A meeting will be held Thursday, April 7, to look at the U.S. Navy’s proposed plan to replace the ammunition pier at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. The meeting will be held in an open house format, 5-8 p.m., in the Community Room of Fire Station #48, North Gate Road, near Leisure World. Navy personnel will be on hand to answer the public’s questions about the proposal.
Navy officials want to build a 1,100-foot by 125-foot replacement ammunition pier inside Anaheim Bay. The project would include a new civilian boating channel.
“I support our Navy and our Navy’s work around the world to keep us safe. Seal Beach has an excellent relationship with our Navy and the Navy is doing an Environmental Analysis to be sure that any possible unintended negative consequences are identified and mitigated. It is premature to support or oppose this particular project until an Environmental Analysis is done,” said Seal Beach Councilmember Ellery Deaton. She said she would ask for another meeting in Old Town as Old Town and Surfside will be effected by the project.
“We’re only at the earliest stages of this project,” said Gregg Smith, public information officer for the base.
The Navy is preparing a document that is called an environmental assessment for the project. But nothing has been approved yet.
According to Smith, the Navy must first prepare a document called an Environmental Assessment. Before doing that, the Navy wants to know what the public’s concerns are. Getting public comment will take about a month.
Then the Navy will prepare a draft of the Environmental Assessment, a process that will take about a year. Then, Smith said the Navy would seek public comment on the draft. In late 2017 or early 2018, the Navy will issue the final assessment.
Depending on the assessment, the Navy could determine that an Environmental Impact Report is necessary. That could take another two years, according to Smith.
One of the changes that could result from the project is the relocation of the civilian boating channel in Alamitos bay. Smith said that right now, the civilian boating channel goes by the ammunition facility. This is a security concern for the Navy, which sometimes makes it necessary to shut down the harbor to civilian boat traffic.
Smith said the project would move the channel farther from Navy operations, with less need to shut down civilian boating traffic.
Seal Beach merchant Joe Kalmick said repairing or possibly realigning the breakwater on Seal Beach’s side of Alamitos Bay would possibly reduce erosion of the city’s beach. Kalmick would also like to see improving the visual appearance of the fence at the end of the beach.
Smith said there has been no formal study on the economic impact of the project, but the base would be able to handle larger ships, which would mean more business opportunities because of the potential for more sailors to visit Seal Beach on liberty.
