Briefly

-- Paul Clinton

The California Coastal Commission this week unanimously approved the

Irvine Co.’s environmentalist-backed drainage plan for its 635-home

project at Crystal Cove.

The Monday approval came on the heels of a March 8 settlement between

the developer and Orange County CoastKeeper. The Newport Beach group sued

the Irvine Co. last year after the commission’s approval of an initial

plan in August.

That plan, CoastKeeper Executive Director Garry Brown said, didn’t

adequately address “direct discharges” -- silt, water and other runoff

flowing onto the cove’s beach.

Under the revised plan, the developer agreed to divert water runoff

into the public sewer system. The plan includes the shuttering of a

30-inch outlet pipe at Los Trancos Canyon Creek and 3-by-4-foot box

culvert at the north end of the cove. Also, the Irvine Co. agreed to

monitor water quality for 10 years.

The deal also settled the developer’s obligations as one of four

parties named in a Nov. 16 cease-and-desist order issued by the Santa Ana

Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Some environmentalists, including Defend the Bay founder Bob Caustin,

have said the plan would force too much water into nearby Muddy Creek.

Brown has defended it, saying the runoff plan is state of the art.