Paint Project Leads to Costly Brush With Bureaucracy

Lori Feinstein made a mistake, and she paid for it.

Boy, did she pay for it.

As this tale unfolds, try to picture the late Rod Serling, standing in the shadows in his dark suit, cigarette in hand, saying: “Consider if you will, Lori Feinstein, 42, wife, mother of two, psychiatric technician at a Stanton hospital. . . . Living life as a law-abiding citizen on a cul-de-sac in Huntington Beach, California. . . . Until three days ago when she decided to paint the garage. . . . And entered the Twilight Zone.”

On Tuesday of this week, Feinstein’s son thought it’d be cool to paint the family garage as a surprise for Dad, who was out of town on business. So Mom, son and some Boy Scout buddies slapped on a coat of dark green paint.

When they took a break, Feinstein took two six-inch paintbrushes and hosed them clean along the curb in front of her house.

A neighbor saw the stream running down the curb and notified Huntington Beach officials, who at about 2:30 p.m. dispatched someone to the scene. Within half an hour, a three-man crew in the hazardous materials truck arrived. The city official told Feinstein that dumping paint that could run into a storm drain was illegal because that runoff flows into the ocean without being treated.

Feinstein apologized and said she would clean up the mess. Soon after, another city official arrived on the scene, and the two city representatives told her that she couldn’t do the cleanup because it would take too long.

The two city officials who stayed behind told her that she’d have to hire a private company to clean up the problem. They gave her a couple names, and she got hold of one of them, who arrived and began the cleanup about 5:30, now some three hours since the first city officials arrived.

Feinstein said the city officials told her that one of them had to stay until the cleanup had begun; the other told her he had to remain until it was finished. So, at 5:30, one left and the other remained.

By then, Feinstein had learned some disquieting news. The second official told her, she said, that she would be financially accountable for the time on the scene of both him and his fellow city employee.

In addition, Feinstein said, he told her she’d be accountable for the hazardous materials truck’s visit--although they hadn’t been needed because the paint was a simple water-based mixture. However, the hour the truck was there would cost her $600, she was told.

The city’s assessment would be on top of the private firm’s bill, which amounted to $562 for the cleanup.

After determining what the city officials’ time-on-the-scene would amount to, Feinstein computed her total bill for the episode at roughly $1,645.

“The absurdity of this whole thing was unreal,” Feinstein said. “I could have painted the whole house for what this is costing me. I had an estimate to paint the house, and that was only $1,600.”

The cleanup crew began at 5:30 and was finished at 10:30, Feinstein said. All the while, the city official who first arrived at 2:30 remained on the scene, most of the time across the street watching the action, she said.

“They were all nice guys,” Feinstein said. “I asked the guy who had showed up at 2:30 if he wanted something to eat, and he said no, that his wife was bringing him dinner.”

Sure enough, Feinstein said, a nice lady drove up around dinner time with some food for him.

“I’m taking all this in, and I’m thinking, ‘Does anyone have a gun?’ ” Feinstein said. “Would anyone like to shoot me?”

Lest you think all the news was bad that day for Feinstein, the second city official had some good news. Because the paint was water-based, it could be dumped into the sewer system--as opposed to the storm drain--where it would be treated, he told her.

When I reached them Thursday afternoon, Huntington Beach officials basically confirmed Feinstein’s depiction of events. But they were softening on what they might charge her.

City spokesman Rich Barnard said the Fire Department will review the situation and see what laws apply regarding Feinstein’s financial responsibility. He said a report on that should be ready early next week.

Sounding fairly conciliatory, Barnard said: “We don’t want to send the message to the public that, gee whiz, you can go dump paint in the street and that we will not take a firm stance. Then, there’s the more humane side of it. . . .”

Feinstein says she’s sorry, that she didn’t know washing off a paintbrush in the street was illegal. She also takes exception to the city’s report that there might have been a gallon of paint spilled; she said the original bucket was only one gallon and that she painted the entire garage with it and had a quarter of the can left. She insists that only the two brushes were hosed off.

As usual when such seeming insanity crops up, I’m ready with level-headed advice.

To the city of Huntington Beach: Don’t even think of socking this woman with more expenses. She’s already paid $562 for rinsing two paintbrushes. That’s enough punishment.

And to Mrs. Feinstein: When your husband returns and asks if you had any trouble painting the garage, don’t tell him what happened.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.