County Supervisors Order Study of Sewage Treatment Plant

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to get involved in the city of San Diego’s sewage issue by ordering a study of the city’s plans for a secondary treatment plant.

In addition, the county counsel was directed to review U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster’s decision to hold a hearing on whether San Diego needs to upgrade its sewage treatment to comply with the federal Clean Water Act.

Board members oppose the city’s $2.8-billion project. Supervisor Brian Bilbray called the plan a “fiscal and environmental nightmare.” Bilbray said that experts predicted that the project’s eventual cost could be as high as $6 billion and he criticized plans to use canyons to dry tons of sludge produced by the proposed facility.

The county’s attorneys were ordered to study the issue and prepare a friend of the court brief that would be approved by the board and filed with the court before a scheduled Oct. 1 hearing. In a move that took many by surprise, Brewster raised anew the issue of whether secondary treatment would have any impact on the ocean environment.

Brewster noted that scientists are divided over whether the controversial project is really needed. Some scientists said that the city’s current sewage treatment does not damage the ocean environment, while others argued that secondary treatment would improve water quality.

On Tuesday, the county’s Chief Administrative Officer also was directed to review the environmental impact report submitted by San Diego as part of its plan to build a secondary treatment plant. The CAO will then submit a report to the Board, recommending what action supervisors should take on the report.

The Board voted to act on the sewage issue because higher sewer fees to pay for the project would be imposed on residents of surrounding communities that would benefit from the new facility.