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

[email protected] .