Sewage Upgrade Waiver Dropped for San Elijo Plant

San Diego County supervisors on Tuesday abandoned their hard-fought campaign to obtain a waiver from federal requirements that they upgrade the level of sewage treatment at the San Elijo plant in Cardiff.

In a move that delighted environmentalists but sparked a minor controversy among members of the newly elected Encinitas City Council, the board voted 3-2 to withdraw its application for the waiver, which is available to ocean dischargers under an amendment to the federal Clean Water Act.

The supervisors’ action means the newly incorporated cities of Solana Beach and Encinitas, which will assume joint control of the facility in the coming months, must spend as much as $6 million to equip the sewage plant for secondary treatment by July, 1988. Under the act, sewage dischargers failing to obtain waivers must adopt the new, sophisticated treatment process by that deadline or face fines.

For members of People for a Clean Ocean, the vote was a key victory. The Cardiff-based group has waged an aggressive fight against local agencies seeking the waivers, describing the exemptions as environmental backsliding and warning that reducing treatment standards threatens the public health. In May, Oceanside and Fallbrook scrapped their campaign for waivers under heavy pressure from the organization.

Richard MacManus, founder of the Clean Ocean group, said the board’s action “sets a very important example and gives us a new weapon” in the fight to persuade Escondido to abandon a similar effort to reduce treatment standards for the 11 million gallons that it discharges into the ocean each day. Escondido’s application for a waiver has been approved by state and federal regulators but is under appeal.

But at least one member of the newly elected Encinitas City Council said she was perturbed by the board’s vote and alarmed by the sudden prospect of scrambling for funds needed to cover improvements at the treatment plant, which processes and pumps seaward 2.5 million gallons of sewage daily from Solana Beach and Cardiff.

A letter signed by the council, which does not officially take over the government until Oct. 1, supporting secondary treatment was presented to the board Tuesday. But according to one council member, the letter was not intended as a request that supervisors drop their campaign to obtain a waiver.

“Somebody goofed somewhere,” said Anne Omsted, a member of the Encinitas City Council. “I think the supervisors sort of assumed that our letter meant we wanted them to give up on the waiver. It didn’t, and now we’re forced to go to secondary and find some way to pay for it.”

Omsted conceded that all council members agree that secondary treatment “is the way to go.” But a majority of members decided at a council meeting Monday night that “we should allow the waiver process to continue in order to keep all of our options open.”

However, Marjorie Gaines, mayor-elect of Encinitas, did not agree.

“It was very clear that (Supervisor) Susan Golding’s motion Tuesday was intended to withdraw the waiver, and my understanding was that we were supporting her on that with our letter,” Gaines said.

She said it was imperative that Encinitas officials take a firm stand on the sewage issue if they hope to persuade Escondido to abort its effort to reduce treatment standards.

“If we were to shy away from this, we wouldn’t be putting our money where our mouth is,” Gaines said. “If you’re going to ask other communities, like Escondido, to pay a higher price for secondary treatment, then there’s no way we can hedge on it and ask for something different for ourselves.”

The Solana Beach City Council specifically supported withdrawing the waiver application in a letter to the board.

Supervisor Paul Eckert said that dropping the waiver puts immediate pressure on the infant city to come up with funds for plant improvements. “It would have been more sensible to wait and continue their request for a waiver,” Eckert said. “Making an application for the waiver doesn’t mean you’re going to use it. I didn’t think it was a good tactical position to take.”

Although the Clean Water Act provides for the assessment of fines against those dischargers who fail to meet the July, 1988, deadline for upgrading treatment plants, Clean Ocean officials said they aren’t worried.

“My experience has been that the EPA does not fine a municipality that is actively working toward raising its standards according to law,” MacManus said. “If an agency is negligent or intentionally dragging its feet, it gets fined. We plan to move progressively toward secondary treatment.”

Still, Omsted, for one, said she has “absolutely no idea” where Encinitas will find the money to cover its share of the estimated $6 million in improvements needed at the San Elijo plant. MacManus said he has no specific ideas, but noted that state and federal grant money might be available.

The San Elijo Water Pollution Control Facility is on the shore of San Elijo Lagoon and serves the communities of Cardiff and Solana Beach. Spills and breakdowns at the plant have contributed to ocean contamination that has forced county health officials to periodically quarantine part of Cardiff State Beach in recent months.

The county’s bid to skirt the stringent treatment requirements had won the approval of the state Regional Water Quality Control Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, appeals filed by Clean Ocean supporters had stalled the actual issuance of the waivers.