REGULATORS: CLEAN IT ALL UP U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS TOLD TO HAUL ITS TRASH OUT OF HANSEN DAM.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Water regulators insisted Thursday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers remove all the concrete and other debris it dumped in Hansen Dam reservoir rather than carrying out its plan for a partial clean-up.

Although the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has little authority to force the agency to act, members were adamant that the corps should be compelled to remove roughly 1,650 cubic yards of concrete and 2,200 cubic yards of dirt, weeds and garbage the agency deposited in the two lakes in 2002.

``What I'm seeing is a serious record of foot dragging and denial of illegal dumping,'' said board member H. David Nahai. ``And this is a government agency.''

Corps Lt. Col. John Guenther agreed the dumping was a mistake and an embarrassment to the agency, but he cautioned a complete clean-up would be costly and environmentally damaging. The corps would have close the area to visitors and drain the lakes to remove the debris.

``The environmental damage is far worse than the dumping in those lakes caused or would ever cause,'' he told water board members, noting he didn't want to act ``just based on emotional appeal.''

The corps has proposed removing only the debris above the water line; reshaping the bank and replanting native vegetation on the larger lake; and removing some of the material forming a steep cliff on the smaller lake.

Water regulators sided with Los Angeles City Council members and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who have pushed the corps to removal all the debris as soon as possible.

``I, along with the communities surrounding Hansen Dam, have made it clear that anything less than the full removal of the debris is unacceptable,'' said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel.

However, water board attorney Michael Lauffer warned that if the corps fought a full clean-up order, the state agency would have a hard time penalizing the federal government and might have to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to intervene.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, stepped in to stop the dumping in 2002, his district director Bob Blumenfield said. But he is waiting to see the cost and environmental fallout before pushing for a full clean-up.

``The community at large is going to want to do what's best for the area,'' Blumenfield said. ``If the science comes back and says it will be terrible to dig up that material, then I don't think they're going to want to do it.''

Hansen Dam neighbors discovered in spring of 2002 that the corps dumped piles of invasive weeds, soil and garbage dredged from Whittier Narrows and Sepulveda Basin in the small lake. Shortly after the corps dumped concrete and rebar from repairs at the swim lake into the large lake.

At the time, corps officials said they wanted to fill the lakes and convert them into wetlands. They admitted later they didn't have the proper permits to dump.

The water board issued a violation in May and aims to fix the problem by allowing the corps to file for a dumping permit after the fact. The permit application is due Oct. 15 and will include proposals for cleaning up the lakes.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com