Contractor Pays Fine for Discharge

An Irvine Co. contractor paid a $22,030 fine to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board for a chlorine release last year that violated the developer’s discharge permit and reached the pristine Crystal Cove State Park, state officials said.

In November, a worker from the Griffith Co. was sterilizing pipelines at a residential construction site above Crystal Cove and released 3,500 gallons of chlorinated water into Los Trancos Creek, which drains onto the state beach.

The Irvine Co. has a general permit from the water board that allows short-duration, low-level discharges. But the permit requires monitoring and limits chlorine discharges to less than 0.1 milligrams per liter.

Griffith Co. officials earlier admitted that the discharge was not monitored. State officials have said preliminary findings indicated that the chlorine levels were 1 to 10 milligrams per liter, or 10 to 100 times the permissible level.

Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer with the Santa Ana regional board, said the agency issued the civil fine Dec. 29. On Jan. 5, the board received a check from the Griffith Co. along with a letter from the Irvine Co. waiving its right to a hearing.

“Upon being made aware of the discharge, the Irvine Co. immediately informed the Griffith Co., its subcontractors and all other construction firms working on the Crystal Cove development that such oversight will not be tolerated,” wrote James J. Lorman, Irvine Co. senior vice president of land development and construction.

Chlorine can be extremely toxic to aquatic life, but state and federal investigators found no environmental damage from the spill.

However, the violation prompted the Irvine Co. to implement measures to prevent construction runoff from leaving the site, such as diverting future chlorine discharges to a sewage treatment plant.

The public can comment on the board’s action until Feb. 9, Berchtold said.