Politics & Government

Arcadia Woodlands Supporters Seek Investigation into County 'Deception'

Tree advocates will hold press conference before Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting to call for independent investigation into woodlands destruction.

Despite losing their fight to save the Arcadia Woodlands last week, supporters of the movement to save the trees will not go away quietly.

Camron Stone, a leader of the tree movement, along with "tree sitters" John Quigley, Julia Posin and Andrea Bowers will hold a press conference outside the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday morning. According to Stone, the group will call for an "independent investigation into the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works deception of local citizens, communities and elected officials throughout the entire three-year planning process for the Santa Anita Dam Sediment Removal Project."

The county plan, officially known as the Santa Anita Dam Riser Modification and Reservoir Sediment Removal Project, started construction on Jan. 12. Around 20 area residents and environmentalists came out on the first day of construction to the site’s Elkins Avenue entrance to protest the project, which has destroyed 11 acres of pristine oak woodlands that were home to 179 oak trees, dozens of sycamore trees and various other plant life. Around 250,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Santa Anita Dam will be placed on the now bulldozed site.

Find out what's happening in Arcadiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In all, the county’s plan will remove about 500,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Santa Anita Dam to bring the dam into compliance with state seismic regulations. The sediment removal will also free the flow of water and provide additional storage to supply the water needs of the area.

The project area is located within the City of Arcadia on land owned by the county. Both the Angeles National Forest and Arcadia’s Wilderness Park are north of the area, while single-family residential homes are to the west and south of the area. To the east is open space owned by the City of Monrovia and known as the Monrovia Hillside Wilderness Preserve.

Find out what's happening in Arcadiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Opponents of the project contend that alternatives existed that would prevented the loss of . , called alternative No. 5, to the Board of Supervisors, DPW representatives and Mayor Peter Amundson of Arcadia. Stone suggested placing 125,000 cubic yards of the debris on the existing upper sediment placement site, but the DPW insisted that there was not enough room as the site must maintain some capacity in case of emergency.

At a public meeting hosted by Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Works on Dec. 16, to the plan. Despite the outpouring of public support to save the Arcadia Woodlands, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, who had previously delayed the project 30-days on Dec. 7, .

Chris Stone, assistant deputy director of the DPW, addressed the Board at last Tuesday’s meeting and said that if the sediment was left untended, “Ultimately the dam would be decommissioned. We’d lose all of the drinking water of Sierra Madre and a portion of the drinking water of Arcadia. We’d lose all of the ability for flood control in this area, affecting 56,000 residents of the state.”

Woodlands supporters will get a chance to weigh in on a motion on the agenda put forth by Supervisor Michael Antonovich that would create a “working group of community representatives” to work with the county on future project as well as collaborating in the revegetation process of the lower sediment placement site, which will be at capacity following the completion of the county’s project. Antonovich’s motion also sets aside $650,000 in county funds for the revegetation of a new oak woodland habitat at the site.  

The Board of Supervisors meet at Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration (500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012) every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. According to Stone, the protesters will meet at 8:45 a.m. on the steps in front of the Board's Meeting Hall, Room 381B. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Arcadia