Ex-Wetlands
Tonight marks the first in what promises to be a long series of Friday night vigils: as I write this, local residents, politicians and environmentalists are gathered to mourn one of Long Beach's biggest environmental fiascoes in recent history. Not long after the sale of the Los Cerritos Wetlands from the city of Long Beach to private hands, 2H construction company went Friday to bulldoze the entire wetlands: egrets, foxes, owls and all. The land was totally demolished. There were no permits, there was no permission of any kind, and now there are no more wetlands here. If you have have the available time next Friday, I strongly recommend you come by. Here's more from the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, who say they'll do a vigil every Friday until the lands are restored:
"We need to send two messages to City Hall. #1) That no one is above the law and that all of us, including wealthy and influential landowners, must suffer the consequences when they break the law. #2) That we need their help and partnership to ensure all of the Los Cerritos Wetlands ecosystem is protected and restored so that we lose not one acre to development and exploitation.We sincerely appreciate that City Councilmember and wetlands advocate, Patrick O'Donnell is making time in his busy schedule to be our keynote speaker and we look forward to hearing his thoughts. Bring your own sign or wave one of the signs and banners that we will provide. See you this Friday! Elizabeth Lambe Executive Director Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust P.S. The California Environmental Protection Agency was out at the site today to determine what hazards to human health might have occurred from this illegal earthscraping. That parcel of land was the city dump for many years and likely contains hazardous materials. Just another reason that land is better suited as open space and habitat, not soccer fields. " Photo taken by Justin Johnsen and used under a creative commons license.