Update * Follow-up on the news : Water District’s Fine Stands at $45,000
The Regional Water Quality Control Board has refused to increase a $45,000 fine levied against Irvine Ranch Water District in connection with an October 1995 leak of reclaimed water into the San Joaquin Marsh near UC Irvine.
The leak was discovered in a 50-year-old pipe. Water district officials acknowledged that they did not report the leak to the regional board within 24 hours as legally required. Though the problem was immediately fixed, officials could not determine how long the pipe had been leaking.
Defend the Bay, a Newport Beach group opposed to the water district’s wetlands demonstration project, had challenged the regional board’s action, calling for the fine to be increased to $2.67 million, the maximum possible.
After reviewing public comments, the regional water board refused to reconsider the fine.
“IRWD acknowledges that we had a leak,” Ronald E. Young, general manager of Irvine Ranch Water District, said in a prepared statement.
“We’ve learned our lesson about prompt reporting and have paid the fine that the regional board required.”
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