Avila Beach, California seems like a great place to visit. Advertisements bill it as a "destination community," and one of a few "California beach towns remaining." There are motels, golf courses, restaurants and even a yacht club.

A $200 million fuel cleanup will begin shortly in the heart of this quaint coastal community, dating back to the 1860s. In the year 2000, Unicol Corporation, the oil giant that has agreed to fund the cleanup, expects to complete it. The ambitious cleanup plan calls for literally tearing up the town's tiny downtown area. When the project is over, at least 20 buildings will have been removed, and many inhabitants will have been relocated. Alvila Beach, California, will never be the same again.

While there have been more expensive and more complicated environmental cleanups, few have threatened to destroy an entire community in the manner that this one apparently will. Love Canal was another example. But in the case of Alvila Beach it is not just real estate that will be uprooted, gone will be a romantic, unique California coastal community that has been enjoyed by many for generations.

Since the 1960s, development has been all but halted as a result of a development ban caused by a water shortage. For this reason, Alvila Beach has remained the same for many years. Unicol owned a tank farm just outside of the town. This is a series of tanks in which fuel oil off loaded at a pier was stored until it could be transported for sale. Pipes ran underneath the beach community that conveyed the fuel from the pier to the tank farm.

Since underground pipes are located underground, undetected leaks can go on for years without notice. Apparently, that is what happened in this case. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel contaminated the sand and the soils. The contamination was discovered in 1988, when the development moratorium was lifted and a property owner tested his soil in order to gain a building permit.

In May 1997, County officials released a report containing various proposals for addressing the contamination. The most expensive proposal was the one that will now be undertaken. It calls for removing all of the contaminated soil. Less costly alternatives would have treated a large amount of the contaminated soil in-place by using a biological cleanup method. Under this approach, which is used with increasing frequency today, the dirty soil is treated in-place by encouraging existing bacteria to consume the petroleum. The benefit of this approach, which Unicol and many Alvila Beach residents supported, is that it would have cost less money and it would not have required as much demolition.

However, other residents supported the competing soil removal proposal. Soil removal proponents argued that this would be the quickest approach and the most effective method for removing most of the contaminated soil. According to published reports, this difference of opinion resulted in many heated debates, with neighbors becoming suspicious of each other's motives. Some questioned whether neighbors were taking certain positions to secure favorable monetary settlements from Unicol.

The environmental civil war recently ended when Unicol did an about face and agreed to the soil removal remedy. The cleanup will be conducted in three separate phases to minimize the disruption. Unicol has proposed to complete the project in 1-2 years. Experience suggests that cleanups usually exceed these initial time estimates. At least Unicol is taking an optimistic approach.

Indeed, delays are already emerging. A September 17, 1998 Unicol press release announced that the project has been stalled due to a government agency's failure to issue three permits. Eight other permits will be required as the cleanup progresses. We can anticipate that they will not be promptly issued, and this will yield additional press releases warning of other delays. There will be no shortage of delay excuses in a project of this magnitude.

As to the cost in dollars: the cleanup alone will cost an estimated $200 million. That number will likely rise. This does not include the cost of settling all of the lawsuits brought by everyone whose life will be affected. To date one settlement was announced worth $18 million. In 1996, a jury awarded another property owner one million dollars.

For those who can't see crying over spilled oil, there is more to this story than just money. Restaurants, beach stores, bars, and other businesses will all be closed. At least 20 buildings are currently scheduled to come down. But with the anticipated noise, traffic, dust and a rotten egg smell which will be caused by the unearthing, many others might also leave.

Generations of memories will be uprooted with the buildings. And it is not at all clear what will be re-built once the cleanup is finished and the dust settles. Public workshops are underway to commence a planning process for the eventual rebirth of Alvila Beach. Many fear that the 1960's vintage "funky" look will be replaced by modern, ocean front condos and expensive shops. Without the stigma associated with the pollution, banks may very well be willing to loan a lot of money to support large, fancy redevelopment projects. The affordable lifestyle of the current Alvila Beach might become a thing of the past as well.

Ironic as this might be, it might not be the oil spill that ultimately will chase away some residents. Rather, it might be the oil spill cleanup, that will encourage pricy redevelopment projects, that will.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.