On Thursday, October 29 at 11 am, LA City Council candidate Molly Basler, an environmentalist with the Green Dream Campaign and Climate Reality Project/LA, led a musical protest against the proposed bulldozing and destruction of the Ballona Wetlands in Playa del Rey, California.
The destruction includes recent gas rigs owned by SoCalGas being installed in this state ecological reserve, according to a press release from the DefendBallonaWetlands.org coalition.
About a dozen demonstrators gathered at Culver and Jefferson and then walked to SoCalGas’s nearby construction site within the wetlands.
The JaneUnChained News Network Facebook page carried a live video of the protest: facebook.com/JaneVelezMitchell. You can watch video footage of the musical march against the proposed bulldozing and destruction of wetlands that are home to 1,700 species, including some threatened and endangered, that will be decimated if their home is destroyed by going to: #JaneUnChained #LIVEprotest
You can also sign this petition now: bit.ly/3jD2z7R
Stop the Bulldozing
“In the midst of a busy election season where most people are focused on our political situation and staying safe from a serious virus pandemic, fossil fuel operators are digging in to the Ballona Wetlands on the Los Angeles coast and skirting environmental laws in order to get a head start on a destructive project that would bulldoze and excavate millions of cubic yards of soil and destroy important habitat. They are hoping no one notices,” according to the release.
“Yet, opposition is mounting to the controversial proposal to spend more than 250 million public dollars and lasting more than nine years, bulldozing LA’s last coastal wetlands, creating a traffic nightmare on LA’s Westside and hell on earth for wildlife,
the release said.
Threatened and Endangered Wildlife Call This Wetlands Home
The groups said Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals including endangered and threatened species. Gray Foxes, Burrowing Owls, Short-Eared Owls, Snowy Egrets, Striped Skunks, Least Terns, Red-winged Blackbirds, White-tailed Kites, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Northern Harriers, Brown Pelicans and many other species call this wetlands home.
Also relying on the Ballona Wetlands are the Least Bell’s Vireo, considered endangered, and Belding’s Savannah Sparrow, also endangered. Yet the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, SoCalGas and some environmental NGOs are pushing this plan that will destroy the habitat of endangered species!,
“This cannot stand in LA, considered one of the world’s most environmentally-friendly cities,” said Jane Velez-Mitchell.
Photos of all of these wild animals have been taken and are on exhibit for anyone to see at DefendBallonaWetlands.org. Thousands of additional Ballona Wetlands photos can be seen at tinyurl.com/ballonaphotos
Environmental, Democratic Party and Animal Welfare Groups Oppose Bulldozing
The dozens of organizations opposed to the bulldozing plan are include the Sierra Club, Protect Playa Now, Ballona Institute, the LA County Democratic Party, West LA Democratic Club, Torrance Democratic Club, Food and Water Watch, California Cultural Resource Preservation Alliance, Inc., Del Rey Residents Association and the Green Dream Campaign.
In Defense of Animals has led the charge against the obliteration of the wildlife at Ballona, urging public officials, including California Governor Newsom, to scrap the ill-conceived project. IDA’s Lisa Levinson joined the protest remotely.
So did Lisa Karlan and Marcia Hanscom, two plaintiffs in a lawsuit aimed to stop the bulldozing and challenge the mis-use of public funds.
They Claim It’s All for the Public — But the Gates Are Locked
“The argument for razing the wetlands is the need for public green space in an area with millions of residents,” the groups said. “However, the size of the land mass will not change. Critics of the bulldozing plan point out that the public could be granted considerable access right now, without a decade of destruction and the decimation of wildlife. However, a large, artistic gate, that was built with public funds, remains locked, depriving the public of access to trails, bike racks and benches that are ready to use. And, who holds the key to that gate? SoCalGas.”
The Hidden Agenda: Helping the Fossil Fuel Industry
Critics make a strong argument that this so-called “restoration” has a hidden agenda: to allow the fossil fuel industry to refurbish the crumbling gas storage facility that sits under the wetlands.
“In fact, even though the bulldozing plan’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has not received final approval, the industry has quietly received permits from state oil & gas regulators to begin moving their equipment. Recently, when LA City Council candidate Molly Basler attempted to photograph this work while standing on the public sidewalk, the gas company called police and three cops’ cars converged around her. She was falsely accused of trespassing,” they said.
“The people of LA have a right to be heard. This unpopular and destructive plan is replete with miscalculations on crucial issues like flood risk, since part of the plan is to demolish the Ballona Creek levees, which provide important flood control for the neighborhoods and roads surrounding the wetlands. The Governor, California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and SoCaGas are invited to respond and dialogue,” the release concluded.
For more information, go to: DefendBallonaWetlands.org