CC SR 20211019 F - Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation POTUS Letter
RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 10/19/2021
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to President
Biden seeking funding consideration for the Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation
Project.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to President Biden seeking funding
consideration for the Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Megan Barnes, Senior Administrative Analyst
REVIEWED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Draft letter to President Biden (page A-1)
BACKGROUND:
The Portuguese Bend Landslide along Palos Verdes Drive South is one of the largest
active landslides in the United States. Triggered in 1956, the landslide has caused
significant infrastructure damage to homes, utilities, and roadways, costing Rancho Palos
Verdes taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in roadway repairs.
The landslide continues to pose a serious threat to public safety and the environment.
Sudden and major land movement, which has previously occurred in nearby landslides,
would cause Palos Verdes Drive South to fail, severing one of the Peninsula’s only
evacuation routes, and potentially resulting in above-ground pipes spilling raw sewage
into the ocean.
1
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is seeking to slow the landslide and bring geological
stability to the area with the proposed Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project,
and is in the process of preparing a draft environmental impact report (EIR) slated for
release in late November to early December 2021.
The $30 million proposed project includes surface fracture infilling, surface drainage
improvements, groundwater extraction and post-construction monitoring.
DISCUSSION:
In anticipation of the completion of the EIR, and given the very high cost of the project,
the City has been reaching out to local, state and federal lawmakers to educate them
about the landslide and seek assistance in securing funding. Staff met with a
representative of Rep. Ted Lieu about the landslide and has given tours to Senator Ben
Allen and Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi. A tour with a representative from Senator
Dianne Feinstein’s office is scheduled for later this week (Thursday, October 21). Staff is
working to schedule tours with additional lawmakers.
In spring 2021, Staff submitted applications for Congressionally Directed Spending to help
fund the project through Rep. Lieu, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Alex Padilla. However,
the project was not selected in this highly competitive process.
Staff then sent general funding request letters in July 2021 to Rep. Lieu, Senator
Feinstein, Senator Padilla, Senator Allen, Assemblymember Muratsuchi, and Los
Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn.
Staff continues to work with the City’s grant management consultant, Blais & Associates,
to identify potential funding opportunities. This includes President Joe Biden’s pending
$1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, which includes $550 billion in new spending. It is
unclear when grant opportunities from this bill could become available, however, the City
seeks to send a letter to President Biden pursuing funding consideration for the
Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project in the meantime.
Staff has prepared a draft letter to President Biden for the City Council’s consideration
this evening and recommends the City Council authorize the Mayor to sign the letter as
drafted, or with revisions.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available for
the City Council’s consideration:
1. Identify revised language to add to the letter.
2. Do not authorize the Mayor to sign the letter.
3. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
2
October 19, 2021 Via Email
President Joseph Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
SUBJECT: Critically-Needed Funding for One of the Largest Continuously Active
Landslides in the United States
Dear President Biden:
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, thanks you for your leadership in providing
a potential pathway for small cities such as ours to secure funding for critical capital
projects through your pending $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. We are writing today to bring
to your attention a project deserving of serious consideration for this funding, and to seek
the federal government’s assistance in ensuring its completion to prevent a dual
environmental and public safety disaster.
The Portuguese Bend Landslide is one of the largest continuously active landslides in the
United States. Located in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in coastal Los Angeles County,
the landslide affects a major transportation route (Palos Verdes Drive South) and sanitary
sewer trunk line serving tens of thousands of residents of the Palos Verdes Peninsula
and is in jeopardy of failing due to the active land movement . The City seeks your
immediate assistance in securing critically-needed funding, including potential
infrastructure bill funding, to prevent a catastrophe if the land continues to move at its
current rate.
Triggered in 1956, prior to the City’s incorporation in 1973, the Portuguese Bend
Landslide has caused significant infrastructure damage to homes, utilities, and roadways,
costing the taxpayers of Rancho Palos Verdes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually
in roadway repairs. Recent global positioning system (GPS) survey results have shown
that the landslide has been moving at an increas ing rate over the past two years. With
the proposed Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project, the City is seeking to slow
the landslide to preserve the integrity of the Peninsula’s transportation system, sanitary
sewer trunk line, the recreational features of the Palos Verdes Nature P reserve, and to
protect and preserve the natural habitat and marine ecology in the area.
A-1
President Biden
October 19, 2021
Page 2
Major landslide movement, which has occurred in other nearby landslides, such as the
Paseo Del Mar landslide in San Pedro in 2011 and the Ocean Trails landslide in 1999,
has the potential to permanently close Palos Verdes Drive South. This would eliminate
the only roadway connection between the eastern side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula
and the City of Los Angeles.
Equally critical is the potential interruption of the sanitary sewer transmission main line
that serves tens of thousands of Peninsula residents, which could force the relocation of
those residents from their homes, and could adversely impact the local economy with the
closure of businesses while repairs are being made. Damage to the sewer main also
poses a serious threat to the sensitive Pacific Ocean shoreline ecosystem , including the
Abalone Cove Ecological Reserve, from uncontrolled discharge of untreated sewage. The
recent closure of Dockweiler and El Segundo beaches over the summer due to a spill of
17 million gallons of sewage underscores the looming threat facing Rancho Palos Verdes
if the roadway continues to move and the existing sewer trunk line is severed.
Additionally, if Palos Verdes Drive South were to fail, road users would face a detour of
over 15 miles, precious time in the event of evacuations due to a wildfire (virtually the
entire Peninsula falls within a Cal Fire-designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone).
While the City expends precious funds to diligently resurface and adjust the roadway, and
the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County routinely adjusts the above-ground sewer
main (the status quo situation), it is time for a solution and the dedication of funding to
ensure the long-term protection of the public infrastructure and the surrounding
environment.
Since the late 1950s, land movement had been thought to be unsolvable based on then-
existing technology. However, new developments have created a clear path for how to
reduce land movement. The City has developed a concept design and is currently
completing the California Environmental Quality Act compliance process before
proceeding to final design and construction.
We estimate $30 million will be needed to complete the construction of this critical project,
an investment that would prevent a far higher cost in the event of a disaster. Time is
critical, and we are turning now to our federal, state, and county representatives to assist
in giving this regional concern the long-overdue attention and resources it warrants.
We request the Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project be given serious
consideration for all possible federal funding opportunities, including the pending
infrastructure bill.
We need your assistance in completing and funding this significant capital project sooner,
rather than later — or when it’s too late.
A-2
President Biden
October 19, 2021
Page 3
Sincerely,
Eric Alegria
Mayor
cc: Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator, California
Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator, California
Ted Lieu, U.S. Representative, 33rd Congressional District
Nanette Barragán, U.S. Representative, 44th Congressional District
Janice Hahn, L.A. County Supervisor, 4th District
Robert Ferrante, Chief Engineer and General Manager, L.A. County Sanitation
Districts
Rancho Palos Verdes City Council
Ara Mihranian, City Manager
Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
A-3