Orange County Sweet Digs

July 20, 2008

More Controversy over the Orange County Great Park Development: What Else is New?

Note: I hadn’t planned on writing about the Orange County Great Park development for a while, but a comment I received recently made it seem timely.

animals con More Controversy over the Orange County Great Park Development: What Else is New?

The Orange County Great Park development generates a lot of controversy. An example is a comment that I received to one of my recent Great Park posts. Here it is:

Marsha said:

You should see the article at www.newsOC.org that talks about the Great Park coverup–it really tells it like it is.

My reply is:

I don’t know enough about this right now to give an opinion, but this is certainly a question that needs to be addressed. And I imagine that counter claims have been stated, so I would have to hear the other side of the argument (from the Navy, Lennar, and the City of Irvine) before coming to any conclusions. I don’t have this information right now, so I will reserve judgment. The Great Park development seems to generate some very strong opinions, and whether this turns out to be a valid criticism or political maneuvering is a question that I am not ready to answer. I will keep it in mind as I look into the Great Park development.

Answering these questions will help me to understand the issue better and the motivation behind the criticism:

I noticed only one post on the newsOC blog (e-newsletter) that you linked to. Are there currently other posts on this site, or is this the only post? Also, I was looking for a date on the post in the newsOC blog as well as on the the Financial Times News article that was linked to but didn’t see any (other than a 2008 copyright). Do you have the dates that these articles/posts were written?

In addition, would you provide a link to the Financial Times News. This was cited as a source in your link, but I am having trouble locating it on the web. It would be helpful to know more about the publication. I am assuming that the Financial Times News is different than the Financial Times. Who are the publishers, and where are they located?

Posted by Sylvia Walker on July 20, 2008 7:50 PM | del.icio.us | Digg

  • marsha
    Just got back from El Toro to verify the photo on newsoc.org web site. Yep, their reporting is spot on--the photo is exactly what I saw at El Toro just outside of what used to be called gate 2. The contractor has a sign out there labeled 'ERRG', a Navy contractor hired to do the Navy's "dirty work".
  • marsha
    Sorry, friend, I'd like to see the park work as well. As far as the photo is concerned, i just went to the newsoc.org site, and it's there. My neighbor and I plan to take our cameras out there this afternoon to verify. I think the only reason the registere and times haven't thus far said anything about the matter is because their editors won't let them. Nothing new there.
  • Marsha Marsha Marsha
    I'm sure you're some paid shill for the anti-great part politicos in Irvine, they're the only people who have any motivation to spread these lies.

    I doubt very highly that a map markes "newsoc.org" is displayed in the library, even so, accepting your theories means that everyone else involved, the city, the navy, lennar, etc. is lying and that an anonymous website are the only ones who are telling the truth.

    Also, where are these photos the site keeps promising to post? This is typical of lying blogs, "I have these great photos I would love to post, but somehow I can't, even though I run a website that claims to have staff members." How hard is it to post pictures? Do you need to borrow a scanner?

    Go tell your lies somewhere else and stop trying to destroy our Park!
  • marsha
    Here, let me help more by saying this: The binder with the maps in it is kept behind the reference desk at the Heritage Park Library at the corner of Yale and Walnut in the city of Irvine. Why? The library folks said they have had so many people coming in to see the data they are afraid somebody may try to steal the binder. So be sure to ask for the 'El Toro' binder that's kept at the reference desk. The fold-out maps are in the back of the binder.
  • marsha
    You're right--it can be copied and shared just like the newsoc.org folks have already done. If you look at the plume map, it's an exact copy of what we saw at the library. If you don't want to believe, go to the libary--it's all there. Why would I direct you there is there was some effort to manipulate the info? Are you afraid of what you might see?
  • Tired of Lies
    The great thing about the internet is that information can be posted and shared. If this information is in the library, it can be checked out or copied and then scanned in to be posted.

    No reason why someone couldn't/wouldn't do that if it was true. Just ignore, probably some political trick by airport supporters who refuse to acknowledge their ban plan is dead

    I think the X-Files movie just came out. I'll go see that for my conspiracy theories.
  • marsha
    Sylvia: If you want to be recognized as having credibility, I encourage you to take a trip to the library to see the data like I and my neighbors have. We were there again last night and ran into a camera crew from the media. To say newsOC.org's info is "convoluted" without making the effort to see the data yourself really makes me wonder about you and your site. Please don't be like others who just try to cast things aside without making a personal effort to see the facts. The library guy said others are coming in and looking at the data. Once you see it, you'll be shocked at what's really going on.
  • Now that I have had some time to read newsOC in more depth, I can say that I find it uses manipulated data and convoluted thinking. Even information from a valid source such as the library can be manipulated and used in convoluted reasoning. Also, the sources are rather mysterious (see my questions in the post above).

    I am going to leave this here for now, but, this being a political season (and we certainly have those in Irvine), I have a feeling that there are those that will be bringing this up again.
  • Marsha
    NewsOC posted a memo on their site from El Toro officials that says the Irvine water is undrinkable. Looks like Irvine and others HAVE been lying about the safety of their water.
  • marsha
    Just watch newsoc.org for more info on this. They're information is credible; it comes right from the data at the library, etc.
  • marsha
    The IRWD is not reporting the true levels for obvious reasons. Evidence shows they had to shut other nearby wells down because of too much tce.
  • Thanks everyone for the information. Very interesting and very helpful.
  • rla
    The NewsOC post actually confirms that there isn't a contamination problem in the area's water. The Irvine Ranch Water District report clip they link to (http://www.newsoc.org/PDF_Docs... shows that the amount detected and the range of all detections are well below the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level). This is a fabricated controversy, probably thought up by a disgruntled NIMBY looking to cause trouble.
  • Dominic
    Ok, from what I can find, the author of the article, Jim Stewart, is the chair of the Sierra Club's Angeles Chapter Global Warming, Energy and Air Quality Committee. If someone wants to contact him, his email is jim@earthdayla.org. Maybe he can elighten us as to the date of the article and who Financial Times News is.

    See search:

    http://search.atomz.com/search...
  • marsha
    Sorry, sirs,--I don't know about the paper. I got a copy from my neighbor who got some sort of chain email. I have been following newsOC.org who seems to have the "skinny" on the facts.
  • Dominic and Tom,

    Thank you for your research and comments. Any info that anyone has on this is welcomed.
  • Marsha,

    I would still be interested in your replies to the questions that I asked in my post. Can you provide a link to the Financial Times News and give info on who the publisher is? Also,can you provide the dates that the blog as well as the Financial Times News article were written?

    This would help to clarify the situation. Thanks you in advance for providing the answers to these questions.
  • marsha
    Sirs: My neighbors and I went to the library in the article and sure enough the tce contamination is right where the article says it is! The info at the libray also shows the tce levels under woodbridge 10+ times higher than what the epa says is safe--the level of contamination at el toro is much higher. The info published by navy contractors hired to detect this stuff is there for anyone to see.
  • Tom
    I couldn't even find a Financial Times News website or any other articles published by this "news agency".

    I could also find no other supporting data, but one would assume TCE contamination would be addressed in the EIR for the park. While the probability of TCE and other industrial contamination at the former Base is high, hard figures on the intensity of contamination is difficult to find. Worst case scenario would have a cancer cluster develop in the area, which no one has reported.
  • Dominic
    You are right to be sceptical...I think that article is dated as you suspect. I could not find any recent reference to it on the financial times news website.
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