The Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office announced Monday that it has reached a settlement with Southern California Edison to resolve civil and criminal actions stemming from a grading project that caused significant environmental harm to the Mission Canyon area last year.
The criminal and civil complaints allege that between Dec. 4 and Dec. 16, 2019, SCE engaged in an unpermitted road maintenance and widening project along 1.6 miles of Spyglass Ridge Road starting at the base of the Inspiration Point trail, according to a statement issued Monday by District Attorney Joyce Dudley’s office.
The project involved using large construction equipment to scale substantial portions of rock on the uphill side of Spyglass Ridge Road, grade the road surface, remove vegetation, and grade berms on the downhill side of the road, the statement said.
In December 2019, work performed by SCE crews generated a substantial amount of rock, sediment and debris down the slopes into Mission Creek and its tributaries, according to the county district attorney’s office.
SCE pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor violation of the California water code for discharging a pollutant into Mission Creek, the statement said.
SCE also agreed to pay a $3.5 million civil penalty.
Of that, $875,000 is devoted to funding supplemental environmental projects in the community, including maintaining the Jesusita and Tunnel trails, revegetating Mission Canyon and Mission Creek with native plants, researching and monitoring the health of Mission Creek, and funding efforts to clean Santa Barbara’s front-country trails and creeks.
The supplemental environmental projects, identified in the civil judgment, are in addition to the remediation work SCE will be undertaking in Mission Canyon.
Of the remaining penalty money, more than $1 million will be paid to Santa Barbara County, as well as $656,250 to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and $656,250 to Santa Barbara County’s fish and wildlife propagation fund.
SCE will reimburse the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office for $25,000, plus the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for $15,000, for investigation and prosecution costs.
SCE has agreed to pay a $10,000 criminal fine to the State Water Quality Control Board, the district attorney’s office statement said.
The company also admitted civil liability to several violations of the California Fish and Game Code and the California Business and Professions Code.
As part of the civil judgment, Dudley’s office said, SCE must continue working with regulators to ensure the damage it caused in Mission Canyon is remediated.
The company is working with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the county Planning and Development Department to remediate the damage it caused to Mission Canyon and the Mission Creek area, the statement said.
SCE’s spokesperson provided the following statement to Noozhawk:
“The women and men of Southern California Edison take our commitment to being good neighbors and stewards of the environment very seriously. We did not meet that commitment in December 2019, when one of our crews caused damage in the Mission Canyon area during needed road repair work. We sincerely apologize.”
SCE’s statement continued: “Since that time, we have worked extensively to restore the area with approval and guidance from government agencies and local stakeholders. Some of the improvement projects SCE has undertaken include rebuilding berms along the road, installing equipment to reduce impacts from possible rockfall, and removing rock and debris from the road.
“We are continuing to work with government agencies and the public as we plan stream habitat restoration for Mission Creek in 2021. We have spent thousands of employee hours on remediation efforts to date. We will have spent $7 million by the end of 2020, and anticipate that total restoration costs will exceed $15 million. SCE will not seek recovery of these costs through rates.
“We understand the impact our remediation work has on the community and the Mission Canyon area, and will continue to do our best to minimize the inconvenience as we continue with additional restoration and safety improvement efforts. SCE is committed to continuously improving our work practices to ensure the safety of our customers, employees and communities, while also protecting the environment.”
The company “will not seek recovery of these costs through rates” to fund various supplemental environmental projects, the statement said. “SCE also agreed to plead no contest to a single misdemeanor charge for violation of the California Water Code with a $10,000 fine.”
SCE discharged more than 965,110 gallons of sidecast over the edge of Spyglass Ridge Road into Mission Canyon, according to Dudley’s office.
Of that, about 74,044 gallons were discharged into the “waters of the United States,” and about 521,756 gallons were discharged into the “waters of the state of California.”
“SCE’s unlawful conduct permanently impacted Mission Creek by altering the streambed and obstructing water flows, and it made lasting changes to the natural environment by carving rock and vegetation from the mountainside,” the district attorney’s office said. “SCE also caused the permanent loss of some native trees and vegetation, and degraded the habitat for some fish, wildlife, and rare plant communities.”
The District Attorney’s Office continued: “Further, SCE’s actions impacted the entire Santa Barbara community by forcing multiple closures of one of the county’s most popular recreation areas.”
The trail in Mission Canyon Above Santa Barbara was closed to the public while SCE’s construction activities and road repair project occurred this fall.
The company has cooperated with regulators since the December 2019 incident, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
At the direction of the county Planning and Development Department, SCE engaged in extensive work to improve the safety and stability of the area.
The District Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting violations of California’s environmental laws, Dudley said.
“While the decision to charge a corporation criminally is not one that prosecutors take lightly, our office will do so when the underlying conduct warrants such action,” Dudley said. “We believe the resolution in this case reflects the seriousness of SCE’s impact on our environment. We commend the company for accepting responsibility and committing to remediate the damage it caused and appreciate the company’s cooperation throughout the investigation.”
Deputy district attorneys Morgan Lucas and Christopher Dalbey handled the case, and Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Cota supervised the case.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.