The State : San Diego Hit by Sewage Suit

The federal and state governments teamed up to sue San Diego for discharging raw and inadequately treated sewage into the ocean and local waterways 1,814 times since 1983. The San Diego federal court civil suit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board accuses the city of ignoring a July 1 deadline to upgrade its sewage facilities. The federal Clean Water Act requires cities to improve treatment methods to remove 90% of the wastes from sewage before it is dumped at sea. The suit says defective sewer lines and failed pump stations are to blame. It seeks fines ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 a day for each violation and an order forcing San Diego to build a new treatment plant, estimated to cost $1.4-billion. Meanwhile, the EPA released a report that said 87% of the nation’s major sewage treatment plants have complied with the stricter treatment requirements.