Criminal Prosecution Was Threatened Over Lebec’s 12-Inch Water Line

  • Records from the California Department of Fish and Game

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    Records from the California Department of Fish and Game

  • Records from the California Department of Fish and Game

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    Records from the California Department of Fish and Game

  • Jeff French

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    Jeff French

By Gary Meyer

The civil engineer and developer who constructed a controversial 12-inch diameter water line for 170 feet underneath "blue line" Cuddy Creek in Lebec during December 2009 was threatened with criminal prosecution by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) a year later, according to records obtained by The Mountain Enterprise last week.

Jeff French, of French and Associates, is a civil engineer and partner with Emilie Wainright in developments in Lebec. They sold the property for the Holiday Inn Express Hotel, but then had trouble fulfilling their promise that an adequate water supply would be available.

French told The Mountain Enterprise in January 2012 that he had contacted the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) before beginning the project.

“I contacted Department of Fish and Game prior to starting the project and they were equivocal about whether a permit was needed,” French said in the interview. “We had an emergency situation and decided to act, since [DFG] was not worried about it.”

But DFG officials told The Mountain Enteprise they do not grant oral permits for such construction. We reported this year, in January, that two DFG officials denied to reporters that French’s statements were factual.

The line was built without permits. It was also connected to the Lebec County Water District distribution system without following the requirements of public water districts. No public agenda was issued about the connection, no board meeting was held, no quorum voted to approve. Two board members acted alone, as individuals, to authorize the connection.

Violation

Now The Mountain Enterprise has received the November 19, 2010 letter to Jeff French, in which DFG Regional Manager Jeffrey R. Single, Ph.D. tells French that construction of the water line eleven months earlier violated Fish and Game Code Section 1602, which requires a person to notify the department prior to “…substantially changing the bed, channel or bank of a river, stream or lake….”

Possible Civil or Criminal Prosecution

The letter tells French he would be required to submit notification of the project, including payment of a fee ($560). DFG then said, “If the department does not receive the notification and fee by December 30, 2010, the Department will pursue other enforcement options, including referring the matter to the District Attorney’s Office or the Attorney General’s Office for civil or criminal prosecution.” (download the full letter here)

In December of 2010—more than a year after the trench had been dug, the water line installed, the ditch back-filled and the pipe connected to the Lebec County Water District system—without notification to the public or vote by the LCWD board—the Department of Fish and Game finally received French’s “Notification of Lake or Streambed Alteration.”

So, on January 18, 2011, the DFG’s Jeffrey Single provided French with a draft of the Streambed Alteration Agreement that said: “Within 30 days of receipt of this draft agreement, you must notify the department in writing whether the measures to protect fish and wildlife resources are acceptable.”

Notice of Exemption

Then, on February 10, 2011, Single wrote to French: “Before the department may issue an agreement, it must comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In this case, the department, acting as a responsible agency, determined that your project is exempt from CEQA and will file a Notice of Exemption (NOE).

“Under CEQA, filing a Notice of Exemption starts a 35- day period within which “a party” [meaning a member of the public, or a group—Editor] may challenge the filing agency’s approval of the project.

“You may begin your project before the 35-day period expires if you have obtained all necessary local, state and federal permits or other authorizations. However, if you elect to do so, it will be at your own risk.”

By the time this was written, French’s project had already been in the ground for over a year and was already supplying the Holiday Inn Express with a back-up water reserve.

The public was not actually told that the 35-day notification period had begun, or that it could challenge the Department of Fish and Game’s approval of the project. The notice was filed in Sacramento, apparently with no local notification from either DFG or the developer.

‘Put This Behind Us’

Lebec County Water District (LCWD) board members scheduled a “discussion and appropriate action” on their agenda for their Monday, March 5 meeting. They are currently considering whether to accept legal ownership of the 12-inch water line. Developers Jeff French and Emilie Wainright offered the district an easement. If LCWD accepts the line, liability for problems would be assumed by the district. Board President Delbert Clowes suggested they “put this behind us” and vote. But the board tabled the issue for more research.


EDITORIAL

A developer and a state agency have waved a magic pen to say “everything is okay,” after state laws were broken to hurry along excavation through a blue line creek. The construction of Lebec’s famous “12-inch line” was done without permits and without public notification. Its connection to the Lebec County Water District system was done without legal notice to the elected LCWD board or mention on a public meeting agenda.

The construction was accomplished with misrepresentations and defiance of environmental requirements. This should be a red flag to everyone who lives in Lebec as the same pipeline is now on the agenda for a new board to adopt—apparently without investigation as to future liability.

First, the letter from Department of Fish and Game (DFG) states that the public is entitled to a 35-day period in which it could challenge DFG’s approval of the project. But the DFG denied that opportunity to the public.

Second, what exactly is under Cuddy Creek? Checking to verify what is under the ground is necessary. The description given to DFG personnel about “a pipe encased in concrete” buried under Cuddy Creek is not what is shown in “as built” blueprints given to DFG by Jeff French, and now provided to The Mountain Enterprise. The plans do not mention a concrete casing, or the 8-foot depth that the DFG was told were used. There are no photos to document the depth or concrete casing.

Two members of the board, Bruce Koch and Bob Karr, acted individually without notifying the public or other members of the board. Both then resigned and DFG has not bothered to verify what was built.

Lebec County Water District should require an excavation to verify what was buried under the creek. LCWD should do that due diligence before signing any documents accepting responsibility and liability for the structure. Hopefully, such an inspection will reveal a line well built, encased in concrete and buried 5 to 8 feet below the surface.

This is part of the March 09, 2012 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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