Water Panel Welcomes Nuclear Carriers

SAN DIEGO — Regional water authorities Wednesday unanimously approved the Navy’s environmental report on home-porting two more nuclear aircraft carriers in San Diego Bay.

Although it is questionable whether the Navy needs the approval to bring ships to San Diego, Navy officials were eager to convince the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board that the carriers pose no danger and comply with state and local regulations.

The carriers are supported by the Chamber of Commerce and other local groups as a boon to the local economy, but environmental activists have warned of possible contamination from the carriers’ nuclear reactors. After a review that has taken months, the water board sided with the Navy.

“I truly believe that . . . we will not face any adverse environmental impacts to have this move ahead,” said board Chairman Wayne Baglin.

The Navy hopes to begin dredging San Diego Bay early next month to deepen the channel for the carriers. Approval from the Army Corps of Engineers is still pending.

“We’re confident this project balances the Navy’s operational needs and the community’s concerns about public health and the environment,” said Cmdr. David Koontz, spokesman for the Naval Air Force U.S. Pacific Fleet.

North Island Naval Air Station, in Coronado across the bay from San Diego, is home to one nuclear carrier, the John C. Stennis, which arrived last year. A second one, possibly the Nimitz, is set to arrive in spring 2002, with a third in the years following.

Several residents and environmentalists were concerned about the increased amount of radioactive material that will be used and stored in the area. Navy officials have said the amount of radioactive waste generated by the carriers would amount to less than what a typical hospital creates.

However, Carol Jahnkow, director of the nonprofit Peace Resource Center of San Diego, said: “We need to make sure the designation ‘low-level’ does not mean low-risk. . . . Some of it is quite lethal.”

The Navy wants to pull 534,000 cubic yards of material from San Diego Bay to allow the ships to use a new wharf and also wants to create a 27-acre island from the dredged material in the southern bay.

The California Coastal Commission in February voted 5 to 2 to approve the project, saying the Navy has taken adequate steps to safeguard the environment and the public.

The commission’s staff biologists and federal wildlife authorities agreed that discharges of the water used to cool the nuclear reactors and other ship machinery would not harm the bayand that the military had adequate plans for monitoring the water.

Although nuclear-powered carriers are new to San Diego, the Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarines have been home-ported in San Diego’s Point Loma for decades, without incident.