Water Quality Staff Recommends Penalties for Tustin Marine Base

Concluding that the U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Station in Tustin “intentionally or negligently” discharged at least 10,000 gallons of contaminated water into the Upper Newport Bay watershed last month, state water quality investiagators are recommending legal action to impose civil penalties of up to $25,000 a day.

In a separate 1983 case of jet fuel contaminating soil and ground water at the base, staff officials of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board-Santa Ana Region are recommending that the case be referred to the state attorney general for enforcement action if acceptable cleanup plans are not provided by Sept. 26.

Both recommendations for tough cleanup and abatement orders against the Marine base are contained in reports to the nine-member regional water quality board that were made public Friday.

The board will consider the recommendations at its May 10 meeting in Fullerton.

If the regional authority recommends civil penalties against the military installation, it would be only the third time in recent years that a state agency tried to assert enforcement. “We have recommended civil penalties because we view this as being an avoidable situation,” James R. Bennett, assistant executive officer for the regional control board, said of a 4 1/2-mile-long stream of green fluid discovered in the San Diego Creek in Irvine on April 7.

“They (base officials) have admitted (the spill) occurred several days previous to the day it was discovered,” Bennett said Friday. “So someone was aware of it, yes. Maybe not the responsible person that should have done something to prevent it. But someone was aware.”

Penalty Could Hit $150,000

The Marine base could be subject to penalties of up to $25,000 per day for each day of illegal discharge under the federal Clean Water Act, Bennett said. The number of days of discharge has not been determined, but is believed to be from three to six, which could translate to penalties of up to $75,000 to $150,000.

A base spokeswoman, Capt. Joanne Schilling, said Friday that Marine Corps officials were aware that both matters are to be heard by the regional board next week.

However, Schilling said, “We have not received any official complaint, so it is not possible to comment at this time.”

The murky green liquid, first thought to be a single discharge, was traced to two spills from an overflowing catch basin for helicopter wash racks at the Tustin base. The spills of 50 to 100 gallons of a petroleum-based detergent and degreasing compound used to clean the aircraft resulted in contamination of at least 10,000 gallons of water.

Polluted water entered an unlined ditch overlying an Irvine ground-water basin, flowed into the San Diego Creek and entered the Upper Newport Bay, a state ecological preserve.

According to the report, base officials told investigators that one of two helicopter-washing facilities was shut down in January to connect it to a sewage line, and it was an overload of the remaining wash station that led to the discharge of contaminants in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

Each helicopter at the base is required to be cleaned every two weeks to prevent corrosion, base officials have said.

At a meeting with water quality investigators on April 19, base personnel admitted that the “discharge had originated ‘several’ days previous to April 7,” the report stated.

It was that prior knowledge, combined with delays in cleanup--including refusal to permit U.S. Coast Guard crews onto the base to clean up diked waste water--that led to the finding that the “U.S. Marine Corps has intentionally or negligently caused or permitted” illegal discharge of waste water.

When notified of the discharge on the morning of April 7, base officials shut down washing operations and sandbagged a base drainage ditch to prevent further runoff. About 8,400 gallons of contaminated water were recovered downstream from the base in vacuum trucks by a Coast Guard contractor. But base officials “refused to allow a contractor . . . hired by the U.S. Coast Guard to clean up the wastewater on” the base, the report said.

Contaminants Still Present

It was three days later, on April 10, before another 32,700 gallons of waste water and flushing water were recovered and removed from the base itself. Investigators noted, however, that residual contaminants still are present in the drainage channel and must be removed.

The water quality board will be asked to require the Marine Corps to submit a plan for removing contaminated soil and vegetation from the channel by May 17. The agency’s staff also has recommended that the Marines be required to look for additional ground pollution, and to clean it up in an approved manner.

When the detergent spills came to light, state and local officials lambasted the Marine Corps for failing to correct serious soil contamination discovered elsewhere on the base two years earlier.

They complained that efforts toward cleanup of 100,000 square feet of soil saturated with jet fuel and other contaminants at the Tustin base have been an uphill battle since Feb. 3, 1983, when an Orange County water specialist discovered the pollutants leaking into the adjacent Peters Canyon Channel.

Jet Fuel Set Afire

The source was two pits used to hold jet fuel that was set afire for training purposes. The pits were shut down immediately, but environmental officials believe that untold thousands of gallons of fuel were flushed into the channel 100 feet away between 1970 and 1983.

Soil has been excavated to a depth of 10 feet, but county and state officials want the remaining 10-foot layer removed and hauled away. Oil recovery wells have been installed to remove pollutants from the soil, but only 90 gallons of hydrocarbons have been recovered to date, according to the report to the regional board.

The report notes that the “Marine Corps has not proceeded with timely or appropriate remedial action to date.”

However, Bennett said Friday that “a milestone” was reached last April 19 at a meeting between water quality board officials and representatives of the base. A water-treatment system began pumping out contaminated ground water on April 24.

‘Turned the Corner’

“They have turned the corner and are acting responsibly,” Bennett said, adding that he thought it was coincidental that the new spirit of cooperation followed adverse publicity over the unrelated spills.

To ensure that the cleanup is expedited, however, the board is being asked to impose a strict timetable requiring that a final cleanup plan and schedule be submitted by Sept. 26. Executive Officer James W. Anderson is seeking authority to refer the case to the state attorney general for enforcement if the corps fails to comply in a “reasonable and timely manner.”