City to Fully Treat Ocean Sewage : $528-Million Plan Will End Long Environmental Battle

The Los Angeles City Council, faced with a directive to repair its deteriorating sewer system, ended years of resistance and agreed Tuesday to comply with a state Regional Water Quality Control Board order to fully treat all sewage that the city dumps in the ocean.

Meeting behind closed doors, the council voted to go ahead with plans to establish full sewage treatment facilities--at an estimated cost of $528 million--rather than contest the board order.

“It’s the right, honorable thing to do,” said Council President Pat Russell after announcing the council’s decision not to appeal the state ruling.

In issuing its Nov. 25 decision, the regional water board had ordered the city to fully treat the 410 million gallons of sewage it dumps daily into Santa Monica Bay.

Less than 25% of the city’s waste now receives full “secondary” treatment--which removes enough chemicals and bacteria to make waste water usable for irrigation--before leaving the Hyperion sewage treatment plant in El Segundo. The remainder receives just enough treatment to remove solids before it is dumped through an outfall pipe five miles offshore.

The regional water board had already moved to block the city’s attempt to obtain a waiver that would have allowed Los Angeles to fully treat only about 60% of the waste, requiring more than $356 million in improvements to the Hyperion plant. But Russell said there was “no controversy” among council members in the private meeting--closed to the public because it involved possible litigation--over whether to appeal the ruling.

Cost of $528 Million

The move to full treatment of all sewage will cost an additional $172 million--for a total outlay of $528 million under the board order, City Engineer Robert S. Hori said. The full treatment system will take at least eight years to build, he added.

To pay for the updated sewage system, the city is expected to tap several financial sources. The city is expected to hire a private consultant to look at alternatives to finance the project, City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie said.

“It will be a combination of federal grants . . . sewer service charges, charges on new construction, and then, if the financial consultant can come up with something more exotic than revenue bonds, we’ll be looking at that also,” Comrie said. “But that’s going to take a few months.”

Among the prospects are a possible tripling of the $5.40 residential sewer fee as well as possible increases in the charges levied industrial users and connection fees. Some council members have proposed placing a higher fee on new commercial or residential projects.

Comrie said the city, which must present a plan and timetable to the regional water board next month, will include financial details as part of the city’s budget deliberations next year.

The Hyperion improvements are part of the city’s overall $1.9-billion waste water improvement program--including $1.3 billion in construction costs.

The council’s acquiescence Tuesday marked the apparent end to a decade-long environmental battle with the regional water board. Since the early 1970s, Los Angeles has pressed for a waiver from the federal government’s full treatment standards, arguing that full treatment was environmentally unnecessary and too costly.