For years residents, surfers, and businessowners voiced concerns as warning signs increased off our eroding coast. Their warnings went ignored. Now, commuter trains are shut down and our train tracks are dangerously close to falling into the ocean.
When the boardwalk, basketball court, and restrooms at Capistrano Beach were destroyed in 2018, little action was taken. In 2019, sea level rise threatened the stormwater treatment system resulting the placement of sandbags along that section of the beach.
New voices like that of Representative Mike Levin, who was sworn into office in 2019, brought more attention to this issue, but decades of neglect and lack of action from our longest serving elected leaders took its toll. This leaves us, the taxpayers, to deal with the consequences of inaction.
In September 2021, the tracks near the San Clemente Station abruptly lurched 28 inches towards the ocean as a result of coastal erosion. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) deposited 18,000 tons of large rocks, or “riprap,” in the area to delay the inevitable.
At Monday’s emergency OCTA meeting immediately following the closure, we approved $12 million to install ground anchors to stabilize the sliding movement near the tracks. Assuming all goes well, we estimate this will take 30-45 days. This short-term fix will not be enough to stop the ocean.
The impacted tracks are a part of the Los Angeles – San Diego (LOSSAN) Corridor, the second busiest corridor of its type in the country that annually transports over 8.3 million passengers and moves over $1 billion in goods.
This section is designated by the Department of Defense as a national defense rail corridor due to its proximity to Camp Pendleton and the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and San Diego. Last year, the US Army transported dozens of tanks through this corridor aboard a quarter mile stretch of rail cars from Texas to the Port of San Diego to be redeployed overseas. During a national security crisis, or local emergency, this infrastructure is critical to protect our country at home and abroad.
Our neighbors in San Diego face similar issues. When the Del Mar Bluffs collapsed in 2019, the tracks had to be shut down. Fortunately, San Diego’s state representatives acted swiftly and secured $300 million from the California state budget to begin the work to move the tracks away from the crumbling bluffs. Their significant investment will be of little use to everyone if the tracks on the same rail line fail in Orange County.
The day before Metrolink and Amtrak announced its suspension of service, I hosted a Sustainability Summit at Orange Coast College with local leaders in government, science, and business. This included Representatives Katie Porter and Mike Levin, State Senator Dave Min, and Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris.
Our coastal erosion panel featured Dr. Brett Sanders, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Irvine, who highlighted our shrinking beaches and coastline. He proposed policies focused on sand replenishment, shoreline stabilization, reducing cliff erosion, and increasing sediment supplies from local creeks and streams. These are just some of the recommendations we should work with scientists and experts to explore.
Let’s not repeat history: the cost of inaction is too high.
We must explore long term solutions such as track alternatives and improvements to the resilience of our rail system — along with protection of our beaches, harbors, and coastal communities.
The cost of continuing to do nothing is too great for our neighborhoods, economy, national security, and way of life.
Katrina Foley represents the Second District on the Orange County Board of Supervisors and is a director on the Orange County Transportation Authority.
