DATE: 1/19/2007
We are working with a coalition – led by the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other key statewide environmental groups – that is trying to stop the building of a 6-lane toll road right through the middle of one of San Onofre State Beach and park… virtually destroying this popular southern CA park.
If the road goes through, it would:
-Permanently close 60% of the park;
-Destroy endangered wildlife habitat;
-Degrade world-renowned Trestles surf-beach;
-Force abandonment of the most popular campground;
-Irreparably damage Native American burial sites; and
-Disrupt San Mateo Creek Creek and send polluted runoff into one of the last unspoiled watersheds in the region.
This proposal, by Orange County’s Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), would have such a devastating impact on the park that the State Attorney General is suing to stop the project, on behalf of the State Dept. of Parks, and has also signed onto a suit filed by the Native American Heritage Commission.
On top of this, transportation experts are questioning how much real traffic relief will be provided by this project, and it sets a dangerous statewide precedent for intrusion on other state parks by projects that “must go somewhere.”
The Coalition to Save the Park at San Onofre State Beach includes the SEIU State Council, SEIU Local 1000, Sierra Club, CA State Parks Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and over 50 Democratic legislators.
