OJAI VALLEY : Water Plant Called a Major Polluter

A six-month study has pinpointed a waste-water treatment plant five miles north of Ventura as a major polluter of the Ventura River, prompting fears that the Ojai Valley Sanitary District may have to rebuild the plant at a steep cost to customers.

The study has determined that the plant’s daily discharge of 1.6 million gallons of treated waste water is adding nutrients that cause excessive growth of algae and vegetation in the river bottom, robbing fish in the river of oxygen.

The district is already under a state order to upgrade the plant by 1993. Officials hope to limit the costs to $7 million, which they say would double sewer bills for the district’s 20,000 Ojai Valley customers. The increase would follow a 55% hike in bills last year.

Officials from state and local agencies met Friday to review the $6,500 study ordered by the state Regional Water Quality Control Board. A final report with comments from other agencies must reach the board by July to meet a schedule to bring the plant into compliance with national pollution standards.

Reviewing the study are the state departments of health services, fish and game, and parks and recreation, the Ventura Regional Sanitation District, Ventura County, the city of Ventura and the Casitas Municipal Water District.