Hahn Calls for Immediate Repairs of San Pedro Breakwater Before El Nino Hits

With potentially strong El Niño storms on the horizon, a congresswoman called Thursday for immediate repairs to the San Pedro Breakwater, a mostly off-coast structure that calms the intensity of waves coming into the Port of Los Angeles and the surrounding bay.

Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, said activity at the port would be disrupted if the breakwater fails, which could be “disastrous for the local as well as the national economy.”

“As we prepare for El Niño storms, we cannot risk allowing any damage to the protective breakwater to go unaddressed,” she said.

Nearby homes, include houseboats, and restaurants such as those at Ports O’ Call would be in harm’s way, according to Hahn’s aides.

Army Corps of Engineers officials told Hahn recently that they were confident the San Pedro Breakwater will do its job through the forecasted El Niño storms. But she pointed to four major and 12 significant areas of existing damage that she believes could put the structure at risk.

“The significant damage to the San Pedro breakwater needs to be repaired as soon as possible,” she said.

Hahn said she was told the repairs could cost $10 million.

In a letter Thursday to Army Corps of Engineers Assistant Secretary Jo Ellen Darcy, Hahn requested that “the Army Corps of Engineers make such funds available to repair the San Pedro Breakwater.”

The San Pedro Breakwater stretches out from Cabrillo Beach to the Los Angeles Harbor Lighthouse, near the entrance of the Port of Los Angeles. It is one of three breakwaters, which are made of rocks, that surround the bay.

The Middle Breakwater, which is the longest at 18,500 feet, sustained major damage when Hurricane Marie struck in August 2014, and required $5 million in emergency repairs, according to Army Corps spokesman Greg Fuderer.

Fuderer said about $9 million was also allocated later for additional repairs to “less critical damage” on the Middle Breakwater and the Long Beach Breakwater.

But so far, Congress has not authorized funds for damage on the San Pedro Breakwater, Fuderer said.

The Army Corps’ estimate as that those repairs would cost about $7 million, he said.

--City News Service, photo via Wiki Commons