Local News in Brief : Newport Beach : Sewage Spill Suspected From Reuben E. Lee

Police are investigating suspected sewage spills into Newport Bay from the Reuben E. Lee, a popular restaurant in a converted steamboat, authorities said Tuesday.

The sewage has been pouring out of a 4-inch hole whenever the ship’s 25-year-old sewage system backs up, according to Greg Armstrong, environmental services coordinator for the Police Department.

Armstrong said the hole was designed to discharge sewage when the ship’s 1,000-gallon system was full and its pumps had failed. He said authorities do not normally press criminal charges against those responsible for sewage spills but decided to do so in this case because workers at the Reuben E. Lee knew about the spills.

“They just never saw it as a problem,” Armstrong said. “It was, in their words, ‘The system. The system that’s always been here.’ ”

Tim Bond, director of quality assurance for Far West Concepts, a division of Restaurant Enterprises Group, which owns the Reuben E. Lee, said that the hole has since been capped and that the company has called for a full investigation.

Armstrong said he plans to file at least two criminal charges, both misdemeanors, against the owners of the Reuben E. Lee. Each charge carries a fine of up to $5,000.

Kurt Berchtold, lead senior engineer with the state Regional Water Quality Control Board in Riverside, said officials are considering assessing retroactive fines of up to $10,000 for each day the spills occurred.