City cleared after spill

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- State water-quality regulators have cleared the city

of any wrongdoing after wrapping up an investigation of a June sewage

spill of about 3,500 gallons.

The spill, which occurred June 16, resulted from a valve failure at a

city pump station near the San Joaquin Reservoir. After a city “wet well”

began to fill to the brim, the pump failed to restart.

The sewage spilled into a private storm drain, which leads to a creek

channel. The end point: Upper Newport Bay.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, the agency that

conducted the investigation, exonerated the city because of its speedy

cleanup of the spill.

“There was no evidence that the sewage had reached that [creek]

channel,” said Kurt Berchtold, the board’s assistant executive officer.

“We were satisfied with the way the city handled this one.”

The spill occurred at 26 Vienna St., in the Harbor Ridge neighborhood.

The city’s pump station at that location is one of 20 in Newport Beach.

In addition to the valve failure, a new spill-warning alert system

also failed to notify city engineers of the problem. After the spill, the

11 stations where the system was installed were inspected.

The valve was repaired and the affected area was cleaned and

disinfected by city workers, Berchtold said.

The regional board has closed the book on the spill, with no plans for

any enforcement action, Berchtold said.

“Any spill is a problem for us, but this was one where we could

contain it,” Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said. “We were able to

learn from this one.”