Tolerable Alternatives to Malibu Sewers

Along the Malibu coast, millions of Los Angeles County beachgoers still favor a taste of the unspoiled shoreline. And much of the adjacent hillsides are yet wild with the fragrant chaparral of ages past.

Even now you can walk along ankle deep in water so clear that you can see corbina splashing their way along the surf line. Enthusiasts come over from the San Fernando Valley, stick fishing poles into the sand and wait for a near-certain tug. And, before dawn, surfers from all parts of the county are out on their boards waiting for the waves to rise. Later, others escape the city for the restorative, often exhilarating, drive along Malibu’s stretches of scenic splendor.

The inhabitants of Malibu plan accordingly. They know that to enjoy living there they must try to stay put during weekends when the traffic is nearly impassable. Some are wealthy and live behind security enclosures. However, according to the last census, the median household family income is about $25,000 a year. Many bought their homes decades ago for what is a down payment today.

In choosing to live outside urban boundaries, residents accepted that they would have to rely on individual septic-tank systems. The overwhelming majority maintained these systems well. There have been occasions when some systems have failed, just as major sewage treatment plants fail.

The difference is that the county health department is empowered to enforce the proper functioning of individual septic-tank systems, while it takes decades to get the City of Los Angeles’ Hyperion sewage treatment plant into hoped-for compliance. Also, the amount of environmental damage done by a few malfunctioning septic systems can’t compare to the enormous effect of a major sewage spill.

Nevertheless, county boards of supervisors have repeatedly attempted to get Malibu homeowners to pay tens of thousands of dollars each for installing an unnecessary massive sewer system. Since 1966, sewer bond issues have been defeated three times at the polls.

Now, despite intense community opposition, the current board may decide to bypass a vote of the people and approve sewers. Relying on skewed statistics, the basis for approval would be the alleged potential health hazard. However, physicians and marine biologists attest to the essential healthfulness of Malibu’s waters, and no one has come up with contrary epidemiological findings.

Residents don’t want to abandon functioning septic systems to finance sewers for developers, the apparent beneficiaries. They believe that developers, as major campaign contributors, will inevitably persuade the supervisors and the coastal commission to increase the allowable density in Malibu, once sewers are in.

Increased density means ever more traffic congestion, quite apart from the Caltrans-projected five years of sewer construction disrupting Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu’s only artery. It also means certain destruction of the area’s natural beauty and a burden of maintaining an underground system in earth that is constantly shifting seaward.

There is a better way. Stinson Beach, in Northern California, has established an on-site waste-water disposal zone run by an elected board of directors as allowed for in state law. This means that septic systems are regularly inspected. Violations prompt quick action, which can include fines and even the cut-off of water service. Where appropriate, the staff may recommend the construction of small-scale sewer plants. (In Malibu there are three areas where such systems may be needed.)

Architects and engineers for Stinson Beach clients have developed innovative, highly effective on-site systems. They are integrated into the landscape design with septic tanks, filters, pumps and leaching fields all concealed under attractive large planter beds and wooden decks. Stinson Beach’s enlightened approach has provided a model for at least a dozen other communities throughout the country.

On Thursday the Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing on the “public interest, convenience and necessity” of the inappropriate sewer system proposed by its consultant. The supervisors should postpone a decision until they fully investigate the costs, benefits and environmental advantages of the Stinson Beach example.

The board’s conservative majority should prefer the decentralized approach, in which individuals provide for themselves without having big government dictate unwanted programs. Self-determination is another conservative edict, which should mean that a vote of the people on establishing an on-site waste-water disposal zone is definitely in order.