Bradley Backs Move : Council Decides to Fight Fine for Sewage Spillage

Insisting that the city has taken every step possible to prevent spills from its troublesome sewer system, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday vowed to fight a $150,000 fine proposed last week by state officials after more than 95,000 gallons of raw waste were dumped into Ballona Creek.

Rather than pay the fine set by the state Regional Water Quality Control Board staff, the council members unanimously ordered city engineering and sanitation officials to challenge the fine at a Monday hearing.

In taking the action, the council reversed the approach it took in August, when the board staff recommended that the city pay $30,500 in fines from earlier spills. Then, the council promptly paid the fine without a challenge.

An Apparent Offensive

The council move Wednesday signaled an apparent public relations offensive by city officials who have come under heated criticism for its handling of repeated breakdowns in the aging Los Angeles sewer system.

While council members urged city sanitation officials to forcefully appeal the proposed fine, Mayor Tom Bradley held a press conference and walking tour of the $75-million Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, the latest addition to the city’s vast sewage system. The Tillman plant, which opened in late September, handles one-third of the San Fernando Valley’s sewage.

Bradley said he agreed with the council’s decision to fight the fine.

“Obviously, we’re fighting it, so we don’t think it’s justified,” he said. “It’s not a question of politics or ‘heat’ (city officials are taking). . . . We need to demonstrate a good-faith effort to do everything we can to prevent any problems.”

Bradley, as the expected Democratic candidate for governor next year, has taken the brunt of the criticism over the city’s handling of its sewer problems. In the past, Bradley has boasted of his environmental stands while criticizing Gov. George Deukmejian’s actions, but the nettlesome sewer situation has given Deukmejian an issue with which to wound Bradley.

Reasoning for Action

Asked if the spills have been politically embarrassing to him, Bradley said, “I don’t think anybody . . . wants to see any break in the system, any damage to the system or flow of sewage where it’s not supposed to go.”

Like Bradley, council members and city sanitation officials said they plan to fight the water quality board’s proposed fines on the grounds that the city has set in motion specific plans to handle routine sewage spills but should not be held accountable for unavoidable overflows.

In a report issued last week, the water board staff said the $150,000 fine should be paid for three spills--the Aug. 2 seeping of 150 gallons into Ballona Creek, the Sept. 6 dumping of 15 gallons there and the Sept. 21 overflow of 95,000 gallons into the creek.

All of the spills took place at the Jackson Avenue waste station in Culver City, adjacent to Ballona Creek. The creek itself feeds into the Pacific Ocean at Playa del Rey.

City engineer Robert S. Horii told the council Wednesday that after the August spills the city took corrective steps aimed at halting any future overflows.

A 5,000-gallon overflow tank was brought in to handle all small spills, he said, and employees were stationed at the Jackson Avenue plant daily to quickly chlorinate any escaping sewage. An overflow barrier was raised eight inches to further prevent the escape of untreated sewage, Horii said.

Horii described the two small spills--the 15- and 150-gallon overflows--as mere seepage. The 95,000-gallon overflow on Sept. 21 was unanticipated and unavoidable, he said. City officials have traced the overflow to discharges from the San Fernando Valley but have been unable to pinpoint the cause, Horii said.

Councilwoman Joy Picus suggested that the city might be better off not to contest the proposed fine, arguing that the city would only have its image further tarnished in a public hearing.

“We’ve handled it so terribly,” she said. “Anything that could have been done badly was done badly.”

But she was quickly silenced by other council members and city officials, such as Councilman Marvin Braude.

“We were responsible,” Braude said. “We did plan (corrective measures). We’re very sensitive to these kinds of problems, and we’ve been maligned as unsensitive.”