Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 9, 2007
4. Water Quality
POSSIBLE GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION:
Riverbank's groundwater in the clear; City: Sludge problems solved after $3.6M in improvements -
Guest Column: Investing in Buena Vista Lagoon - North
LOS OSOS:
Sewer Plant: Congress chairman will tour Los Osos -
POSSIBLE GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION:
Riverbank's groundwater in the clear; City: Sludge problems solved after $3.6M in improvements
By Eve Hightower, staff writer
RIVERBANK — After receiving a state warning and spending $3.6 million, tests have confirmed that Riverbank's waste water did not contaminate groundwater.
"There's no possibility," said Darin Smallen, Wastewater Treatment Plant supervisor.
In April 2001, the state ordered the city to clean up its sludge and install lined sludge ponds.
The cleanup and abatement order was lifted in July as a result of the work.
Riverbank's water treatment system has two main parts. The treatment ponds, where waste water first sits and biodegrades, is where the sludge settles out. The water is then drained off to percolation ponds, where it evaporates and percolates to groundwater.
The state was concerned that an old, unlined sludge pond was contaminating groundwater. State officials also disapproved of the city's burying waste that would not biodegrade, said Laurie Barton, Public Works director.
The state ordered the city to operate the plant at a fraction of its capacity. While the plant could process 7 million gallons of waste water, the state ordered it not to exceed 4.5 million gallons on average during the summer, when a now-closed tomato-processing plant was in full operation, and 1.8 million gallons for the rest of the year. That's about what it was processing anyway, according to the state order.
To fix the problem, the city built two lined treatment ponds, bringing the total to four treatment ponds and six percolation ponds. It also dried out the unlined treatment pond to test the sludge. Results from sludge tests indicate how to dispose of the sludge. In this case, it likely will be hauled off to the dump or recycling plant, Barton said.
"The sludge was mostly coming from the cannery," Smallen said of the tomato processing plant. "It looked like tomato soup when the solids settled to the bottom."
"When we drained it in summer, tomato plants started growing in it real good."
Tests put to rest speculation of groundwater contamination.
"No one here can remember a sludge removal project before that," Barton said. "For whatever reason, past councils deferred the maintenance."
In hindsight, the clean and abatement order shouldn't have been a surprise, Smallen said.
"It was a long time coming. The city had sludge in one pond and no money to clean it out," he said.
During the process, the city's largest waste-water producer, California Fruit and Tomato Kitchens, closed. Afterward, council members passed an ordinance saying they didn't want another factory in town that produces wet waste.
"We could handle another plant like the tomato plant, but I think the city likes having the extra capacity," Smallen said.
Since the city built two new treatment ponds, it does not have to line the formerly questionable, still usable pond. #
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13469564p-14080193c.html
Guest Column: Investing in
By Bruce Rezink, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper
Despite the front page news of last week's sewage spill into Buena Vista Lagoon, it would be easy to roll one's eyes and say "not again." Sewage spills have become far too commonplace ---- so much so that we often accept them as an inevitable fact of life. This does not have to be, nor should it be, the case. With proper care, maintenance and investment in infrastructure, spills can be reduced dramatically and their impact mitigated. One only needs to look at the city of
On behalf of Coastkeeper and other prominent environmental leaders, I am calling on regulatory agencies to issue large fines for the 5 million gallon spill, and for the cities involved to proactively invest in restoring the lagoon to health.
This spill warrants such action. While all spills are damaging, this recent spill is set apart by magnitude and location. The spill has impacted, and continues to impact the Buena Vista Lagoon. Not only is this area an ecological treasure, it provides ---- or at least it did provide ---- wonderful recreational experiences for birders, anglers and those of us who just like the oasis of 220 acres of nature in an urban setting. Ecologically, the lagoon is a haven for more than 200 species of birds, a dozen of which are threatened or endangered.
One of the devastating impacts of sewage is the large amount of nutrients it brings. Algal growth feeds on the nutrients, especially with warming temperatures, causing dwindling oxygen levels. The low levels can cause massive fish kills over the next days and weeks; invertebrates such as shrimp and crayfish are also affected. The spill also impacts the public, from closing down the lagoon and surrounding areas to the public, to potential exposure to human pathogens.
Last week's spill is not the first impact to the lagoon. The water body has been placed on the state list for impaired waters, affected by bacteria, nutrients and excess sediment and siltation. The size and nature of this spill ---- and many that have come before it ---- have greatly exacerbated these problems. In fact, more than 13.5 million gallons of raw sewage have been spilled into the lagoon in the last 13 years. And while the most recent incident marks the first major spill since 2000 (when three separate spills resulted in more than 2 million gallons of sewage reaching the lagoon), it reminds us that we need to be forever vigilant in safeguarding our environment.
In light of these impacts, what can and should be done? The Regional Water Quality Control Board, the state agency charged with protecting our local waters, should level a $1/gallon fine against the relevant cities and sewer agencies ultimately responsible. Under the Clean Water Act, a $10/gallon fine is permissible, so the cities involved could count themselves fortunate to only be responsible for 10 percent of this amount. The $1/gallon figure also has the weight of precedent behind it. The Regional Board issued a $1/gallon fine for the third spill into Buena Vista Lagoon in 2000. At the time, Coastkeeper and other environmental groups had hoped that this figure would become precedent, and would provide sufficient incentive for cities to cease the common "fix-on-failure" policy that leads many of them to wait for a disaster rather than proactively try to avoid impacts. Unfortunately, it did not, and to some extent we are still paying the price in still-too-frequent spills.
Moreover, the cities of
If the cities involved take the necessary steps to understand how this spill occurred to ensure something like this never happens again, the Water Board could allow much of the fine we are proposing to be used to launch the lagoon trust fund as part of the Supplemental Environmental Project process. This will send a sufficiently strong message to all cities in the region that preventing sewage spills remain a top priority, which also providing the local jurisdictions with the resources and motivation to do what they should have done all along ---- invest in our natural resources for generations to come. #
Bruce Reznik is executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper, a local environmental nonprofit group. He is also an active participant in the
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/08/perspective/15_39_534_7_07.txt
LOS OSOS:
Sewer Plant: Congress chairman will tour Los Osos
By Sona Patel, staff writer
A high-ranking U.S. Congressman tasked with appropriating federal money for water projects will visit Los Osos this week to consider whether millions of dollars in federal grant funding might be available for a sewer in the seaside town.
Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., chairs a committee in the House of Representatives that allocates millions of federal dollars under the Water Resources Development Act.
He is expected to meet with county officials and members of the state and regional water boards, and tour Los Osos.
While touring, Visclosky will be given an overview of the community and presented with technical issues surrounding the design and construction of a sewer.
Affordability and environmental issues will also be addressed.
State Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, county Supervisor Bruce Gibson, and a representative from a state loan program are also expected to attend.
The water bill of 2007 is being considered for passage by the House. If it passes, Visclosky will be in charge of the committee that makes allocation recommendations for billions in nationwide water resources projects, according to Emily Kryder, press secretary for Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara. Capps represents Los Osos and has been working to gain federal financial support for the sewer project.
This is the Los Osos Community Service District’s second time competing for funding under the water bill.
Visclosky is scheduled to tour Los Osos on Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispotribune/17050066.htm
####
No comments:
Post a Comment