Water Panel Urges Fine for Avalon

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has recommended that a $100,000 fine be levied against the city of Avalon for violations of its sewage discharge permit.

The fine, part of a complaint scheduled to be filed against the city next week, was ordered after inspectors found at least 50 violations at Avalon’s waste treatment plant from November, 1988, through last month, according to Robert Ghirelli, the board’s executive officer. On some days, solid waste levels allegedly were as much as 100% above standards set by the permit.

Avalon officials said the city will appeal the fine at a hearing scheduled May 22. They said the plant has complied with the permit except for three occasions, two involving mechanical breakdowns that were repaired within a day. The other problem was during the last two weeks of December, when a private firm took over operation of the plant from the city, officials said.

“We were stunned by the board’s reaction,” City Manager Chuck Prince said. “. . . The plant is in compliance and it operates well.”

The city and the board separately monitor the oxygen level and the amount of solid wastes in the sewage before it is discharged into the ocean from a pipe that extends 400 feet off the Santa Catalina shore.