew its initial application to the California Coastal Commission for the port plan after commission staff members raised concerns that it did not adequately address a number of environmental concerns. Also in question was how the project, which is built near three earthquake faults, would withstand a major earthquake, said Larry Simon, ports coordinator for the commission.

The Coastal Commission could also stop the Disney Project, where the major concern is whether the use of the dredged landfill is allowable in a costal zone under state law. If the Commissioners agree with the staff that an amusement park violates the California Coastal Act's definition of appropriate uses, Disney may have to get the ear of a state legislator, Simon said.

"I imagine that Disney could seek to ammend the Coastal Act through the legislature," Simon said.

David Malmuth, Disney vice president in charge of the project disagreed with Simon's contention. "We believe the Coastal Act permits this project," he said.

If it is built, at 250 acres the Disney Project would be "one of the largest" landfill projects off the coast of California, Simon said. "It is safe to say that the Project 2020 [the port plan] at 2,000 acres, would be the largest landfill project anywhere in the coastal zone, ever," Simon said.

Ralph Larison, president of the Connolly-Pacific Co., which has been providing tons of rocks from two rock quaries on Santa Catalina Island to build landfills from San Luis Obispo to Oceanside, said his company is interested in bidding on the two projects. Larison, however, was cautious about expressing optimism about the possibility of work.

"There are so many environmental restrictions placed on projects of this type. We never count on them occuring until the projects are awarded," he said. Larison noted that several years ago a proposed oil terminal to be built on the California coast was withdrawn by the oil company because of environmental concerns.

But Larison said if the Disney and harbor expansion projects are approved there will be more than enough work for marine contractors who will provide the rock and the sand to build the projects.

Tom Johnson, district manager of the Carlsbad-based Hunter Corp., which specializes in dredging sand from the bottom of the ocean, agreed. "These projects are so large. We would probably bid as a subcontractor to do a portion of the work," Johnson said.

Johnson's company hopes to bid on a dredging of the Batiquitos Lagoon in Oceanside, a project that would entail dredging 1 million to 3 million yards of material to turn the closed lagoon into a tidal action lagoon. The project is an off-site mitigation measure for Project 2020, said Chuck Ellis, spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles. He added that in the 30 years it will take to complete the harbor expansion there may be other mitigation measures which involve dredging.

Ellis agreed that there will be lots of work for marine contractors, noting that contractors will be able to bid with three agencies, the City of Los Angeles, the City of Long Beach and the U.S. government on contracts.

Although there has been speculation lately that Port Disney would not be built since Disney is rumored to be buying land in Anaheim, Malmuth said a final decision has not yet been made. Disney is scheduled to make a decision in March 1992, he said.

The proposed Disney project will use in excess of 20 million cubic yards of sand, said Malmuth. The landfill will be built in five or six lifts or steps, he added.

Lee Hill, acting director of the Port of Long Beach, explained that most all landfills are built the same way, in lifts or steps which climb from the ocean bottom to above sea level.

First, a barge brings tons of rock, which are dumped into the ocean to create a pyramid-shaped dike. Sand is then placed behind it, Hill said. Another rock dike is built on the sand, and then sand is placed behind the second dike.

"Do that four or five times and soon you're out of the water," Hill said. The technology for building landfills hasn't changed much for many years, he added.

All of the landfill areas in the Port of Long Beach are built to withstand an earthquake that registers 8.0 on the Richter Scale, Hill said. The major danger in an earthquake is that the water will rise through the sand and cause the mass to liquify, he said.

Project 2020 will use a fairly new technology, of installing wicks in the sand, to make it earthquake-safe, Hill said. In the event of a major earthquake, water will rise up through the wicks, instead of through the sand mass, he said.

Malmuth said that the best defense against an earthquake is the quality of sand used and the amount of compaction of the earth. An engineering firm will use a technology called vibro compaction in which probes are inserted into the soil and shaken, which causes the land to compact, Malmuth said. .

When and if Port Disney is built, "it's going to be as solid as soil anywhere else in Southern California," Malmuth said.