One very large portion of The Clearwater Program is a project to provide a new Joint Outfall System (JOS) from a 'hub' located in Carson, California and pipes and diffusers off the shore of the mainland of California, near Royal Palms, in San Pedro.
This project has six 'Alternatives' for the placement or no placement of a new JOS.
Alternative 1 consists of digging a large and deep hole in the ground near the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant (JWPCP) in Carson for a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) being inserted for the purposed of removing dirt, debris and other matter and then having what would be called the 'working shaft'. This shaft would be where the vast majority of product would come out of the ground for five of the six alternative and the movement of dirt and other matter would be accomplished by small rail cars on tracks deep underground and a conveyor to the surface.
The working shaft would be where the majority of workers would enter and exit.
The JOS or tunnel would be bored to a point offshore of an area east of Angel's Gate with a 'riser' being placed to provide access to new piping structures close to the shelf of San Pedro Canyon, off the coast.
There would be an 'exit' shaft sunk near the old LAXT site for removal of the TBM and to provide permanent access to the new JOS.
Two 'access' shafts would be required during the construction processes. One at the old Southwest Marine site and one at the TRAPAC area.
This Alternative is the most expensive in terms of dollars at a currently estimated cost of about 1.36 Billion Dollars. It would probably require one of the longest construction times.
Alternative 2 is similar to Alternative 1 except the Riser site and new tunneling would be done heading out to the west of Angel's Gate and the pipes and diffusers would be closer to the mainland that would be seen with Alternative 1.
This looks to be the second most costly, in terms of dollars and may also have one of the longest construction times.
Alternative 3 has, with the other four physical alternatives, its working shaft in a facility near the JWPCP site but the tunneling would be done basically along Figueroa Street, under Machado Lake and all the way under Gaffey Street to what is now the parking lot at the intersection of Gaffey Street and Paseo Del Mar.
That intersection would see the exit shaft's placement. With exit shafts placed on the mainland, those shafts are also considered to be permanent to provide access to the tunnel.
For this alternative and Alternative 4, there would not be any access shafts required and there would be just the working shaft and exit shaft required.
Alternative 4 is also and more importantly known as the 'recommended project' or in some other form to denote that this alternative is the favored one and the preferred project included in the Executive Summary of The Clearwater Program.
Currently estimated to have a dollar cost of approximately $550 Million Dollars, it is also estimated it would take the least amount of time to construct and has been considered to be the most 'environmentally' sound of all of the alternatives.
Beginning with the working shaft, the tunnel would 'snake' around to under the intersection of Anaheim Street and Gaffey Street then proceed under Gaffey Street to under the intersection of Gaffey Street and Capitol Drive. The tunnel would turn under the intersection of Capitol Drive and Western Avenue and proceed south until it begins to snake again, somewhat under Dodson Avenue until it meets the Sanitation Districts' property below the cliff near Royal Palms Beach.
The exit shaft would be sunk below the cliff, where permanent access to the tunnel would be created.
Alternative 5 is also known as the No Project alternative. This is a required Alternative to be studied and documentation be produced for.
This alternative deals with what if nothing is built. The Clearwater Program might still have quite a bit of development without having a new JOS or tunnel constructed, perhaps. This alternative deals with that and also if the entire program is cancelled.
Alternative 6 is also known as the No Federal Action alternative. For Alternatives 1-4 permits would be required from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to build any new JOS. This alternatives considers that the Sanitation Districts go ahead with The Clearwater Program and the placement of a new JOS but without any permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
It is my opinion that a new JOS requires Corp of Engineers' permits and cooperation, and I doubt that The Clearwater Program would go forward on a new JOS without Corp permits.
What the E.I.R. and E.I.S. allow all of us to do is take a look at the alternatives, discuss and debate them and then provide individual and group comments from a more informed position.
Just about everything on paper suggests that Alternative 4, the recommended project could be the best alternative for the greatest number of reasons. However, the E.I.R. nor the E.I.S. deal with more person-oriented dealings and community considerations the way I would like to see.
The E.I.R. is not designed to consider the pulse of the communities during the studies, whether we like it or not.
Back in 2006 or 2007, when there were sixteen sites under consideration for further study for the placements of exit and access shafts, of those who had an opinion, "over 99%" of those asked stated they wanted 'the shaft' sunk on Terminal Island, according to a County representative. This is probably why two of the alternatives consider an exit shaft on Terminal Island.
