Judge Wants Sewage Spill Fine Cut

A judge has ordered a state agency to consider reducing a $2.3-million fine it imposed on Thousand Oaks after a faulty pipeline caused 86 million gallons of raw sewage to spill into Conejo Creek.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs ruled Thursday that the evidence presented in court by the state Regional Water Quality Control Board did not justify the hefty fine, which was levied against the city after the spill in February 1998.

“The fine was way out of line,” Thousand Oaks City Atty. Mark Sellers said Friday.

The city appealed the fine for the spill, which was the largest in a string of sewage leaks that has plagued the city for more than a decade.

Because the judge maintained that the city was liable for spilling the untreated sewage, “this is clearly a win for the regional water board’s efforts,” said Dennis Dickerson, the board’s executive director.

Dickerson said agency officials were still studying the ruling Friday and would likely not vote on a revised fine before spring.

Thousand Oaks officials have said they would accept a fine of between $600,000 and $1 million to finally settle a dispute that has cost the city more than $1 million in legal and experts’ fees so far.

After the pipeline failure, a stretch of more than 30 miles of coastline, including beaches from Malibu to Oxnard, was closed for 29 days and Thousand Oaks paid about $180,000 to farmers for damaged fields.