VENTURA : Keys Residents Sue Over Polluted Water

A Ventura attorney has filed a federal lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, the city of Ventura and the county for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act at the Ventura Keys.

The suit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by Donald M. Adams Jr., alleges that the city and county are ignoring EPA water quality standards by continuing to allow the dumping of polluted water into the waterway surrounding the Ventura Keys subdivision.

Adams, who lives in Ventura Keys, claims fecal coliform bacteria levels in the waterway run about 25 times the level allowed by federal standards. The pollution levels are preventing homeowners and their families from swimming at two private beaches near the keys, the suit says.

“I believe there are broken sewer lines” causing the high levels of contaminants, Adams said. He wants the city to set up testing points along the Arundell Barranca, a storm drain feeding into the waterway, to determine the source of pollution.

But City Atty. Peter D. Bulens said the city already tests for broken sewer lines. “To say that’s where it’s coming from is not very factual,” Bulens said.

The bacteria could be coming from a variety of sources, including agricultural land, birds and runoff from undeveloped property, he said.

“We don’t believe there is poor water quality” in the waterway, City Manager John Baker said.

But Adams said the city should test the water where the storm drain feeds into the waterway surrounding the subdivision.