Water Board Investigating Army Corps of Engineers' Action in the Sepulveda Basin

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is having to answer to yet another agency in regards to its recent clear-cutting of vegetation and wildlife habitat in the Sepulveda Basin.

The Encino Neighborhood Council, the Audubon Society, local environmentalists and politicos of every stripe have been pounding on the Corps in recent weeks. And now a demand comes from yet another quarter: the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

In addition to the communications failure that left locals in the dark about the Corps' plans for the wildlife area, the Corps may also have forgotten to file paperwork with the Water Board.

A certified letter dated Thursday warned Colonel R. Mark Roy that the Corps removed 43 acres of vegetation and filled Pothole Pond with debris "without notifing the Regional Board and without consulting the Regional Board about state water quality certification." 

The Water Board said it expects an explanation by Feb. 11 in the form of a 26-point technical and/or monitoring report. Failure to produce the report is a misdemeanor, and missing the deadline will result in a $1,000-a-day fine. See the attached PDF for the Water Board's 26-point list.