County Nears Deal to Fix Damaged Sewer Line

Eager to avoid a pipe rupture that could potentially send millions of gallons of raw sewage flowing into the Pacific Ocean, county officials say they are nearing an agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repair a damaged sewer line that runs beneath the Santa Clara River.

Repairs to the sewer line, which was damaged in last winter’s El Nino storms, have been on hold since the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts increased its initial request to FEMA for $800,000 to replace a protective layer of concrete around the pipes. The district is now asking for $1.9 million to bury the line 30 feet below the river bed, county officials said.

The state Department of Fish and Game objected to the initial plan because the repairs threatened the migration routes of the unarmored three-spined stickleback, an endangered fish that lives in the Santa Clara River.

Mike Selna, head of the sanitation districts’ engineering department, said that moving the sewer line deeper represents a long-term solution to the problem of riverbed erosion, which has left the line exposed, and also ensures that the stickleback’s habitat will not be damaged.

“It makes more sense for the protection of the endangered fish and for prevention of a rupture,” Selna said. “Burying the line deeper under the riverbed allows the river to assume its natural profile.”

Erosion from last winter’s storms lowered the bed of the Santa Clara River by three feet, damaging an 800-foot concrete barrier that protects the sewer line as it runs below the river just west of the Golden State Freeway.

Repairing the sewer line has become a top priority for sanitation officials who worry that the exposed pipe is vulnerable if the area experiences heavy rainfall again this year.

The sewer line, which was laid in 1962, has never leaked. However, if a rupture did occur, the untreated sewage would probably create ecological problems as it flowed down the river through Ventura County to the Pacific Ocean.

Sanitation officials made their initial request for a FEMA grant to repair the sewer line in the spring after the county was declared a federal disaster area. The revised proposal to relocate the line was made in July.

John Freshman, a lobbyist who represents the sanitation districts in Washington, D.C., said it remains unclear whether FEMA will agree to the entire $1.9 million.

“We would rather have them pay the whole cost to move the line, but we need to at least get the funds that we initially asked for to pay for the repairs,” Freshman said.

Frustrated by the slow pace of FEMA’s grant process, sanitation officials enlisted the support of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) to pressure FEMA officials to resolve the issue.

In a Sept. 30 letter to FEMA Director James Lee Witt, McKeon called on the disaster agency to fund the entire repairs and to settle the matter as quickly as possible.

“It is imperative that [the sewer line] be relocated prior to next winter’s storms in order to prevent a rupture that would spill millions of gallons per day of raw sewage into the ocean near Ventura,” McKeon said.

Graeme Cox, a program manager for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services--the state counterpart to FEMA--said Thursday that the districts’ proposal has passed a first review by his agency and is now being reviewed by FEMA officials.

Cox acknowledged that the proposal had been delayed while FEMA officials tried to determine what repairs would be appropriate. Both he and county officials said a decision by FEMA regarding the amount of money the agency would provide for the project would probably be made within the next two weeks.

“We’re not sure what the reason is, but finally [FEMA] seems to be making the right noises,” Freshman said.

Selna said that once the repair work begins it will take about three months to complete.

“Even if a decision to move the sewer is not made immediately, we will do everything necessary to protect the line,” Selna said.