[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS-WATERQUALITY-6/25/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

June 25, 2009

 

 

4. Water Quality –

 

Water board, city struggle over septic permitting issues

Malibu Times

 

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Water board, city struggle over septic permitting issues

Malibu Times – 6/25/09

By Olivia Damavandi

 

A palpable tension existed last week when Malibu city officials and Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board members met at City Hall to renegotiate their memorandum of understanding for the management of onsite wastewater treatment systems, commonly known as septic systems, within the city. The tension is the result of continuing problems over water quality in Malibu's ocean and lagoon waters, and who is responsible for the pollution.

The MOU authorizes the city to issue discharge permits to developments that generate less than 2,000 gallons of wastewater per day, and was issued by the water board five years ago due to staff shortages (still an existing problem).

The water board may decide to curtail the city's permitting authority after recently issuing notices of wastewater discharge violations to more than three dozen businesses in the Civic Center area, some of which are not permitted.

Attendees at last weeks' meeting also included representatives from environmental groups Heal the Bay, Santa Monica Baykeeper and Surfrider Foundation, which insisted that the water board forbid all development in the Civic Center area until a centralized wastewater treatment facility is implemented.

The water board had issued a permit to the Malibu Lumber Yard mall, which is located in the Civic Center on property owned by the city, earlier this year after a spat between the water board and the city resulted in a threatened cancellation of the MOU. The city had originally issued the permit, but the water board said the city was not authorized to do so, as the mall's plans also included two future restaurants, which would exceed the 2,000 gallons per day limit on wastewater discharge. The city and the water board resolved their differences, and, despite protests by the environmental groups, issued the permit to Malibu Lumber Yard.

In the meantime, the board issued notices to more than three dozen businesses, including the Malibu Country Mart, the Malibu Creek Plaza and the Malibu Colony Plaza, for violating requirements of their wastewater discharge permits. Malibu Beach Inn, owned by DreamWorks cofounder David Geffen, HRL Laboratories, plus a couple facilities and the office building owned by Miramar Properties that is home to Malibu's City Hall were also cited for these violations.

Ninety to 95 percent of businesses in Malibu are permitted, "but there are some that are hard to capture," Craig George, the city's environmental and building safety division manager, told the water board during last week's meeting.

"If we don't pass this MOU we will be in charge of all [unpermitted] businesses in Malibu and will have to figure out how to shut them down," Madeline Glickfeld, vice chair of the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board and a Malibu resident, said at the meeting. "We haven't yet gotten a system where we're all on the same page and we know who doesn't have a permit."

Officials from both the water board and the city agreed that numerous aspects of the MOU need clarification and improvement. Suggested modifications included the regular exchange of septic monitoring reports; outlined consequences for owners of failed septic systems; and a date by which the city must implement a centralized wastewater treatment facility in the Civic Center area.

"Malibu is different than any other jurisdiction because it's the only place that's holding onto onsite wastewater treatment systems," Glickfeld said.

The water board and numerous environmental groups have urged the city to implement a centralized wastewater treatment facility in the Civic Center to reduce pollution of waters at Surfrider Beach, Malibu Creek and Malibu Lagoon. However, the city says it may not be entirely responsible for the poor water quality and therefore should not be required to front the full cost of such implementation.

Results, expected in 2011, of a current epidemiology study at Surfrider Beach conducted by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project will help identify any other sources of pollution, the city says.

That, however, did not sit well with a member of the Malibu Surfing Association, which issued the statement, "The bottom line is the toilet is full and it's overflowing and the City of Malibu wants to do another study to see if they should call a plumber."

In the meantime, the city has allocated $2.1 million of its 2009-2010 fiscal year budget for professional services needed to prepare construction plans and obtain building permits, among other preconstruction activities, for a centralized wastewater treatment facility.

The city has delegated the La Paz property, located on Civic Center Way, to house the wastewater facility. Yet, development could be delayed due to a lawsuit filed in December by Santa Monica Baykeeper, challenging the city's approval of the property's environmental impact report.

Further delay may also be caused by the Coastal Commission's decision in February to extend its review time for the La Paz property up to one year, but "the wastewater [treatment facility] isn't going to happen in less than four years," Councilmember John Sibert said in April.

A date for the next MOU renegotiation meeting has not yet been set, but is expected to take place in July or August.

http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2009/06/24/news/news5.txt

 

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