Costa Mesa joins waiver opposition

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- The city joined the ranks of neighboring coastal cities

by adopting a resolution Monday that opposes the dumping of partially

treated sewage by the county.

The City Council followed in the footsteps of Newport Beach, Seal

Beach and Huntington Beach to send a message to the Orange County

Sanitation Department not to apply for a waiver that allows for the

disposal of sewage that doesn’t meet the full requirements of the Federal

Clean Water Act.

The technical language of the resolution calls for “full secondary

treatment,” a process that activates good bacteria to help combat

disease-causing microorganisms. When done successfully, the process

removes 95% of the harmful elements and about 90% of solids, according to

city staff.

A handful of environmentalists stayed at the meeting past 11 p.m. to

address the council about the issue. While their presence was helpful, it

seemed council members needed no persuasion.

“I firmly believe it is our responsibility to protect what goes into

our ocean,” Councilwoman Linda Dixon said.

Jan Vandersloot, president of the community-based Ocean Outfall Group,

thanked the council for setting an example for inland cities to also put

pressure on the sanitation district.

“Your leadership tonight will be very helpful to urge the other Orange

County cities to also [oppose] the waiver,” Vandersloot said.

The Newport Beach City Council adopted a similar resolution in

September, after a heated debate between environmentalistsand sanitation

district officials.

Bill Morris, Costa Mesa director of public services, said the city

borrowed most of the wording of the resolution from Newport Beach.

The sanitation department serves about 2.35 million people across 24

cities in north and central Orange County and takes in about 241 million

gallons of waste water per day. It sends about 236 million gallons of

that to the ocean, a staff report shows.