Sewer Spill May Halt Projects, City Told

Los Angeles’ woefully inadequate sewer system--which allowed millions of gallons of sewer water to overflow into streets last month--could become an even greater problem for the city, potentially affecting new businesses in the worst areas and leading to a possible freeze on development in parts of South-Central Los Angeles, officials said Wednesday.

Judith Wilson, director of the Bureau of Sanitation, told the City Council that last month’s grueling rainstorms caused 39 million gallons of sewer overflows in several areas and could leave the city liable to penalties. If imposed, those penalties could range from cease-and-desist orders to fines imposed by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, Wilson said.

In addition, Wilson and others said the city could be forced to stop issuing permits for developments in the South-Central area because of the overburdened sewer system. The city was forced to limit developers’ permits in the 1980s, but the drought and the recession eased those problems.

Today, however, with higher than average rainfall and more growth in the form of bigger developments, that controversial procedure could become necessary again, Wilson warned.

“This is a very, very serious consequence,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who held a news conference with community, school and religious leaders who were affected by the gushing sewer spills. “We have significant projects that are online now that depend on this. . . . This is nothing less than urgent.”

The city faces potentially costly liability because of its aging infrastructure, Ridley-Thomas said. The 70-year-old main sewer system through South-Central is badly overburdened and corroded with cracks and holes in the pipes.

After a closed session Wednesday, the council approved a $900,000 settlement for a Playa del Rey homeowner who claimed that his property was badly damaged by the construction of that pipe 70 years ago and subsequent leaks. The city has been forced to settle other lawsuits by homeowners claiming that the sewer problems have devalued and damaged their properties.

After the Feb. 23 rainstorm, city officials developed at the City Council’s request a series of immediate and long-term measures to mitigate sewage spills before a $240-million sewer line replacement program gets underway. That project, which is in the environmental review stages and probably will not be completed until at least 2002, also would be accelerated wherever possible, officials said.

Some measures being considered include making temporary connections between the sewer and the storm drain system to eliminate sewer overflows and more quickly adding chlorine to overflowing manholes to disinfect the waste water when it starts spilling. That waste water could then be pumped, directed or channeled to the nearest storm drains.

Both of those options must be approved by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board; city officials plan to meet today with board staff to discuss their efforts.

Some council members, including Ruth Galanter, bristled at that prospect, but they acknowledged that the measures are better than having sewage seeping onto front lawns and into schools.

“I share everyone’s concern for urgency . . . having visited a busted sewer pipe,” Galanter said. “I saw it and I saw why we have to build these things. We are so lucky the rest [of the system] . . . hasn’t collapsed.”

But to some residents and community members in South-Central Los Angeles, the system all but collapsed around them last month when more than 3 million gallons of heavily diluted waste water flowed through the streets.

Several students from Manual Arts High School, where the sewer spill caused classrooms to be closed and created foul odors, said they were forced to find other places--even outside--in which to hold classes on the overcrowded campus.

“The school environment is supposed to be clean and where the students can learn, right?” said Katy Rodriguez, a 17-year-old senior. “You walk into a classroom that’s flooded . . . and you just don’t get encouraged.”

The sewage spills aren’t just a nuisance with foul odors, they also are health threats.

“It doesn’t take a public health expert to know raw sewage running through the streets . . . is bad for the public’s health,” said Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles County public health director, who added that the spills can cause serious viral and bacterial diseases. “I really hope this problem can be remedied.”