Edison Settles Damage Suit for $15 Million : Environment: Utility will fund wetland restoration and education projects to compensate for impact of the San Onofre nuclear plant.

SAN DIEGO — Southern California Edison Co. agreed Tuesday to spend $15 million on wetland restoration and marine education projects to settle a lawsuit brought by environmental activists from the Earth Island Institute over damage done by the San Onofre nuclear plant.

The agreement was hailed by Earth Island as the largest monetary settlement of a lawsuit brought under the federal Clean Water Act by a private party without any government assistance.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board and the U. S. Department of Justice had all declined to join the suit, forcing the San Francisco-based institute to go solo in its fight against the utility company.

“In future situations like this, we’d like to see (public agencies) more active, more supportive,” said Earth Island attorney Steve Crandall. “We took the bull by the horns and we’re happy with the results we got. It was due in large part to Edison coming to the table and saying, ‘Let’s get this behind us.’ ”

In papers filed in federal court here, Edison agreed to spend $7.5 million to restore 30 to 40 acres of wetlands in northern San Diego County, $2 million for wetlands research at San Diego State and $5.5 million to develop a marine education center near Redondo Beach, with a priority on teaching inner-city youths about the environment. Edison will also pay $2 million in legal fees.

Edison, operator and majority owner of the San Onofre plant, maintains that the plant has always complied with environmental regulations. Tuesday’s agreement was a business decision, not an admission of wrongdoing, company officials said.

“We believe the settlement brought closure to a potentially complex, lengthy and costly litigation,” said Mike Hertel, Edison’s manager of environmental affairs. He said some of the total $17 million cost will be passed on to ratepayers, pending approval of the Public Utilities Commission.

Earth Island sued Edison two years ago, citing an independent study that concluded that the cooling system in the San Onofre plant was damaging offshore kelp beds and killing tons of fish.

Earth Island invoked a section of the Clean Water Act that allows private parties to seek damages in cases in which it can be proven that regulatory agencies have been lax in protecting the environment. Initially, Earth Island wanted massive changes at San Onofre plus damages.

But Earth Island’s legal leverage was undercut by a judge’s ruling last summer that there was no evidence that Edison had lied to regulators about how the plant is run. The state Coastal Commission voted in 1991 to require Edison to improve the fish-protection system, build an artificial reef and, as a kind of environmental penance, restore wetlands acreage somewhere in Southern California.

To satisfy the Coastal Commission, Edison had agreed to restore 150 acres of wetlands in the San Dieguito River Valley east of the Del Mar racetrack. The 30- to 40-acre parcel included in Tuesday’s settlement is in the San Dieguito River Valley.

As part of the settlement, Edison will contribute $2 million to the Pacific Estuarine Research Laboratory at San Diego State. The research is aimed at benefiting wetlands in the San Dieguito area and the Tijuana River estuary.

Edison will also commit $5.5 million to establish a marine education program at its generating plant near Redondo Beach. Although the details have not been ironed out, Edison said the program would target inner-city youths.

Even in announcing the agreement, Earth Island Executive Director John A. Knox conceded that the environmental movement is split on the issue of mitigation, where companies accused of polluting are permitted to make improvements at other sites as compensation.

“Environmental restoration is a little controversial,” Knox said, “because some people will tell you, ‘God, if you say that, it will open the door for people to trash the planet and then try to restore it later.’

“We’re not saying that. . . . We’re saying environmental restoration is one of the tools that we can (use) with monoliths like Southern California Edison to work for environmental victories.”

In addition to the San Onofre lawsuit, Earth Island, whose founder is Sierra Club patriarch David Brower, is suing the National Marine Fisheries Service to force the American tuna fleet to stop killing dolphins. “We hope to reach a settlement of that suit,” Knox said.