Waste Plant Takes Steps to Avert Spills

Officials at a sewage treatment plant who were forced to release partially treated waste into the Santa Monica Bay say they have adjusted an electrical protection system to prevent future spills, officials said.

The massive Aug. 10 power outage that jammed communications and shut down businesses across the western United States also caused the Hyperion Treatment Plant in Playa del Rey to dump 10 million gallons of partially treated sewage a mile offshore.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter requested a report from city agencies on the system’s backup plans after the spill, which closed beaches from Venice to Redondo Beach for a day while authorities determined the safety of the water.

“It seemed pretty obvious after that spill that there was a huge glitch in the system,” said Jeffrey Prang, Galanter’s spokesman.

When the power outage occurred, variations in energy voltage coming into the plant triggered its surge protection system and disabled one of the pumps, said Jim Langely, plant manager of Hyperion, which is operated by the Bureau of Sanitation. Waste backed up in the system, forcing plant officials to discharge the sewage, which is normally dumped five miles offshore.

Hyperion adjusted the surge protection system to be less sensitive to energy fluctuations and a team of Hyperion engineers and Department of Water and Power officials is reviewing the plant’s electrical system.

“When we have a problem like this, we critique it to no end,” Langley said. “We’ve gone beyond what this kind of power outage could do and are now considering all the other possibilities.”

The plant is also in the process of building an emergency storage facility that could contain 5 million to 10 million gallons of sewage.

In a hearing Tuesday before the Los Angeles City Council’s Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, city officials reported that the agencies are developing further contingency plans to prevent similar spills.

The Department of Water and Power is considering the creation of an emergency control center where officials could monitor the energy status of the Hyperion plant, said Kent Noyes, assistant director of energy distribution.

Before the August outage, Hyperion plant officials had not anticipated the impact a major power outage could have on the sewage release, Langley said.

Prang said officials will continue reporting to the committee until the threat of spills is eliminated. “It’s one of the issues we will ride really hard until we can be assured we will not have a sewage dump like that in the bay again,” he said.