State Sues L.A. Over Ocean Spills of Sewage

State Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles Wednesday for a spate of sewage spills last spring, but he said the state will not press for up to $100 million in damages if the city takes steps to reduce future pollution of Santa Monica Bay.

The suit came as no surprise to city officials, who had met with Van de Kamp’s staff before Wednesday. But some said they were surprised that Van de Kamp would bother because the city has already begun making massive improvements to its sewage system.

At a press conference Wednesday, Van de Kamp acknowledged the city’s moves to protect Santa Monica Bay from sewage damage. But he said the city has acted slowly and needs the extra pressure that a lawsuit will apply.

“The record will show that so far the city has not worked quickly enough,” Van de Kamp said in Los Angeles.

Led to Spill

The suit is a reaction to a May 25 electrical failure at the Hyperion sewage treatment plant near El Segundo that led to a spill of nearly 3 million gallons of treated sewage into a pipeline used for overflows.

Most treated sewage is pumped five miles out to sea from Hyperion and dumped in a submarine canyon. But when sewage is dumped through the overflow pipe only one mile from shore, chlorination is required to protect swimmers at local beaches. The sewage that spilled on May 25 was not chlorinated, city officials said.

The suit also cites a spill of 2.4 million gallons of raw sewage into the Venice canals after a June 5 electrical storm knocked out power to a pumping plant.

Both incidents were the subject of a July hearing by the state Regional Water Quality Control Board, which regulates the city’s disposal of effluent in Santa Monica Bay. The board fined the city $10,000 for a smaller spill that occurred in June but asked Van de Kamp to decide if action was warranted for the larger spills.

This suit is the first instance where the attorney general’s office has asked for penalties against Los Angeles for the ongoing sewage controversy, which has dragged on for years and has cost Mayor Tom Bradley some political support among environmental groups.

Several Fines

Los Angeles has already paid several fines related to sewage dumping in Santa Monica Bay, including a record $625,000 to the federal Environmental Protection Agency last year. State law allows Van de Kamp to seek damages of $20 for every gallon of sewage that was illegally dumped if the city loses the Los Angeles Superior Court suit.

“I want to stress, however, that our purpose is not to move dollars from one governmental pocket to another but to clean up the bay,” Van de Kamp said.

At City Hall, Deputy Mayor Michael Gage said Wednesday that the city is already doing all it can to prevent illegal spills. The mayor and City Council have committed more than $2 billion to upgrading the sewage system, and since the spills in May, Bradley has ordered the installation of backup electrical sources at Hyperion and many smaller sewage pumping plants.

The city is also bound by a federal court agreement to stop dumping sludge, the concentrated solid portion of sewage, in the ocean by the end of the year, a deadline that the Bradley administration has pledged to meet.

“We think we’re doing most of those things (specified by Van de Kamp) now,” Gage said.