Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 15, 2007
4. Water Quality
SEWAGE FINES:
City fines prison on sewage - Vacaville Reporter
WASTEWATER:
SR to boost Geysers wastewater 35% - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
GROUNDWATER CLEANUP:
Steps taken to clean water - Pasadena Star News
SEWAGE FINES:
City fines prison on sewage
By Jennifer Gentile, staff writer
A state prison located in
Wastewater flow limits, as well as monitoring and reporting requirements, are spelled out in a permit for California State Prison-Solano, which was renewed on Dec. 6, 2006, according to city staff.
Staff claims that since 2004, the prison consistently has violated its limits, at one point exceeding them by 16,000 gallons per day.
In response, the city gradually stepped up its enforcement, issuing several notices of violation and administrative orders before finally levying the fine of $41,250. The prison did not pay the fine, choosing instead to appeal and make its case before hearing officer and Public Works Director Dale Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer upheld the fine, deeming it "well-justified and necessary."
During another appeal hearing, before the City Council on Tuesday, Assistant Public Works Director Dave Tompkins said the prison's failure to comply subjects the city to serious risks, including sewer overflows or fines from regulatory agencies.
Chris Swanberg, senior staff counsel with the Department of Corrections, noted that since 1980, the statewide prison population has nearly doubled, reaching approximately 173,000.
"This is what happens when you put nine pounds of potatoes into a seven-pound sack," Swanberg said.
Decrying the amount of the fine, Swanberg said, "$41,000, in my experience in dealing with boards statewide, is way over the top." Arguing that no spill or other serious incident had occurred, Swanberg said, "you're attempting to address a harm that doesn't exist."
The City Council had the option of modifying, upholding or dismissing the penalty.
After hearing both sides, it unanimously sided with staff, condemning what it perceived as the corrections department shirking its responsibility.
"I hate to tell you this, but you have a problem," said Councilwoman Pauline Clancy. "We kept our agreement, and you did not keep your agreement. I feel like you're expecting us to solve your problem."
Vice Mayor Chuck Dimmick said, "I see a pattern of not paying what you owe. I understand there are a lot of issues and things forced down your throats that you have no control over, but there are things the prison could have done to reduce the flow."
Responding to Swanberg's statement that no harm had occurred, Councilman Curtis Hunt said, "I'm not willing to let some citizen have raw sewage in their backyard before we do something.
"The city did document and track the overage, and you failed to respond," Hunt added.
With the City Council's decision, the prison has one recourse left - taking the matter to the Superior Court. Swanberg has expressed his hope for an outcome other than litigation, and on Tuesday, he said the next step is yet to be determined. #
http://thereporter.com/news/ci_6628694
WASTEWATER:
SR to boost Geysers wastewater 35%
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 8/15/07
By Mike McCoy, staff writer
In a deal described as a win-win-win for
“This puts the city in position to recycle 95¬percent of its wastewater. That is unprecedented for a city of its size,” said Dave Smith, a city consultant on reuse efforts.
The agreement will extend by four years the city’s contract to pump wastewater to The Geysers to 2037, and calls for a gradual increase in the amount pumped over the next 30 years.
The original contract called for the city to pump 11 million gallons a day, or 4 billion gallons a year, to the steam fields where it is injected underground to produce steam, which is converted to electricity by Calpine, the city’s partner in the project.
Deputy City Manager Greg Scoles said since the project went into operation in December 2003, 15 billion gallons of wastewater that otherwise would have been discharged into the Laguna de
The agreement calls for the city to increase its daily pumping to 12.6 million gallons a day by this winter and to almost 16 million gallons a day sometime in the distant future.
The revised deal drew only accolades and unanimous approval at Tuesday’s meeting.
Pat Barnes,
“We believe it’s the right thing for the environment, the right thing for ratepayers, and it’s the right thing for green power,” he said.
Windsor Town Manager Matt Mullan, whose city has an agreement with
“We support the production of high-quality, clean-burning energy,” he said.
Scoles said increased pumping to The Geysers will reduce the amount of effluent the city discharges into the laguna by 70 percent most years and to zero discharge in some years.
That will not only help the city meet stricter state discharge standards but also could save up to $200 million that the city might have had to spend to shift its main discharge location to the Russian River and build additional storage reservoirs for other disposal options.
The project also should help Calpine, which has been in bankruptcy since 2005.
The Geysers project is one of the company’s most profitable assets, and its amended contract with the city is scheduled to be reviewed by a federal bankruptcy court on Sept. 11.
If the court approves the deal, Scoles said, the city could begin pumping more wastewater almost immediately.
Estimates are the wastewater the city has been pumping to Calpine generates 68 megawatts of power, enough to power 68,000 homes.
Calpine estimates the extra wastewater it will receive in later years will be enough to boost its power production to 85 megawatts.
That would power 85,000 homes — roughly
The city’s cost to boost its pumping capacity will run around $2.3 million.
The deal calls for Calpine to pay the city $300,000 for the first 15 years, an amount city officials said should cover the annual cost to pump the extra wastewater to The Geysers. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070815/NEWS/70815006/1033/NEWS01
GROUNDWATER CLEANUP:
Steps taken to clean water
By Mike Sprague, staff writer
The Central Basin Municipal Water District in May had shut down the system at two water wells in Pico Rivera, a 6,000-foot-long pipeline and a treatment plant, in May because federal money was going to run out.
But then officials from
"We know they haven't shown any levels (above federal standards) for three years," said Michael Moore,
"What happens in a year if for whatever reason we start seeing (contamination levels) spike,"
The cost to restart the system with new carbon filters would be about $300,000.
The project, which began operating in 2003, was designed to clean up polluted groundwater flowing toward
Perchlorate from former aerospace operations and other toxic chemicals in the Valley were discovered in the early 1990s to have seeped into groundwater supplies.
When
During this same time period, the three cities are considering forming a joint powers authority to continue operating the plant.
The authority would either get money from the federal government or the cities themselves. Estimated annual cost is $1.2 million.
Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, has introduced legislation to pay for the project for an additional seven years. #
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_6624185
By Daniel Thigpen, staff writer
The settlement with Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co., finalized Monday, is the second-largest amount of money the city has recovered from insurance companies whose policies covered the city decades ago, when business and property owners dumped toxic industrial cleaning chemicals down leaky city sewer pipes, contaminating soil and groundwater.
For about a decade,
"We're getting closer to the end of a very, very long and sad story in our history," Mayor Bob Johnson said. "We're making progress."
In addition to
The proceeds will put a small dent in the estimated $48 million cost to clean up the contamination, which is expected to take some 30 years and already has begun in two of the five contaminated sections of town.
Water customers shoulder much of the burden. A massive water rate increase approved last year might help pay for a large portion of the expenses.
"This (settlement) is going to affect some of our costs, but it's not going to wipe them out," Schwabauer said.
The recent settlements are with the city's "excess" insurance carriers, companies that covered the city beyond the limits of its primary carrier, U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty.
The city settled with that primary carrier about two years ago for $9 million, Schwabauer said, but most of the money has been used for legal fees.
Industrial solvents tricholorethene and perchloroethene were detected in the city's groundwater in 1989, and the state ordered the city to clean up the chemicals.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/A_NEWS/708150313
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