New full-treatment sewage decision applauded

Paul Clinton

Newport-Mesa -- By approving new, higher-level treatment standards

for its waste Wednesday, the Orange County Sanitation District board

moved away from a treatment method that was decidedly out of step

with most of the nation’s other sanitation agencies.

Sanitation district members approved the new full-treatment method

after a heady debate Wednesday evening on a razer-thin 13-12 vote.

The board also decided to drop its pursuit of a controversial federal

waiver allowing it to skirt standards laid out in the Clean Water Act

of 1972.

The move is expected to help address nagging beach postings and

closures in the county struggling with enigmatic bacteria outbreaks

off its shoreline. The issue reached a flashpoint during the summer

of 1999, when Huntington Beach took a crippling hit to its stream of

visitors after a rash of closures. Surf zone contamination has been

detected as close as 1/2 mile from the Newport Beach shoreline.

“I think there’s a broad appreciation for having clean beaches,”

Newport Beach Councilman Gary Adams said. “It’s a decision that

should have been made five years ago. It’s a tardy decision, rather

than a legacy decision.”

Adams sat in for Mayor Tod Ridgeway, a member of the board, during

the Wednesday meeting. Both Adams and Costa Mesa Sanitary District

member Jim Ferryman, who is also a Newport-Mesa Unified School

District board member, added their votes to the supporters.

A contingent of inland cities represented on the board had

resisted stepping up to the higher treatment due to its higher cost.

Sanitation district leaders said they would need to spend $423

million between now and 2020 to implement the new treatment.

As a result, ratepayers will probably have to absorb a

$16-per-year increase in their basic sewer rate. The average

household now pays $87.50 per year.

Representatives of inland cities also questioned the effectiveness

of the new treatment method, known as “full secondary.” A form of

this method was developed in the late 19th Century, but has since

been refined.

“When you really analyze it, it doesn’t do the job,” Placentia

Councilman Norm Eckenrode said. “This is an 1860s process.”

A contingent of environmentalists who had pushed for the new

treatment and the waiver -- disputed those claims.

“That would be like saying the dollar bill in my pocket is no good

because it’s only been backed by the U.S. government for a couple

hundred years,” said Bob Caustin, founder of Defend the Bay, a

Newport Beach environmental group.

With the dozen inland cities opposing the new treatment,

Wednesday’s vote was a close one.

Anaheim representative Shirley McCracken broke from the ranks to

support the increased treatment.

“It’s nice that an inland city like Anaheim recognizes the

importance of clean beaches,” Newport Beach Asst. City Manager Dave

Kiff said. “They’re a tourist-dependent city.”