It’s a Dirty Shame : A Landmark Foothill Carwash Totters in Midst of a Bureaucratic Web

Twenty-two years ago, the Foothill Car Wash in La Canada Flintridge made environmental history when it became the first carwash in Los Angeles County to recycle 85% of its water.

But today the carwash is an environmental dinosaur. Regulators say it is the last carwash in the Los Angeles area to dump its waste water down a storm drain.

Its owner, Marvin Berkman, has spent years trying to shed this distinction by hooking up to a sewer line that runs 60 feet in front of his business. But a nasty rift between La Canada Flintridge and neighboring Glendale has kept him out of the sewer and put his business in jeopardy.

“We’re literally surrounded by sewers that we can’t get into--north, east, south and west,” Berkman said. “We’re a pawn in a political dispute.”

State water quality officials have ordered him to stop disposing of waste water in the storm drain by June 1. By a quirk of local history, La Canada Flintridge has no control over the sewer line in front of Berkman’s carwash, and Glendale officials, who do, told him last week that they will not help.

Unless he can break the political logjam, Berkman said his carwash may have to close.

And this at a time when conservation officials mindful of Southern California’s four-year drought are urging residents not to wash cars in their driveways. The closure of Berkman’s business would leave the foothill area between Pasadena and Sunland without a professional carwash.

“If they put us out of business, they’re not going to help stop pollution because more people are going to wash cars in their driveways, where the runoff goes into the storm drains or into the ground,” Berkman said. “We’re going to aggravate the drought situation, and it’s not going to do anything for the ecology.”

Industry officials say a carwash with recycling equipment uses 10 to 15 gallons of fresh water per car, compared to more than 100 gallons used in a typical driveway washing.

Berkman, 60, and his wife Sheila have owned the Foothill Car Wash for 15 years. It employs 35 people, and its floral landscaping has won three awards from the La Canada Valley Beautiful Assn.

“It’s almost like an institution,” said Diming Djang, a doctor and a 15-year customer of the carwash. “It’s a very significant part of the community. Marv does a good job. It’s always busy.”

Another long-time customer, Norma White of La Canada Flintridge, added: “There isn’t another one close by. I’d really hate to see it close.”

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, which oversees most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, has ordered the Berkmans by June 1 to stop sending their waste water down a nearby storm drain because it contains too many impurities, including detergent, oil and grease.

“Think about what you go to a carwash to take off,” explained David Gildersleeve, chief of the board’s regulatory section. “Most carwashes--in fact, all carwashes--have gone to the sewers because they can’t meet our (storm drain) requirements. Mr. Berkman has a problem. Because of institutional constraints, he can’t get into a sewer.”

La Canada Flintridge, an affluent foothill community of 23,000, is one of the last urban areas in the county that does not have a trunk line sewer system. At least 90% of the city’s 8,000 households rely on private septic tanks, leach lines and drain fields for sewage disposal.

For three decades, most residents have opposed the installation of sewers, fearing it would trigger an unwanted development boom.

Under pressure from the water quality board, Berkman has lobbied for construction of a sewer in the commercial area where his carwash is located. An assessment district was proposed, but most property owners shied away because of soaring cost estimates.

Last year, La Canada Flintridge finally agreed to buy sewer capacity rights from Glendale, a move that would allow Berkman and nearby property owners to connect with a sewer line under Glendale’s control.

But last week, the Glendale City Council rejected the plan, partly because of a longstanding belief that La Canada Flintridge should build a citywide sewer system.

“I see no reason why we should give them piecemeal help,” Glendale Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg said. “I feel very strongly that they should not remain on septic tanks. Where I live, I can smell them all summer.”

Berkman plans to ask the water quality board for another extension, but he acknowledges that, after eight years, the board’s patience is wearing thin. He also hopes Glendale officials will reconsider their decision to bar him from the sewer.

Berkman says the situation has caused him to have second thoughts about preparing his son Steven, a 21-year-old college junior, to take over the business.

“We told him, ‘We don’t know if there will be a business for you to come in to,’ ” Berkman said. “ ‘So you better think of other alternatives, just in case.’ ”