State Takes On Thousand Oaks Over Sewer Spill

State water officials Tuesday ordered the city to mend the breaks in a sewer main that has leaked about 50 million gallons of raw sewage, clean up the mess downstream and make sure the pipeline does not break again.

The massive spill--which will not be staunched until Friday at the earliest--has already closed 29 miles of beaches in two counties, and renewed City Council debate about who is at fault for delaying improvements to the now-ruptured line.

In a hand-delivered letter Tuesday, the Regional Water Quality Control Board in Los Angeles directed Thousand Oaks officials to submit three reports over the next 10 days detailing the extent of the problem, steps taken to fix it and what must be done to offset contamination of creeks, the ocean and ground water.

And by March 15, the city must submit a plan to fix the problem for good or face penalties of as much as $5,000 a day.

“We’re going to move very aggressively to ensure that this problem is resolved expeditiously and that this does not happen repeatedly in the future,” said Dennis Dickerson, executive officer of the regional board.

“We just want to ensure that the waters of the ocean and the streams and public health are protected,” he said. “Now, the water is obviously contaminated and public health is threatened.”

The board’s order notes that the sewer main, which sustained major breaks in 1989 and 1995, was scheduled for replacement the past two summers.

And it suggested the city was to blame for not completing the repair job on time.

“Had those repairs been made, this spill may not have occurred,” the order said.

Dickerson said he understands that the reinforcement or replacement of the 30-inch-diameter sewer main was stalled because of disagreements on the Thousand Oaks City Council about a $75-million upgrade of the Hill Canyon Treatment Plant and the system that feeds into it.

“I know there’s been some debate,” he said. “But what we want is a very clean and concise plan on how that line will be upgraded.”

The council, in fact, finally approved the overhaul last summer, after two years of debate.

At issue was whether to increase the plant’s capacity from 10 million gallons a day to 12 million or 14 million--and who should pay for it.

Councilwomen Linda Parks and Elois Zeanah argued for the lower capacity, with the entire bill payable by developers. Councilmen Andy Fox and Mike Markey and then-Mayor Judy Lazar supported city staff’s recommendation for a higher capacity and higher sewer fees for residents to offset part of the tab.

With four votes required to raise sewer fees, the council remained in a stalemate.

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The spill has reopened the dispute, with the board majority blaming the delay for the spill that began Feb. 3. Parks and Zeanah say the pipeline upgrade was not part of the debate about increasing sewer rates.

On Tuesday, Thousand Oaks administrators found no fault with the cleanup order.

“We could not agree more with the aggressive efforts by regulatory agencies,” City Manager Grant Brimhall said. “Our sole desire is to make sure that we have the safest possible system for transporting untreated effluent.”

The city plans to spend $4.5 million to shore up the existing sewer main with an interior lining and add a backup pipeline for use in case of a rupture this summer, he said.

Meanwhile, downstream from the Thousand Oaks spill, Camarillo Mayor Charlotte Craven asked county health officials Tuesday to determine whether golfers on the reopened Camarillo Springs Golf Course are in danger because raw sewage spilled onto the links last Friday during an overflow of the Conejo Creek.

Officials said they don’t think there is a danger, but cautioned that golfers might want to abide the same 72-hour waiting period that surfers are told to follow after sewage release into the ocean.

“If they’re having contact with it, they should wash thoroughly,” said Elizabeth Huff of the county Environmental Health Department. “But you can’t keep the surfers out of the ocean or the golfers off the course, I guess.”

In a second major break of a sewer main, Ojai Valley officials were scrambling to reroute sewage now spilling into the Ventura River at California 150.

A sewer main near Ojai snapped Sunday night and has spilled 750,000 gallons a day since. Officials say that about 2 million to 2 1/2 million gallons of sewage will have spilled by the time a temporary fix is completed this morning.

David Burkhart, general manager of the Ojai Valley Sanitary District, said a sewer trunk line from Ojai to the Casitas Springs treatment plant broke about 150 feet north of the California 150 bridge because storm waters eroded the ground beneath the pipe.

“We’re in the process of putting in a pump and some piping so we can pump the sewage across the bridge and get it into a manhole down the street,” Burkhart said late Tuesday.

“Obviously, if you go out and drink the river water, there’s a chance you could get sick,” he said. “The water is diluted 100 to 150 times. It’s not a good thing that’s happening, but it’s not a big health risk for everybody because the river is washing it away.”

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County health officials issued warnings again on Tuesday, asking swimmers to stay off closed beaches the length of Ventura County because of the two sewage spills and to avoid toxic urban runoff. Beaches also remain closed in Malibu from the county line to Point Dume.

Warning signs were posted on beaches and along creeks and the Ventura River because the raw sewage--although diluted by runoff and the ocean--carries bacteria that could cause typhoid fever, hepatitis, dysentery and stomach flu.

Because of this health threat, and the spill’s sheer size, the water board’s Dickerson said the state is taking the Thousand Oaks spill very seriously.

“We understand that right at the moment, it’s an emergency situation,” Dickerson said. “But we’re concerned that we receive a full and comprehensive report on both the spill and its consequences, and that there is a long-term plan that will resolve the matter so that it doesn’t happen again.”

* IN VENTURA COUNTY

Pacific Coast Highway near Mugu Rock and California 118 near Somis are reopened. B1