Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 23, 2007
4. Water Quality
Sewage pumping from lagoon ends - San Diego Union Tribune
Pilot program in works for treating sea's water - Desert Sun
PERCHLORATE:
Audit of cleanup costs set; Rialto efforts to clean water to get a review - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Editorial: Pollution dodge - Riverside Press
TOXICS:
Toxic slag pile at
Sewage pumping from lagoon ends
By Matthew Rodriguez, staff writer
The cities of
Meanwhile, the two city councils will consider releasing funds Tuesday to cover portions of the rising costs associated with cleanup and repairs from the spill, which was caused by a broken sewer line jointly owned by the cities.
Officials calculate that the spill killed about 1,700 fish and four birds at the lagoon. That number is unchanged from an estimate announced April 10.
“We've been told there haven't been any more,” said Rita Geldert,
The spill was discovered April 1 at the lagoon, which separates
The order asks for the report to explain what caused the spill, how it was discovered, how much sewage spilled, how much water was pumped out of the lagoon, and how agencies plan to avoid a similar accident in the future.
Glenn Pruim,
Pruim said aeration pumps were also turned off Thursday. The pumps circulated water in the lagoon to raise dissolved oxygen levels, which can kill fish if they drop too low. They could be turned on again if necessary, he said.
In separate meetings Tuesday, the Vista and
A city staff report states the city expects to spend less than $600,000 for the work, with extra funds needed for contingencies.
The
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070421/news_7m21lagoon.html
Pilot program in works for treating sea's water
Desert Sun – 4/23/07
By Erica Solving, staff writer
Regardless of what the restoration plan looks like, officials will have to find a way to treat the water flowing into the
A pilot project under way at the Kent Sea Tech Corp. aims to do that.
"The results are looking really promising," said Dan Cain, senior analyst at the La Quinta-based Salton Sea Authority.
"The more we can treat (the water), the better quality of water you will have."
Researchers have created a biological filtering system where they grow algae that soaks up the nutrients flowing in with the water from the
The researchers have sectioned off bunches of tilapia that only feed on algae.
Since the fish are not eating anything else, their droppings are essentially processed algae.
Those droppings are taken out via a conveyer belt - gray, with a tint of green - and then dried out over a couple of days and processed into a gas that's about 60 percent methane.
The gas would produce enough electricity to run the program, likely with enough left over to sell, said Greg Schwartz, a research scientist at
The process also creates a sludge that can be made into a fertilizer and sold to local farmers.
Officials are in the process of expanding the test program but warn that nothing like this has been done on this large a scale.
"Nobody has tried it with the amount of water that needs to be treated," Schwartz said.
It would take 4,000 to 6,000 acres of these filtering farms to treat all the water flowing into the
But combined with wetlands, researchers argue it would be a much better option than treating the water with chemicals.
"Chemicals are known to work," Schwartz said. "But you'd literally need trainloads of chemicals every day." #
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007704230310
PERCHLORATE:
Audit of cleanup costs set;
By Jason Pesick, staff writer
The city's cleanup strategy has relied heavily on lawsuits against dozens of corporations and government entities it has accused of contributing to the problem, which could cost $200million to $300million to clean up.
"We need to assure the public that it's being spent wisely and properly," said Councilman Ed Scott, who said he called for the audit.
The audit is only intended to make sure no money is being wasted, not to question the city's legal strategy, Scott said.
At a recent council meeting, Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said the warrant resolution the council was supposed to approve showed an identical payment being made twice.
That turned out not to be the case, but Scott said he thinks the audit is important "to make sure billing and invoicing has been done properly." He said he also wants to make sure the attorneys are actually working the hours they say they are and that more than one attorney or consultant are not doing the same work.
Baca has also complained that he doesn't know exactly where the money is going. The city does not disclose all that the law firms are paid in the warrant resolutions to keep that information from the parties it is suing, said City Attorney Bob Owen.
The audit comes at a critical time during the city's efforts to clean up the chemical, which can be harmful to humans by interfering with the thyroid gland. In July, the city's legal team is scheduled to argue before the State Water Resources Control Board at hearings that could force three corporations to clean up much of the contamination.
"Now is not the time to blink," said Owen.
He said he is confident the audit will show the money is being spent properly.
In addition to the state board hearings, in 2004 the city sued 42 entities, including the Defense Department,
Although Scott insisted that the majority of the council still supports the lawsuits and that the audit to be conducted by the firm McGladrey & Pullen LLP will have a narrow focus, Baca has used the opportunity to call into question the city's strategy.
"I'm concerned about there being a blank check out there for the attorneys," Baca said.
He said he wants to know exactly where the money is being spent, whether it is the wisest use of city resources and if there are other ways besides the lawsuits to clean up the perchlorate. He said he also wants to find out if city staff can do some of the work the city is paying attorneys and consultants to do.
Mayor Pro Tempore Winnie Hanson agreed with Scott that the audit is narrowly intended to make sure the money is being spent properly.
"It's not about the strategy," she said.
The $20 million number includes the cost of the attorneys, experts to investigate the contamination, treatment systems to remove perchlorate from the drinking water and an informational campaign to keep the community informed. The number reflects the amount the city has spent since 1998, Owen said.
The city's water department charges a perchlorate fee to its customers to provide funds for the effort. If the city wins its suits, it will reimburse the ratepayers for those costs.
A few months ago, the council transferred $5million from the General Fund to speed up the federal lawsuit, but Scott said the lawsuits have not been sped up, and he doesn't want the city to pay an additional $5million every year.
Before the audit begins, Scott and Hanson, the members of the council's perchlorate committee, will meet with the auditors on Monday to discuss the scope of the audit. The cost of the audit should be clearer at that point.
Baca, who was elected to the council in November, has been critical of the city's strategy to clean up the perchlorate. He said the city should consider scaling back the lawsuits.
Other members of the council and Owen have said that the litigation is necessary in order to make sure the polluters - not taxpayers - pay to clean up the perchlorate.
Owen also argues that without the information the city has uncovered through the lawsuits, it would not have the evidence necessary to convince the state water board to order the polluters to clean up the perchlorate.
Owen warned against "playing politics with this important public-health issue."
He said he is also concerned the suspected polluters will think there is dissension on the council over whether to continue pursuing them right before the state board hearings.
"It's very irresponsible for somebody to begin doing that," he said. #
http://www.dailybulletin.com/search/ci_5729684
Editorial: Pollution dodge
Riverside Press
Lawyers' tricks are no substitute for justice. State water officials need to end the legal stalling and hold a hearing on the perchlorate tainting
The State Water Resources Control Board last week postponed yet again a hearing to determine responsibility for the pollution and its cleanup costs, potentially millions of dollars. The proposed May hearing date now slides to July -- marking a whole year since officials' first attempt to hear the issue.
Perchlorate, used in explosives and rocket fuel, can impair thyroid function. The chemical has polluted 16 wells in
Regional water quality officials say two defense contractors and a fireworks company that used a 160-acre site in
State officials blamed the latest delay on the volume of material submitted in the case, including a long list of procedural objections by the targeted companies. So burying the board under legal filings is the way to dodge accountability?
If the companies believe they hold no responsibility for the pollution, let them make that case at a hearing. But water-quality officials should no longer tolerate cynical attempts to thwart a legal reckoning. #
TOXICS:
Toxic slag pile at
By Gregory W. Griggs, staff writer
A mountain of hazardous waste created by a shuttered metals recycling plant adjacent to
Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long and representatives of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) piled into two sport utility vehicles and were taken on a guided tour of the 43-acre beachside property formerly operated by Halaco Engineering Co. The tour was organized by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials, who are overseeing the $5-million project.
Rob Wise, the agency's on-site coordinator, said the 11-week stabilization project involved reshaping the giant slag piles on the eastern side of the property into one pile to make them less susceptible to erosion and to keep them from sloughing into wetlands. The consolidated pile remains 40 to 50 feet high, but Wise said most of the man-made mountain is now covered by coir matting, made of coconut fiber, which reduces dust and helps keep the heap intact.
New surveys will provide a better estimate of just how much waste is left after nearly 40 years of smelting aluminum and magnesium at the Halaco facility, which shut down in 2004 after the company went bankrupt. Wise's current estimate of 710,000 cubic yards of waste is enough hazardous material to fill more than 1,000 standard-size homes.
Concerns about trespassers — who left behind graffiti and tire tracks from off-road vehicles and bicycles — have prompted the city of
"What the community wants is to demolish, tear down and get rid of the ugly eyesore that we now have great concerns about," said Long. "If I could just wave a wand and this whole site is gone tomorrow, that would be our best possible outcome."
At Tuesday's supervisors' meeting, Long is expected to urge her colleagues to formally support placing the Halaco property on the national priority list so it can be designated a federal Superfund site. The designation would provide additional funding for long-term cleanup.
Friday's tour was also a chance for officials to meet Wayne Praskins, regional EPA project manager for the Superfund program, who will oversee long-term cleanup at Halaco. Praskins estimated it would take at least two years just to determine what needs to be done to make the property safe for humans and the wetlands' wildlife.
Preliminary estimates suggest it could cost more than $150 million to remove the Halaco waste and transport it to approved landfills, Wise said. #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-halaco21apr21,1,7177901.story?coll=la-headlines-california
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