Wheeler Spa Faces Inquiry Over Dumping into Creek

After nearly a month of fighting off bacteria in its hot tubs, Wheeler Hot Springs has purged the contamination, but the tubs remained closed Thursday as the resort grappled with a new problem: an investigation of possible illegal waste dumping.

After discovering this week that pipes from some of Wheeler’s tubs feed into the north fork of Matilija Creek, officials from the Ventura County Environmental Health Division ordered the tubs to remain off-limits to the public until the resort completes a project to route its pipes into a septic tank.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Fish and Game has launched an investigation to determine whether discharged chlorine or some other form of waste from the pipes contributed to a fish kill in Matilija Creek reported on July 1, said Lt. Chris Long, superintendent for the department’s Ventura County bureau.

Long said he did not know how many fish died.

Tom Marshall, general manager of Wheeler Hot Springs, could not be reached for comment Thursday, but said earlier this week he is not sure when the rustic spas will reopen.

County officials first ordered the historic resort north of Ojai to close its hot tubs June 22, after tests showed that some of them had a bacteria count more than 30 times higher than allowed by the state.

To kill the bacteria, resort officials began pouring as much as 100 times the normal amount of chlorine into the tubs. After six rounds of tests, county officials said this week that the bacteria count had been lowered to an acceptable range.

An inspection by county and state officials Tuesday, however, revealed that the hot tubs were not discharging into septic tanks, as county officials had been told by the resort, but were emptying into a nearby stream, said Robert Williamson, a county environmental health manager.

“Mr. Marshall had informed us that the waste from the hot tubs was discharging to a septic tank,” Williamson said Thursday. “Our investigation disclosed this was not correct.”

County officials informed Marshall Tuesday that the pipes had to be rerouted before the tubs could reopen, Williamson said. But Thursday, inspectors found that the project was not complete, he said.

“As a result of that, we’re requiring (that) his facility remain closed,” Williamson said.

Williamson said the resort is cooperating through efforts to change the piping system.

Marshall has indicated “that his contractor is going to continue to try to get the plumbing installed,” Williamson said.

Long said he warned resort officials Tuesday that any discharging of chlorine or other harmful waste into the creek is a violation of the state Fish and Game code.

He said investigators are trying to determine if Wheeler has already violated the law, perhaps as a result of the efforts to kill bacteria in the tubs with chlorine treatment in recent weeks.

If enough evidence is gathered, the case would be turned over to the district attorney’s office for possible prosecution, Long said.

Wheeler’s problems began last month after a bather who had used one of the hot tubs reported suffering a leg infection, county health officials said.

The first test of the tubs showed levels of bacteria ranging from “less than 1 to greater than 6,500” colonies per milliliter of water, officials said. The acceptable level is 200 bacterial colonies per milliliter.

The tubs reopened for one weekend in June after preliminary results from one of the tests showed the high bacteria levels had subsided. Bathers who used the hot tubs that weekend were “likely safe,” a county official said.

However, the tubs were shut down again after conclusive results showed continued high bacteria levels.

County health officials have not identified the type or source of the bacteria contamination.

Under state regulations, officials only need to test for the amount of bacteria, not the type, state and county officials said.

“There’s nothing in the statute that requires the county to identify the type of bacteria routinely,” said Nadine Feletto, a senior sanitary engineer with the state Department of Health Services. “But if there was a disease outbreak they would be looking for a causative agent--a type of bacteria or another disease-causing agent.”

During an inspection last month, Wheeler employees found the remains of the body of a small animal that apparently had burrowed into the water line, Marshall said in a recent interview. But he said he did not know if that was the source of the bacterial problem.