Top Two Officials at Sewage Plant Replaced; Move Linked to Spills

In a shake-up, the Los Angeles Board of Public Works on Wednesday replaced the two top officials at the Hyperion sewage treatment plant who were in charge during a series of embarrassing spills that cost the city $180,000 in fines.

The board voted to remove George Ohara, the head of the Bureau of Sanitation’s waste water treatment division, and Ken Ludwig, the plant’s manager, from their responsibilities at the facility in Playa del Rey.

The personnel shuffle was described as a reassignment for both men, and city officials said neither employee had been demoted. The board indicated at the same time that more personnel changes may come later as the city struggles to upgrade its aging sewage treatment system.

The city has had to pay $180,050 in fines after five sewage spills, including a September incident in which 100,000 gallons of raw sewage was pumped into Santa Monica Bay. Water became polluted to the point that officials closed Will Rogers Beach State Park after one spill last Labor Day weekend. On two occasions last fall, raw sewage backed up into Ballona Creek in Culver City.

Delwin A. Biagi, director of the Bureau of Sanitation, said the personnel changes should alert the 400 workers at the Hyperion plant, as well as the public, of a new city commitment.

“The message is that sewage management is very important in this city,” Biagi said, “and we are going to do what we think is necessary to improve the way we handle sewage, the way we collect it, the way we treat it and the way we dispose of it.”

Ohara, who had been at his post since 1977, said he learned of the pending move on Tuesday and was surprised. He would not speculate on the reasons behind his removal from Hyperion. “Certainly, we have bosses, and we do what we’re told to do,” said Ohara, who will continue to oversee the city’s three other treatment plants: Tillman, Terminal Island and Los Angeles-Glendale.

Ludwig, who will now work on research projects, said he is also surprised by the transfer and refused to speculate whether it was a result of the oil spills. “I’m looking at it from a positive point of view. . . . It’s a new endeavor,” said Ludwig, who has been plant manager for two years and a city employee since 1965.

Ludwig and Ohara, both sanitary engineers, are Civil Service employees and will continue to draw their $64,101-a-year salaries.

Their former jobs will be taken by Harry Sizemore, assistant director of the Bureau of Sanitation, who acts as plant manager, and Donald L. Smith, a private consultant, who will review the Hyperion system and report to the public works board in 60 days.

Smith, a vice president with the Pasadena engineering firm of James M. Montgomery, has been working for four years as part of a joint venture with the city in its Hyperion Energy Recovery System. He was given the task of evaluating plant conditions and recommending ways to upgrade the facility and its waste treatment process, including additional personnel changes if needed.

In voting for the personnel changes, Maureen A. Kindel, president of the city Board of Public Works, said Smith would have “a tremendous amount of authority and power . . . to make the kinds of tough recommendations” that may be needed to overhaul the Hyperion plant.

The facility, which began full operations in 1950, dumps more than 400 million gallons of treated sewage a day into the Santa Monica Bay, less than one-fourth of which receives “full secondary” treatment in which 80% of suspended solids are removed.

The City Council voted Tuesday to upgrade the Hyperion plant--at the cost of $528 million--to fully treat the entire flow of sewage.