County Again Finds Sewage Hazard in Malibu

A new Los Angeles County study has found that malfunctioning septic tanks and illegal discharges of waste water from beachfront homes pose a “significant” health hazard along a 13-mile strip of densely populated Malibu coastline.

The study, ordered by the Board of Supervisors a year ago after Malibu property owners angrily challenged the same conclusion in a previous survey, also found that septic systems at coastal businesses and apartment complexes are “significant public health problems.”

The findings by the Department of Health Services are important because they reinforce the department’s 1985 declaration that the tanks are a health hazard. That determination allows the county to impose a sewer system--with costly hook-up and construction fees--on Malibu without a vote of the community.

Several Malibu leaders immediately criticized the new study, citing past inaccuracies in health department reports and saying they are not convinced that Malibu’s septic tanks are a hazard.

“What I recommend is that you take that health department report with at least a grain of salt, if not a ton of salt,” said Leon Cooper, an executive board member of the Malibu Township Council, which represents more than 1,000 households.

Unlike past studies, however, this one does not seem likely to fuel much debate over whether the coastal community should have a large sewer system or a much smaller one.

Many community leaders and the Board of Supervisors now apparently agree that something similar to the $34-million, small-scale sewer recently recommended by a committee of Malibu residents merchants and landowners is necessary.

An $86-million sewer proposal, championed by the county until 1,000 residents protested in the supervisors’ chambers last October, was hardly mentioned by the board last Tuesday, when it unanimously directed county staffers to continue to work with the committee on the scaled-down plan.

The citizens committee sidestepped the health hazard issue in its recommendations, seeking to avoid a split within the Malibu community. It concluded, nonetheless, that a sewer is needed to accommodate growth and siphon waste water away from troubled landslide areas.

In its new study, the health department endorses the committee’s sewer plan but does so for health reasons, said Robert Saviskas, who directed the study.

The health department worked with consultants hired by the citizens committee, providing the same detailed septic-tank information that is the basis for his department’s new report, Saviskas said.

“We couldn’t see how (the consultants) could come up with any other conclusion, regardless of who hired them,” he said. “We feel the information we’ve gathered over the last year is pretty overwhelming.”

Health department investigators studied all 1,372 private systems that treat sewage for 2,450 dwellings and many businesses along a 13-mile strip from Topanga Canyon west to Latigo Point.

They found relatively few health problems at inland areas such as Las Flores Mesa and Big Rock Mesa, where homes are generally newer, built on larger lots and meet current plumbing standards, the report said.

In contrast, investigators found that most septic tanks at the area’s 714 beach homes violated state standards in two key categories used to determine health hazards: The tanks were too close to the ground-water table, and waste water was pumped from the tanks too often.

Investigators also found illegal discharge pipes--often installed under homes because overworked septic-tank systems cannot adequately spread waste water in leach fields--at 225 of 526 beachfront dwellings where inspections were possible. Investigators were denied access to many other homes, the report said.

Storm Damage

In addition, 35% of all 714 beach homes have had their sewage systems at least partially washed out in storms over the last 10 years, and more than one-fourth had aging systems that were functioning at less than 50% efficiency, the study said.

“One of the criticisms was that our (previous) statistical sample wasn’t large enough to make these kinds of conclusions. We’ve laid that to rest,” Saviskas said. “Literally every single address was investigated.”

Malibu Township Council President Larry Wan said he is not convinced. “We do not accept the premise of a health hazard,” he said.

It may be true, as the health department says, that 53% of all beachfront tanks were pumped more than once during the last two years, Wan said. But he argued that the statistic means little since many owners don’t know how often they need to pump.

“The pumping companies advertise that we should pump once a year, and there’s a high turnover rate on some of those homes. So when a new tenant comes in, they get fliers saying they should pump, and they go ahead and do it. I did that myself,” Wan said.

It may also be true, as the new report indicates, that the bottoms of septic tanks at more than 50% of all beach homes are within five feet of ground water, Wan said.

Bacteria Tests Urged

But the real test of a health hazard, he said, would be tests of the surf, soil and ground water near suspect septic tanks to see if high levels of bacteria that thrive on sewage can be found.

The Township Council’s tests of the Malibu surf have shown bacteria levels far lower than most of the rest of Santa Monica Bay, he said.

County officials “base their conclusions on inference and implication rather than on direct assessment of bacterial content,” he said. “Why stop at circumstantial evidence instead of collecting the direct evidence? If there’s a body, let’s perform the autopsy.”

In response, Saviskas said the county tests the Malibu surf each week at numerous locations one-quarter mile apart. Only rarely have bacterial levels exceeding state standards been recorded, he said, citing the big winter storms of 1983 as a recent example. When 50 septic tanks were washed out by storms last January, no excessive levels were discovered in the surf, he acknowledged.

A health hazard does exist around and under many homes, Saviskas said. But the county has no routine testing program to confirm the situation, because hazardous discharges from illegal pipes below homes are obvious on inspection. If the hazard is obvious, as in these cases, it would be a waste of money to test for bacteria, he said.