$35,000 to Go to UCI’s Water Quality Studies : Contractor Fined $45,000 for Pollution of Bay

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board on Friday fined a Tustin contractor a record $45,000 for pumping sulfide-contaminated water into Newport Bay for 108 days without a permit or a properly functioning treatment system.

In an unusual settlement, the state regional board allowed DAVCON Inc. to donate $35,000 to a UC Irvine trust fund for Newport Bay water quality studies. But some members, angered that the firm would get a “tax deduction” for “thumbing their noses at us,” insisted on levying an additional $10,000 in punitive penalties.

The $45,000 penalty is the largest punitive fine ever assessed against a polluter in the three-county Santa Ana River region, officials said.

Board member Ira Calvert of Corona had called the proposed $35,000 trust-fund arrangement an insufficient punishment because the firm had repeatedly flouted the agency’s directives, pumping an estimated 10.8 million gallons of contaminated water in violation of state laws.

“This is nothing but a tax deduction for them,” Calvert fumed.

But board Chairman Philip R. Maurer, who is also the mayor of Newport Beach, defended DAVCON, saying that the firm was under pressure from his city and the county to hasten work on a three-story commercial building on Coast Highway near Newport Boulevard and prevent slumping of the road on aging utility lines.

He added that while the sulfide odors were noxious and the treatment system produced “milky” water in abnormal concentrations, there was no evidence of harm to aquatic life.

“They ran the red light,” Maurer conceded. “They broke the law, yes. But I can see why they did it. And the harm to the bay was not serious.”

But board member John Leggett of Westminster disagreed, citing the serious pollution problem in Newport Bay.

“It’s a little here and a little there that is causing this bay to deteriorate,” Leggett said. “I think they thumbed their noses at us. They didn’t do anything. They just sat on their butts and did nothing.”

James F. Egner, one of three co-owners of the 7-year-old contracting company, waived the firm’s right to a public hearing and accepted the fine.

After the meeting, Egner said the firm tried to act responsibly and added that the fine will “put a small strain on operations.”

“In our opinion . . . we took every action necessary,” Egner said. “We spent over $100,000 trying to remedy the problem.”

The incident began last Oct. 15, when a board staff member was investigating complaints of noxious odors and discovered ground water contaminated with sulfide at 75 times the allowable levels being pumped from the firm’s construction site into Newport Bay.

Such pumping operations, called “dewatering,” are necessary at bayside development sites because ground-water levels are near the surface. It is also needed to prevent the settling of adjacent land.

In Newport Beach, where poor quality sulfurous oil and gas remains trapped in underground pockets, pumped ground water is often contaminated and must be treated before it is discharged.

The regional board staff notified DAVCON of the illegal discharge and ordered the contractor to stop pumping operations, warning the firm of possible penalties. But the firm’s construction site supervisor, William Taylor, refused, according to the staff report.

Pass-Along Cost

Taylor indicated also that “the costs of the fine would be passed along to the client anyway” and that it was “simply one of the costs of doing business in an expeditious manner,” the staff report indicated.

James R. Bennett, executive officer of the tri-county agency, said DAVCON discharged unabated for 14 days before a treatment system was installed. The treated water controlled sulfide levels but produced milky-colored water. Despite attempts to eliminate it, highly turbid, milky water continued to be discharged until Jan. 30.

In the meantime, Bennett said, DAVCON officials ignored repeated requests to file a completed application for a discharge permit until Jan. 7. He concluded that DAVCON saved significant amounts of money by continuing to pump the contaminated water after it was notified of the violations.

But Egner, while apologizing for the actions of the supervisor, who, he said, has been fired, told board members he was under “stringent regulations” from Newport Beach to prevent any settlement of the highway.

Company’s Explanation

“There was no way to remedy the (contamination) problem without shutting down the pumps, which we felt couldn’t have been done,” Egner told board members meeting in the Riverside City Council chambers. “I was trying to comply at both ends.”

Calculated rigidly according to state law, DAVCON could have faced a maximum of $108,188,000 in civil penalties for illegal discharge of 10.8 million gallons of effluent into state waterways for 108 days, failure to file an application for the discharge for 80 days and discharging without a permit for 108 days.

But at $45,000, Bennett said the penalty is the largest punitive fine ever assessed against a polluter in the three-county Santa Ana River region.

Before the $45,000 fine was assessed against DAVCON, the previous record for a regional polluter was a $40,000 fine imposed last August against Steelcase Inc. of Tustin.

Additionally, the office furniture manufacturer was ordered to pay a separate $23,802 in cleanup costs to seven state and local agencies for spilling 13,500 gallons of paint residue into an Irvine flood control channel in May of 1985.

Board member Anita B. Smith of Riverside called the $35,000 trust fund to be set up at UCI “a real windfall for us” that is coming at a time when nine regional boards around the state are facing budget cuts.