Assemblyman Maddox pushes for end of sewage waiver
Paul Clinton
COSTA MESA -- State lawmakers, Huntington Beach city leaders and
environmentalists huddled at the Huntington Beach Pier on May 17 to
declare their opposition to the Orange County Sanitation District’s
sewage waiver.
Speaking to a sparse crowd on the steps off the north side of the
pier, Assemblyman Ken Maddox (R-Garden Grove) pledged his support for
ending the district’s exemption from federal treatment standards outlined
in the Clean Water Act of 1972.
With the waiver, the district is allowed to release 240-million
gallons of partially treated sewage into the ocean each day.
Maddox, whose District 68 will represent Costa Mesa after November’s
general election, has introduced a bill that would short-circuit the
district’s application to renew the waiver and force the agency to step
up its treatment of the waste.
Wearing a Hawaiian-print shirt depicting Woodies and surfboards, the
assemblyman discussed the issue at the event. He introduced the
legislation, known as Assembly Bill 1969, on Feb. 14.
“It’s appropriate because it’s the summer of love,” Maddox said about
his bill’s number. “We love our beaches.”
Maddox was joined at the event by Assemblyman Tom Harman (R-Huntington
Beach), Huntington Beach Councilwoman Connie Boardman and members of the
Ocean Outfall Group, who initiated the effort to end the waiver.
Several cities, including Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, have supported
the effort.
Huntington Beach, which also favors the bill, has paid a terrible
price for bacteria contamination at city beaches. Closures that lasted
most of the summer in 1999 turned the city into a ghost town during its
most popular season for tourism.
“Our local economy is dependent on the ocean water,” Boardman said.
“This is an economic issue that strikes at the heart of Huntington
Beach.”
The sanitation district, however, still cannot pinpoint the cause of
bacterial contamination on the Newport Beach and Huntington Beach
coastline. On May 15, a panel of scientists revealed that a $5.1-million
study during last summer said the district’s sewage plume could not be
narrowed down as the primary culprit.
Maddox’s bill would require the district to move to what is known as
“full secondary” treatment. Right now, the district only treats half of
its discharge, via an outfall pipe on the ocean floor, to that level.
There is still some question as to whether the state can prevent the
district from renewing the federal waiver.
The waiver is issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency,
but the sanitation district was created by the state Legislature.
District spokeswoman Lisa Murphy said the bill would step on the
district board’s toes.
“The bill is Maddox’s attempt to push the district into a decision [to
implement] full secondary,” Murphy said .”The bill interrupts the local
decision-making process.”
The bill would not directly provide funding to the district to pay for
the $400-million price tag for full secondary treatment.
Maddox pointed to the district’s $450 million in cash reserves to pay
for the additional treatment.
Murphy, however, said the money is tied up for capital improvements at
the district’s Fountain Valley plant.
* Paul Clinton covers the environment, John Wayne Airport and
politics. He may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7
paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .
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