State Concurs That Port Must Share Pollution Cost

State water authorities decided Thursday to uphold a local board’s decision finding the San Diego Unified Port District equally responsible for cleanup costs incurred when a Port District tenant dumped copper into San Diego Bay.

The ruling by the state Water Resources Control Board, on a 3-2 vote, means the Port District will share liability with Paco Terminals for cleaning up pollutants in the bay. The state action upheld a unanimous decision in February by the Regional Water Quality Control Board to add the Port District as a responsible party in the cleanup of the harbor, said Frances McChesney, the state agency’s staff counsel.

Cleanup costs could run into the millions of dollars.

The two dissenters in the state board’s decision wanted to hold the Port District secondarily responsible for the bay pollution, which would have required the Port to pick up cleanup costs only if Paco Terminals was unable to do so, McChesney said.

‘Sophisticated’ Landlord

The decision to hold the Port District equally liable was based on arguments that the Port District knew what Paco Terminals was discharging into the bay, McChesney said. The state board has held the landlord equally responsible in similar cases, she said, adding that the Port District was a “sophisticated type of landlord.”

“Certainly, there were things that they could do as a landlord to prevent the discharge or control the discharge,” McChesney said.

Thursday’s decision was assailed by Port Commissioner Dan Larsen. “I think it’s ridiculous to hold the port responsible for what a tenant does,” Larsen said. “I think any landlord would feel the same way.”

The Board of Port Commissioners will meet with its attorneys in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to discuss whether to pursue the issue in Superior Court, Larsen said.

Appeal Route Exhausted

The appeal route to state water authorities has been exhausted, McChesney said. The state decision does not resolve the specific allocation of the costs. Those questions might also have to be decided through civil litigation, McChesney said.

“It’s up to them to decide, either privately or in court,” McChesney said.

Attempts to reach officials of Paco Terminals were unsuccessful. The company, which loads and unloads ships, was fined last year by the regional board, which enforces state and federal water laws in the San Diego area, for dumping copper into the South Bay.

The fine stemmed from the company’s failure to comply with a 1985 cleanup and abatement order by the regional board. The copper contamination occurred when Paco Terminals loaded copper ore at the 24th Street Terminal.