State Orders San Diego to Hire Team for Spill Inquiry : Sewage: Directive from Water Quality Board is revealed amid allegations that human error was responsible for the break in outfall pipe.

The state’s Regional Water Quality Control Board has ordered the city of San Diego to hire an independent inspection team to investigate the cause of the massive sewage spill that occurred off Point Loma nearly two weeks ago, the city manager disclosed Friday.

The order was issued Tuesday, but City Manager Jack McGrory revealed the request at a press conference Friday amid allegations that human error might have contributed to the spill, which is leaking 180 million gallons of treated sewage per day into the ocean.

“We do intend to hire an independent investigative firm to take a look at the whole situation,” McGrory said. “They will take a look at the whole situation, reconstruct it to the best of their ability and have an independent analysis of what caused the break.”

The examination will include allegations raised by five employees of the city’s Point LomaWastewater Treatment Plant in Friday’s editions of The Times. The employees said an operating error caused the plant and its huge outfall pipe to shake violently on Jan. 31, two days before the break was discovered.

One of the workers said a diversion gate and valve were opened simultaneously in error, causing a large burst of air called a “water hammer” to surge through the plants and pipe with tremendous force, shaking them violently.

A former official of the state water board told The Times he had warned the city for years about the possibility of such an occurrence, but he said his warnings were ignored.

On Friday, McGrory and other city officials reiterated their position that nothing unusual happened except that workers diverted treated sewage from its normal path through a throttle valve because they needed to make a minor repair.

While the city could not categorically dismiss the possible presence of a water hammer, officials are holding firm to the theory that natural causes are to blame.

“At this point in time, you cannot rule out any of the causes that have been mentioned,” McGrory said. “We’ve heard discussions of boats, anchors, water hammers and waves as the cause. But our experts still believe the most likely theory is the theory of waves, excessive turbulence in the ocean and degree of waves hitting the outfall.”

Until the 22 sections of damaged pipe are pulled from the ocean over several weeks, he said, the city will not know what caused the damage.

As part of its “cleanup and abatement” order issued Tuesday, the state Regional Water Quality Control Board has ordered the city to hire an independent inspection consultant agreed upon both by the state and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Our argument is that they avoid any perception of conflict of interest of any kind,” said Michael McCann, assistant executive officer with the state board.

The investigation, which is scheduled to end May 4, will include an examination of the damaged outfall, an inspection of the damaged pipe sections and data obtained from the ocean.

If the city is found at fault, the range of penalties include a connection ban, which would prohibit new hookups to the sewage system that serves 1.7 million people, McCann said.

The spill was first detected by the Coast Guard on the night of Feb. 2, when it was first thought to be spewing no more than 2 million gallons a day from the break in the pipe 3,150 feet from the shores of Point Loma and at a depth of 35 feet.

City officials soon admitted, however, that the pipe was losing its entire flow of treated sewage, as much as 180 million gallons a day.

Normally, the pipe discharges treated sewage--from which 75% to 80% of the solids have been removed--2.2 miles offshore, at a depth of 220 feet.

The spill has created dangerously high counts of fecal coliform bacteria in areas from the Mexican border to Ocean Beach.