Meet at PCH and First Street, border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting this small tidal marsh and coastal sage scrub upland habitat restoration off of the San Gabriel River. This area of the wetlands features DG trails, interpretive signage, and a small native plant nursery.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Meet at PCH and First Street, border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting this small tidal marsh and coastal sage scrub upland habitat restoration off of the San Gabriel River. This area of the wetlands features DG trails, interpretive signage, and a small native plant nursery.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Upcoming bird walk dates at the Zedler Marsh Site: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM on the 4th Saturday of each month (except May) — May 16th (3rd Saturday), and Jun 27th
Meet at PCH and First St, on the border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting the Hellman Lowlands area of the wetlands. The area features a small tidal marsh, tidal channels, mudflats, salt pans and ruderal grassland habitats.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Meet at PCH and First St, on the border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting the Hellman Lowlands area of the wetlands. The area features a small tidal marsh, tidal channels, mudflats, salt pans and ruderal grassland habitats.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Upcoming bird walk dates at the Hellman Site: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM on the 2nd Saturday of each month — May 9th, Jun 13th
Meet at PCH and First Street, border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting this small tidal marsh and coastal sage scrub upland habitat restoration off of the San Gabriel River. This area of the wetlands features DG trails, interpretive signage, and a small native plant nursery.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Upcoming bird walk dates at the Zedler Marsh Site: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM on the 4th Saturday of each month (except May) — Apr 25th, May 16th (3rd Saturday), and Jun 27th
Meet at PCH and First St, on the border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting the Hellman Lowlands area of the wetlands. The area features a small tidal marsh, tidal channels, mudflats, salt pans and ruderal grassland habitats.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Upcoming bird walk dates at the Hellman Site: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM on the 2nd Saturday of each month — Apr 11th, May 9th, Jun 13th
Meet at PCH and First Street, border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting this small tidal marsh and coastal sage scrub upland habitat restoration off of the San Gabriel River. This area of the wetlands features DG trails, interpretive signage, and a small native plant nursery.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Upcoming bird walk dates at the Zedler Marsh Site: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM on the 4th Saturday of each month (except May) — Mar 28th, Apr 25th, May 16th (3rd Saturday), and Jun 27th
Meet at PCH and First St, on the border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting the Hellman Lowlands area of the wetlands. The area features a small tidal marsh, tidal channels, mudflats, salt pans and ruderal grassland habitats.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Upcoming bird walk dates at the Hellman Site: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM on the 2nd Saturday of each month — Feb 8th, Mar 14th, Apr 11th, May 9th, Jun 13th
Meet at PCH and First Street, border of Seal Beach/LB. Turn inland, park off asphalt. This is one of two chances each month to enter the locked gated property and look for bird species inhabiting this small tidal marsh and coastal sage scrub upland habitat restoration off of the San Gabriel River. This area of the wetlands features DG trails, interpretive signage, and a small native plant nursery.
Los Cerritos Wetlands is part of the Orange Coast Audubon Important Bird Area which also includes Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica, Huntington Wetlands and Newport Bay, a string of critical urban wetlands habitats. This walk is in partnership with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Stewardship Program.
Please bring binoculars if you have them, recommended to bring water, hat, sunscreen. Closed-toed shoes are required. Rain or shine. No prior birding experience is necessary. Family friendly event.
Upcoming bird walk dates at the Zedler Marsh Site: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM on the 4th Saturday of each month (except May) — Feb22nd, Mar 28th, Apr 25th, May 16th (3rd Saturday), and Jun 27th
As we have shared in our announcements, the first major
restoration at Los Cerritos Wetlands was recently approved by the Coastal
Commission on December 13th, 2018, the BOMP Oil
Consolidation/Wetlands Restoration Project, which Audubon supports. This project is often characterized by the
media as controversial because some environmentalists oppose. Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority, Los Cerritos
Wetlands Land Trust, Bolsa Chica Land Trust and many others support the
project. Much like Bolsa Chica, the Los
Cerritos Wetlands vision has always been to return the land, highly impacted by
the oil industry, to wetlands.
Unfortunately we don’t have control over what they do with oil
operations removed from the wetlands, and the restoration supporters have never
included “end all oil extraction” in their wetlands restoration advocacy as it
is known “end oil” has a very long road ahead.
The value of coastal wetlands and the extent of the loss of California
coastal wetlands is of great concern–the more we can restore sooner rather
than later, the better.
As we’ve promised, listed below are additional details,
pictures and information about the first approved and funded restoration project
at Los Cerritos Wetlands. First, some
ask “what is this project”?
In brief review, the “BOMP” Oil Consolidation/Wetlands
Restoration Project is:
Pertains to the privately owned portion of LCW
owned by Synergy Oil (north of 2nd St., west of Studebaker Rd.),
most importantly this portion of LCW contains the only original part of these
wetlands left, aka “Steamshovel Slough” on the north side of the Synergy Oil
Property.
The South Section of the Synergy Oil property is
separated from the slough by a berm and paralleled by muted and degraded
wetlands with an active oil field on these muted, filled and drilled
wetlands. The entire acreage of the
Synergy Oil owned property (all historically Los Cerritos Wetlands) is
approximately 154 acres.
The oil company will move oil operations built
to 1960’s standards off this large mostly degraded wetlands acreage and
consolidate oil operations on two properties of about 5 acres each–154 acres
of oil operations on wetlands, consolidated down to just over 10 or 11 acres on
two adjacent industrial use and landfill sites.
The two approximate 5 acre oil consolidation
sites (where the “new” replacement wells will go) are the “pumpkin patch” (a
landfill site used for pumpkin and Christmas tree sales) and 5 acres at the
corner of 2nd/Westminster & Studebaker used to store road
construction supplies surrounded by a tank farm by the power plant.
Included in the project is the section of oil
fields adjacent to the freshwater “Marketplace Marsh” (south of 2nd
Street, east of Shopkeeper Rd). The oil
operations will also be removed there opening the door for restoration in a
later phase.
Today eight (8) rigid pipelines crisscross the
Synergy oil fields and an earthquake fault, these existing pipelines and wells
have no modern failure safety measures.
This will be replaced by one pipeline crossing the fault built to
withstand big quakes, with spill containment measures, and the entire new
consolidated oil operations will have all the modern safety and spill
containment features. The consolidated
wells will be outside the fault zone.
The existing historic Bixby building used as
Synergy Oil office will be moved off the fault line and converted to a wetlands
visitor center. Public access will also
include a perimeter trail around the wetlands.
A new Synergy office building will be
constructed at the Pumpkin Patch site after removal of the old landfill, and
will be landscaped with native plants and designed with bird safe glass.
The restoration will be phased, with Phase I
just approved by the Coastal Commission this December for the 30 acres of
muted/degraded wetlands parallel to the pristine “Steamshovel Slough”, which
will happen in less than 5 to 10 years.
All oil operations will be consolidated off the entire 154 acres in 10
to 20 years or even less, at which time the Phase II restoration will begin as
a separate plan.
It is important to note this oil
consolidation/wetlands restoration project is not funded by tax payer money and
is separate from Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority’s plan, although the LCWA is
very involved and the restored wetlands will be transferred to the LCWA. “BOMP” or “BOM” was formed to head the oil
consolidation/restoration project (Beach Oil Mineral Partners) and hopes to
sell mitigation bank credits later to recoup money they spent on the
restoration.
Benefits:
A major benefit, the only natural intact piece of Los
Cerritos Wetlands in existence today will be in public hands and permanently
protected and managed—the 44 acre salt marsh known locally as “Steamshovel
Slough”. With the addition of another
adjacent 30 acres of restored wetlands, the size of the salt marsh will be
nearly doubled. Upland habitat around
the marsh, primarily taken over by invasive weeds, will be restored with plants
native to the area. Contaminated soils
will be remediated, oil operations removed from 154 acres clearing the way for
a second phase of restoration. For later
phases “adaptive restoration” has been mentioned briefly, which in general
means restoring at higher elevations for sea level rise and allowing marsh to
gradually migrate. Along with all the
habitat benefits the project includes passive public access and an educational
interpretive/visitor center.
Background:
El Dorado Audubon, Audubon California and our sister
chapters have followed and participated in the restoration process of Los
Cerritos Wetlands for decades, including the BOMP consolidation/restoration
project. We have reviewed EIRs, plans,
we hired an attorney and our own biologist to review and advise us on the
project.
Some people are opposed to the project based on removing the
oil consolidation component out of the plan completely, hence to stop all oil
drilling, which legally speaking cannot be done any time in the foreseeable
future. Important to note our attorney
reviewed the plan and found nothing legally wrong or illegal with the proposed
consolidation/restoration plan, advised Audubon to meet with the BOMP project
team regarding the restoration itself and work out our concerns. Which we did.
El Dorado Audubon chose not to spend our limited member donations
fighting an “end oil cause”–against a wetlands restoration.
Our mission is “conservation of native birds and their
habitats”, which habitat restoration is a key function in conserving native
birds. More importantly we were very
concerned with the “no project” alternative.
The existing oil field is already prone to some tidal exchange as it
exists today despite the fact an earthen berm exists; current oil operations
are right on the edge of muted wetlands with pipe lines literally running
across the wetlands. The “no project”
alternative would result in these outdated, wetlands residing oil operations
continuing indefinitely as is. Should
the sea level rise predictions come to pass, this means the existing oil field with
no modern safety measures would experience severe flooding impacting the
adjacent “Steamshovel Slough” and Alamitos Bay.
Therefore, in this case Audubon felt the project, closely reviewed and
“conditioned”, was the best choice.
Through the process of this oil consolidation/restoration project our involvement resulted in some of the special conditions imposed on the project by permitting agencies, and we also supported other special conditions during the permitting process at City of Long Beach and California Coastal Commission. You can read the Coastal Commission report and what was approved, including 25 special conditions, click here.
It is important to note by definition we are more a
conservationist organization rather than an environmentalist organization, as
our mission statement indicates, although these two terms are often used
interchangeably these days. We look for
practical, balanced solutions to problems, based on a variety of expert advice,
research and more. Audubon is a
science-based conservation organization.
We respect and work with project proponents, government agencies, public
offices and public officials, often privately and effectively in regards to our
mission. We didn’t arrive at our support
for the BOMP oil consolidation/restoration project easily, much thought and
review was put into this.
To address the often sensational media statements regarding
this consolidation/restoration project, which are often a bit confusing and
perhaps misleading such as “more drilling expected”, “sea level rise will turn
restoration into mud flats”, “greenhouse gas increase”, “millions of barrels
will be extracted compared to 300 barrels now”, etc. below are a few verified
facts:
Existing operations = 33 active wells, 74 wells
total including those idle (which could be put back into service)
“New” replacement wells = includes both oil
wells and water re-injection wells (oil mixed with water is extracted, oil is
separated and water is cleaned and put back in the ground preventing ground
subsidence). No fracking is
allowed. No water re-injection wells
exist in the existing oil operations, therefore no ground subsidence measures
are being taken in the current oil operations.
The 33 wells active in the existing operations
are currently producing 300 barrels a day
All 74 existing wells (currently on the wetlands),
if running, could produce up 10,000 barrels a day; however, the project
approval includes a maximum 2,500 barrel a day cap for the existing oil field
which BOMP self-imposed to show good faith that they are in fact serious about
getting oil operations off the wetlands.
Therefore you may see the media stating 10,000 barrels a day while the
Coastal report states 2,500 barrels a day.
The oil operator chooses not to maintain and run
all 74 wells as moving off the wetlands to more modern consolidated operations
is more cost effective/efficient.
The “new” consolidation wells could produce
24,000 barrels a day (not millions). And yes more modern technology can extract
faster.
The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission increases
estimated for the consolidation project component are based on the 300 barrels
a day, not the full capacity of all existing 74 wells running which the operator
would and could legally run all 74 wells if the consolidation had not been
approved. Also the carbon sink abilities
of a wetlands restoration were not factored into the GHG emissions
calculations, making the estimated GHG emission for the consolidation project
on the high side. The Coastal Commission
addressed the GHG with a number of special conditions to offset increases.
Conclusion:
If you follow National Audubon and Audubon California you
may notice many birds and their habitats are at risk for a variety of reasons,
including those that use Los Cerritos Wetlands during their migrations and
those that reside year around. Salt
marshes and mudflats are very critical foraging grounds to these birds. Locally development is closing in, not good
for either our resident or migrant birds, they need good quality replacement
habitat for foraging and nesting. We
felt to wait 50 years or more to restore the wetlands (in hopes oil extraction
would someday be illegal) would be detrimental to this Audubon Important Bird
Area. Had the “new” relocated
consolidation wells actually been proposed on a habitat and not on industrial
use sites we would have a very different position of course. Or, if oil operations and pipelines did not
already exist all over Los Cerritos Wetlands then we would have a different
position about this oil consolidation project component. However the fact is, oil is already there and the areas adjacent to the wetlands for oil
well relocation are industrial sites.
As a side note, in the case of Los Cerritos Wetlands, there would be
nothing left of the wetlands to restore had the area not been exploited for
oil, otherwise it would have no doubt already been developed into housing or
shopping centers.
We hope this helps explain and clarify what is behind all
the project “controversy” chatter online and in the media. Hopefully those who oppose the project can eventually
understand and accept that Audubon is entitled to our point of view and
position on this matter, as they are entitled to theirs as well, which we don’t
hold against them or criticize them for having a different view.
As the project moves forward, wetlands restoration and oil
consolidation activities will be heavily monitored and reviewed by many
government agencies on an ongoing basis, which is standard protocol for such
projects.
Included below are pictures of the original/intact Los Cerritos Wetlands Marsh (aka “Steamshovel Slough”) which will now be in public hands along with pictures of the adjacent oil field to be relocated/consolidated onto two 5 acre industrial use properties, recent pictures of those two 5 acre properties to become the consolidated oil operations, the Phase I restoration area adjacent to Steamshovel Slough, the Synergy Oil Field to be removed and consolidated off the wetlands (clearing the land for a Phase II restoration) and degraded/muted wetlands, the berm between Steamshovel Slough and the Synergy Oil Field intended to keep sea water out of the oil field, a December 2018 high tide showing sea water nearly breaching the existing berm from the wetlands into the oil field and the weedy uplands area along Studebaker Rd. to become a public access trail with upland native plants. Please also see our Conservation Page for additional photos and information.