New permit will limit polluted runoff

Bryce Alderton

Less pollution will be muddying the waters of Huntington Beach in the

next five years after state water officials unanimously approved changes

to the county’s storm water permit.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board approved a revised

edition of the permit that controls what can be washed into storm drains.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System storm water permit is

a five-year permit applying to 25 north and central Orange County cities,

that sets the ground rules for what can be discharged into receiving

waters such as lakes, streams and rivers. The federal Clean Water Act

requires the permit, but the specifics are up to the state agency.

The revised permit promises closer inspections of businesses such as

carwashes and restaurants, additional requirements placed on new

developments and less waste allowed from newly paved roads.

Under the new rules, commercial developments of more than 100,000

square feet and residential areas with more than 10 housing units would

be required to devise a way to trap the season’s “first flush,” said

water board member Kurt Berchtold.

The first flush is the first inch or so of rain to fall in Southern

California each season, which picks up the pollutants that have

accumulated on lawns and streets and sends them into waterways and

eventually the ocean.

Developers must create a means to catch this first rain once it has

picked up the pollutants.

“This could be a grassy area where storm water is filtered or a catch

basin,” Berchtold said.

This will be an added cost to developers, which has some people

concerned.

Providing affordable housing with new permit requirements could be a

problem said Tim Piasky, director of environmental affairs for the

Building Industry Assn. of Southern California.

“This will have a huge impact in building schools and homes with the

requirements far outweighing the water quality benefits,” Piasky said.

“It has the potential to slow down construction of new developments that

will eliminate jobs.”

The cost to install a filter or treatment device on a single lot could

cost an additional $6,000, Piasky said.

“And that doesn’t cover the annual maintenance that the homeowner or

homeowner’s association would have to cover,” he added.

Cities will have anywhere from a year to 18 months to come up with a

regionwide approach for the first flush of runoff before the board could

begin issuing fines, but Berchtold remains optimistic.

“We think the dates of the permit are reasonable and expect that

[cities] will comply,” he said.

City officials hail the idea behind the runoff regulations, the

question lies in having adequate resources to put programs in place.

“I’m strongly in favor of [the permit], but the issue is execution,”

said Councilman Ralph Bauer. “Cleaning the environment costs money and we

need to wrestle with that. But we also have to make it a priority to

prove there is a clear nexus between the event and the negative aspect of

it.”

An example of a correlation is grease traps in restaurants, he said.

Other groups support a permit with less allowances.

Garry Brown, founder and director of Orange County CoastKeeper, a

grass-roots organization whose goal is to protect and preserve the

county’s marine habitat, has said the permit should employ more

restrictive water quality standards like ones in San Diego and Los

Angeles counties.

The Orange County Sanitation District is currently studying the

possibility of diverting more dry season urban runoff, runoff containing

waste oils, fertilizers and animal waste, from other county flood control

channels into its facility on Ellis Avenue in Fountain Valley, said Lisa

Murphy, sanitation district spokeswoman.

There is already a plan in the works to divert dry season runoff

through the district from the Santa Ana River Channel, the Talbert

Channel and the Huntington Beach Pump Station in Huntington Beach.

Construction of pumps and an inflatable rubber dam is already underway

and scheduled to be completed by May 20, said officials of the county’s

Public Facilities and Resource Department.