Cleanup Ordered at Waystation; Fines Threatened

Declaring that a serious pollution problem exists, state water-quality officials have ordered the Wildlife Waystation to clean up a fouled creek and said Monday they might impose a $10,000-a-day fine against the wild-animal sanctuary.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board on Friday issued a cleanup and abatement order, its toughest action short of fines. The order came the same day that Waystation officials touted an environmental study they commissioned saying there is no harmful water pollution at the 120-acre compound, which is home to nearly 1,200 animals.

Dennis Dickerson, the water agency’s executive director, said the fines could be made retroactive to March 30--the day the state Department of Fish and Game reportedly videotaped Waystation employees washing animal waste into a creek in Little Tujunga Canyon.

Such a ruling could send the fine total past $400,000. Dickerson said a decision on the fines could be reached this week.

Martine Colette, director of the Wildlife Waystation, expressed confidence that the agency’s demands could be satisfied and the fines averted.

“I think if I read this correctly, and we can provide good reasons, they would allow us extensions. The indication is, with appropriate purposes, they are more than happy to entertain giving us more time,” Colette said.

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Regional water board officials said agency regulators inspecting the refuge on April 5 and 26 found employees washing animal feces and urine into a stream bed.

“It was a visually obvious discharge, with discoloration of the water and floating material,” Dickerson said. “There is no need for a lab test in that case.”

The agency’s order outlines 10 violations, directly contradicting statements made by Waystation officials since April 7, when the state Department of Fish and Game ordered the compound closed to the public and prohibited new animals there.

The charges include dumping raw sewage onto the ground from toilets in a trailer encampment where about 70 employees live. That violation and most of the others were noted in citations by the Los Angeles County Health Department in 1993 and repeated by Fish and Game in several subsequent reports.

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Colette and Waystation board members have denied the allegations of wrongdoing, and said they are cooperating with Fish and Game, the Los Angeles County district attorney and the state attorney general.

Colette has characterized the multi-agency effort to clean up alleged pollution at the facility as a “witch hunt.”

Fish and Game officials said the report bolsters their findings.

“We’re pleased the report is consistent with what we’ve stated in the past,” said Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano. “At some point they must change their methods of cleaning the cages and getting rid of waste. We hope this gets them going in the right direction.”

Dickerson said the water quality board’s order does not protect the Waystation from penalties by other agencies.

“It doesn’t even give them a waiver or exclusion from more penalties from us,” Dickerson said. “And it does not mean they can continue violations from now until the deadlines in the order. It just sets forth a schedule for them to take certain steps.”

The Waystation’s nonprofit status may help buffer the organization from the harshest punishment, Dickerson said. The state’s water quality code requires the board to take into consideration such factors as the violator’s ability to pay and the severity of the violations.

“We will not make any judgments on the scope of the penalties until we sit down and assess them,” Dickerson said. “We normally do not issue penalties in such a short turnaround. We like to see if they are going to respond very quickly.”

The order requires the Waystation to cease further dumping and immediately begin cleaning up the creek. The first official response required from the Waystation is a report of water discharge due May 31. Other reports are due in June and October. In addition to the $10,000-a-day fines, the board could order penalties of $5,000 a day if the Waystation fails to file any of the reports on time or fails to apply for a septic system permit.

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Regional water board inspectors visited Shambala animal preserve in Acton before issuing the order to the Waystation. The Shambala facility houses wild refugee lions, jaguars and other exotics, as does the Wildlife Waystation.

“We did do a comparative inspection,” Dickerson said. “We found them to be in substantial compliance. [The Waystation] is different from other sanctuary locations, zoos and so forth. It is a real problem whenever you’re discharging waste directly into the stream.”