Washington Mutual Fails to Disclose Devastating Impacts of New City in the Santa Monica...

Business/News Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2002

SEIR Fails to Include Critical Traffic and Water Information

Washington Mutual Bank continues to inadequately address the major traffic and environmental impacts of its proposed massive new city in the

Santa Monica Mountains. The Ahmanson Ranch supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) is another attempt by Seattle-based Washington Mutual to ram this development through the approval process while concealing the truth about the many pitfalls and devastating impacts of their luxury housing development.

Community leaders dismissed the SEIR -- released six months later than Washington Mutual promised the public -- collectively charging that the document sidesteps the many concerns of Los Angeles and Ventura County residents. Project opponents urged residents to call the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and their local Washington Mutual Bank branches to express their outrage with the report, and to encourage the Supervisors to reject its passage.

Susan Lacey, a former Ventura County Supervisor, argued, "When I was a Ventura County Supervisor, I voted against this project for the same shortcomings it has today." She continued, "It was a bad project then, and it is a bad project now. Hopefully, the current Board of Supervisors will correct the mistakes of the past, since this massive development still violates our county's planning guidelines and will create what amounts to a new city in the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains."

Rob Dayton, an independent traffic planner with 14 years experience in both the private and public sector, stated, "The new city will create massive gridlock on our roads, particularly the 101 Freeway -- which is already operating beyond capacity. Yet the SEIR does not address new traffic impacts, and relies on traffic projections developed in the 1980's." He added, "If the truth is to come forward, a current traffic study must be conducted on this project."

Additionally, water impacts caused by the new city are not addressed seriously. Washington Mutual has already been criticized by environmentalists for its broken promise not to discharge polluted runoff into Santa Monica Bay and the Regional Water Quality Control Board is reviewing Washington Mutual's methods for protecting the public from unhealthy water pollutants.

"The document Washington Mutual released today is a severe disappointment," said Mark Gold, Executive Director of Heal the Bay. "There is no real discussion whatsoever about the impacts that this proposed new city will have on the Malibu Creek Watershed and Southern California beaches." He continued, "The public wants and deserves the full truth about this disastrous development, but they don't get it in this report."

Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch Co-Chair Chris Albrecht added, "The report is proof that Washington Mutual cannot be trusted to disclose the truth about impacts of this proposed new city." He continued, "Their strategy is to keep these crucial issues out of the public debate in order to force this massive new city on the people of Southern California."

Rob Reiner, Co-chair of Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch, dismissed Washington Mutual's report as "science fiction." He said, "The people of Southern California will see through Washington Mutual's latest smoke screen. It doesn't take a biologist to know that 45,000 more cars on our roadways, additional pollutants in our creeks and oceans, and the destruction of one of Southern California's last remaining open spaces is bad for the environment."

"Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch" is a broad based coalition of community and environmental groups whose mission is to educate the public about Washington Mutual's disastrous development in the Santa Monica Mountains, located on the border of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. To learn more about Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch, visit www.RallyfortheRanch.org.