Expansion of Tapia Reclamation Plant OKd : Malibu: Coastal Commission approves plan to boost capacity of waste-water treatment facility. Critics say it will worsen pollution.

Amid protests from environmentalists and others, the California Coastal Commission has approved the expansion of a waste-water treatment facility in the Santa Monica Mountains that critics say will worsen pollution at Malibu Lagoon State Beach.

By a unanimous vote, the state panel Thursday approved a plan to increase the capacity of the Tapia Reclamation Plant, next to Malibu Creek several miles upstream from the lagoon, from 10 million gallons per day to 16.1 million gallons.

Officials of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which serves about 80,000 residents, including Westlake Village, Agoura Hills and Hidden Hills, said they hope to begin work on the $30-million expansion by the end of the year and finish by late 1992.

“We’re delighted,” said Edward McCombs, the water district’s general manager. “Our aim is to stay in front of the (population) growth projected for our service area, and this expansion will enable us to do that.”

But although the approval may have been welcome news in some places, it disappointed Malibu residents who have for years objected to the plant’s expansion.

They say effluent from the plant emptied into the creek has contributed to pollution in the lagoon, helped to swell the creek’s banks near expensive homes during heavy rains, and has contributed to occasional outbreaks of stinging black flies along the creek.

“We’re disappointed that the commission chose to fend off the matter,” said John Murdock, a lawyer for the 2,000-member Malibu Township Council, which is opposed to the expansion. “Obviously, increasing the flow in the creek is only going to exacerbate the problems.”

Water district officials have denied that effluent from the plant, which they say is suitable for body contact, has negatively affected the creek or the lagoon.

“That creek collects drainage from 150 square miles, and I would say the effluent from the plant is probably the only good thing that goes into it,” said Jim Colbaugh, the water district’s director of planning and engineering.

But critics contend that whether or not the effluent is clean, it has contributed to increased bacteria and algae growth in the lagoon because, by increasing the creek’s flow, more water becomes trapped and stagnates in the lagoon.

Several experts, including a Malibu physician, have said that bacteria levels represent a health hazard for swimmers and surfers off the beach near the lagoon, which is widely considered to be among the best surfing beaches in Southern California.

“There is a lot of empirical evidence to suggest that the water coming out of the lagoon is unhealthful to swimmers, surfers and anyone else having contact with it,” Dr. Jeff Harris said.

Harris said that in 15 years of practicing medicine in Malibu, he has treated many patients who have complained of stomach, ear, sinus and other infections after swimming or surfing near the lagoon.

“As far as I’m concerned, the commission’s decision means that swimmers and surfers there will continue to play Russian roulette with their health,” he said.

Four members of Malibu’s newly elected future City Council sent a letter to the panel, asking that the approval be delayed until a new city of Malibu is able to devise its own land-use plan.

But the water district’s McCombs called the request a “nonstarter” and said that if the commission delayed the matter, it would create chaos for residents of the water district who will depend on the plant’s increased capacity.

Before voting to approve the expansion, Commissioner Madelyn Glickfeld, who lives in Malibu, received assurances from McCombs that water district officials would cooperate to help solve the concerns of some of its critics.

Opponents, however, expressed doubts.

“It seems like (the commission) put the cart before the horse,” said Sara Wan, vice president of the Malibu Township Council. “If you know there are problems, solve the problems first, and then talk about allowing expansion.”

* CONSERVING WATER

County officials plan to substitute reclaimed waste water for drinking water for landscape and industrial use. J3