State Fines Pacifica $2.3 Million: Sewage Spills

JULIA SCOTT STORY ON SEWER SPILL FINE

STATE WATER BOARD PRESS RELEASE: The City of Pacifica faces a $2.3 million dollar fine for illegal sewage discharges during heavy rains in January 2008. San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) staff issued the complaint for unauthorized sewage discharges into the Pacific Ocean. The City discharged 6.9 million gallons of partially treated wastewater diluted with storm water on January 25 and 26, 2008, into Calera Creek. The discharge flowed through Calera Creek Wetlands and into the Pacific Ocean. The discharge occurred when high inflow and infiltration of storm water into the collection system generated more wastewater than the City¹s collection system and wastewater treatment plant capacities. That required wastewater to bypass certain treatment processes and only receive partial treatment. The City also discharged more than 100,000 gallons of raw sewage diluted with storm water from various points in its sanitary sewer collection system on January 25, 2008. All spills caused beach closures. For years, the City has failed to adequately identify and address collection system problems including failure to detect and eliminate storm water infiltration into the collection system. Had the City initiated timely corrective actions, it could have avoided: (1) the collection system overloading (exceeding capacity) and the resultant spills; and (2) the wastewater treatment plant bypass. In addition to these spills, the complaint also addresses numerous smaller collection system spills reported by the City, one larger spill in 2004 from a pump station, and effluent limit and receiving water limit violations. For additional information, please visit WATER BOARD. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board¹s mission is to preserve, enhance and restore the quality of California's water resources, and ensure their proper allocation and efficient use for the benefit of present and future generations.

Comments

[todd bray]

Karen, whether it's the dialog we'd like to hear or not, at least there is a dialog.

[Cynthia Montanez]

The RFP is not on the City's website that I could find, but I did review the Staff recommendation for RMC. As I thought, this reflects only infrastructure issues. It could just as easily be expanded to include the plant and even water recycling as the awarded firm has an excellent track record in providing storm water recycling programs.

It would make perfect sense to me to widen the scope of the work for RMC to incorporate the whole system and there would be less of a chance of missed scope between the integrated systems.

Perhaps we should be asking Council to widen the scope and get the plant incorporated. If any of you agree with me, please send a letter to Steve Rhodes our City Manager to request this change in the work. I will do so today.

[Cynthia Montanez]

Lionel:

Unless I'm mistaken, I believe this is just for the sewer laterals and infrastructure upgrades, not the plant itself. I could be wrong as I've not had a chance to look at the RFP.

Getting the laterals and infrastructure repaired and upgraded is a good start, but that is only half the problem. I will remain optimistic that this will kick start the other half of the repair issues.

[mike bell]

"Drunk on whine." Good one, Karen.
Castigating opinions that differ from yours is music to City Council's ears and very constructive. Don't you think?

[Lionel Emde]

"The City Council recently allocated money to hire a consultant who will conduct a sewer "master plan" and recommend improvements throughout the system."
(S.M.Co.Times 10/28/09)
OK, so this is what the council's doing. What say you, Cynthia?
I have no idea whether this is the way to go or not.

[Cynthia Montanez]

Ms. Rosenstein, no one is whining, nor have they been. Legally, we citizens can do nothing more than continue to request our city government to proceed with the RFP process for the repair. That is their job; they and only they have the legal ability to obligate the city to fund and oversee the repair. If I could have, I would have gotten it done years ago.

As a side note, one of my former clients now works for the feds handing out stimulus funds. The criteria for "shovel ready" are pretty weak. All our leadership needs to do is to have the RFP written, and we can qualify.

The time is running out for someone else to pay for this. No more excuses; it's time to just get it done.

[Lionel Emde]

"If there was, like, a journalist or somebody who would interview Council members and city staff, they could ask questions about this and, y'know, like, report the news. That'd be reel interesting."
Well, Peter, I'm sure you've seen today's Tribune in which your wish has been granted.
And a key component of the city's failure to address the problem is: "The main reason why we (SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Bd.) felt the need to go forward with this (huge fine) is that the city of Pacifica has failed to address the problem of why so much water is overwhelming the treatment plant during storms."
The Tribune story (really Julia Scott reporting for the Times) is summarily cut off before its apparent ending, but it's good reading anyway.

[Karen Rosenstein]

Egads, there is enough "whine" on this thread to get drunk with!

I just sent an email to the Council letting them know that I supported Cynthia's idea and that I believe they need to take action on this item no later than their second meeting in November.

BTW, if all you do is "whine" and don't do anything to make Pacifica a better place, well, it shouldn't come as a surprise that you could think that you aren't listened to by the Council.

Cynthia, since you have expertise in this area... What else can we citizens do while we are waiting for the Council to act and the RFP to happen? Thanks!

[todd bray]

Mikey, we need to get a beer.

[Mike Bell]

The sewer plant stinks.........whine.
The laterals are all broken and Linda Mar is floating on a cesspool........whine.
Raw sewage is escapIng into the aquIfers and creeks..........whine.
Our beaches are polluted..........whine.
Vreeland and DeJarnatt said it was tarballs.............Oh! Never mind.

[Cynthia Montanez]

Actually, there have been several articles and a local tv news report about the problems with the plant and they interviewed the plant manager and 2 sitting council members. Unfortunately, claiming someone is just whining is as unproductive as pretending this plant works.

The scenario I outlined earlier is the standard operating procedure for public works projects, but not in Pacifica. We will not now, nor will we ever, fix the problem by pretending it isn't a problem or that people are just whining. Asking, demanding, that the problm be fixed by the only group that can legally do so is not whining.

We have all acknowledged it is a problem. Now, is there someone within the power structure of City Government who is willing to fix the problem the right way?

[todd bray]

It will never happen because facts are not the issue, the issue is whine, whine and more whine.

[Peter Loeb]

If there was, like, a journalist or somebody who would interview Council members and city staff, they could ask questions about this and, y'know, like, report the news. That'd be reel interesting.

Nah, that'd never happen.

[Kathy Meeh]

Maybe some consensus. What Cynthia says about issuing an RFP to oversee the process of fixing the WWTP makes sense, as does what Kathy Jana says about fixing the sewer laterals -- something we can all agree on: good for the plant and good for the environment.

When the city came to x-ray the sewer pipes at my house, its representative said the overcapacity problem the plant experiences during heavy storms is caused by homeowner lateral leakage. My house is in Sun Valley, therefore the leakage problems are no longer localized to lower Linda Mar area. BTW, Orangeburg (paper)sewer pipe was still being used in construction as late as 1960 when my house was built.

What about all older houses in this city? It seems most of the sewer lateral and pipe replacement needs to be done block by block, section by section, beginning with the most affected areas. Considering "we almost lost the plant" and that the city receives ongoing fines for polluting -- a plan of action from the city makes sense.

This is not a new problem, nor are the solutions newly recognized by the city. This is another one of those long-term cash issues not being addressed by City Council, except for failure to move forward.

Our city needs cash (hence tax revenue-producing development), which pays for "responsible environmentalism" and other common civic infrastructure, with a willing vision to get there. If we just hit a disconnect, what's the alternative? Not more taxes, we already have enough of those.

[Dan Underhill]

Kathy Jana's contribution was also a positive suggestion that one could act upon.

[mike bell]

Dan:

Historically, City Council ignores advice coming from outside of its circle of friends.
Perhaps you can convince council to consider Cynthia's sage advice.

[Dan Underhill]

Cynthia Montanez contribution is potentially quite useful. The posts that followed it were much like the standard Bronx Cheer at the present council that we always get from these people. Cynthia Montanez provided an idea worth thinking about and perhaps worth carrying out, worthy of thought anyway. I appreciate that.

[mike bell]

Sage advice, Cynthia.
Will the powers that be in Pacifica heed it?
Sadly, probably not. Why should they change now?

[Steve Sinai]

"Kind of ironic that Pacifica - 'The Environment is our Economy' - may be one of the worst polluters around."

Has 25+ years of "Environment is our Economy" resulted in the environmental showcase city that its proponents like Pacificans for Sustainable Development, Sue Digre, Pete DeJarnatt, Restore Sharp Park, et.al., promised? No - all it's resulted in is a city that's deteriorating both financially and physically. We can't even generate enough revenue to maintain what little infrastructure we already have.

Their only achievement is putting Pacifica at the bottom of every economic category in the county.

[Bruce Hotchkiss]

I think a more likely reason our council tried to obfuscate what was spilled (tar balls or sewage) is that they were afraid the taxpayers would scream and yell about a faulty WTP and that it might be tied in to the bio-refinery funding.

Whatever the reason, we should have been told the truth right up front. And the fact that two council members apparently tried to convince the media to hide the truth is outrageous and says legions about their "environmental" credentials. No one knows for sure how much extra harm was done to the environment while the city tried to hide the truth.

Dealing with council's attempt to hide the truth is a separate matter. What must be looked at now is how do we fix the "state-of-the-art" WTP? And how does a city that is broke afford to fix something that should not be broke?

Talking about fixing the sewer laterals should also be a separate issue and it is potentially far more costly. How do we finance it? I was asked that question by the San Mateo Realtors when I ran for council in 2002. I did not have a firm answer then and I don't now. I do know that they sewer laterals are a ticking bomb. Linda Mar may be the worst - given that Linda Mar sits on a lake, any leak contaminates the ground water and eventually the Pacific Ocean.

Kind of ironic that Pacifica - "The Environment is our Economy" - may be one of the worst polluters around.

[Mike Bell]

You do realize, I hope, that you'll have to suspend building froggie farms and snake resorts in order to pay for the sewer lateral repairs.
and something else......
You'll have to allow some development in Pacifica in order to bring in the required revenue. Hard pill to swallow but bake sales ain't gonna cut it and Uncle Sam is broke.
and another thing......
You'll have to stop vilifying Council warners by calling them whiners. It only enables Council to continue the destruction of Pacifica.

[Cynthia Montanez]

First, a little "lessons learned". The plant was deficient within the first few months of operations. We knew it, the City knew it, and the design/build company was bankrupt. At that time, the City Attorney should have filed a claim with the design/build company's errors and ommissions insurance company to get the cost of the needed repairs and/or redesign and corrective work paid for. This, for some reason, did not happen. Perhaps some misinformed person thought this couldn't work.

Now that we have known the system is defficient, the proper thing to do would be to issue an RFP (posted in the Daily Pacific Builder to reach the widest possible audience) and hire a waste water design firm to provide the proper fix using what we have. Once we have the construction documents in hand, again, we publish in the Daily Pacific Builder to bid the project as it is designed.

Sounds simple, but yet, I would also add one other layer. I would recommend the City of Pacifica issue an RFP for a construction management firm to oversee this whole process. Perhaps use the CM at Risk model. This puts a layer of expertise and risk management with the construction management firm and takes the politics out of the repairs.

We could also apply for stimulus funds to pay for this repair, they are still available. Just my professional opinion.

[kathy jana]

The city should focus on fixing the laterals, putting in a robust system that will process sewage effectively, without polluting our environment.

[Lois Rogan]

"I am guessing that Pacificans with any tourism-related business in this town would rather this problem be solved without any help from The National Enquirer. What do the designers of the plant suggest? Are they still in business? If not, I guess we need to buy a new one."
(Dan Underhill)

They left town and probably the country right after they built our state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant.

[Dan Underhill]

Even after we solve this problem, which we should certainly do, we remain next door to San Francisco, which will not spring for a separate storm drainage system and so dumps tons of raw sewage into the bay and ocean every time it rains heavily. The first thing we should do as soon as we clean up our own act is, with other local municipalities, to insist that San Francisco construct a storm drain system separate from its sewer system.