Sanitation District Not Solution but the Problem

Thank you very much for your June 9 editorial regarding the waiver that the Orange County Sanitation District has used for far too long to avoid spending any of its war chest.

It is understandable that the board of directors is reluctant about confronting its constituents with yet another tax, no matter how needed or important it might be. However, the district has other means and ways to implement secondary or tertiary treatment.

One is the war chest. Another is grants from state and federal agencies. The problem with the war chest is that money is power and that is what fuels bureaucracies, so the directors do not want to dip into their reserves.

Grants would require the district to allow others, from the state or federal government, into its inner sanctum, which it is loath to do because it is afraid this could lead to an erosion of its power base. It really does not want anyone looking over its shoulder.

Silence and subterfuge seem to be the modus operandi for this and most other bureaucracies.

Don McGee

Huntington Beach

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It is the job of scientists to study problems and make discoveries. It is the job of activists to make the public aware of problems. Without the problem neither has a job.

We have no need of either, one might think. Of ocean sewage there is no more need to study the problem; everyone is already aware of the problem. What is needed is action.

No more testing for bacteria when viruses are the real problem. No more wondering which way the currents run. They run toward the beach. Is there a leader out there who can make the solution happen? Or do we have to listen to the incessant chatter?

As long as we send all of the excrement of this society into the ocean, there can be no honor here. It is a very glib world indeed when all the celebrities, developers and smug, self-satisfied types can be so self-congratulatory while committing such horrible criminal acts against nature.

Peter Zappas

Laguna Beach

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Kudos to The Times for having the common sense and community leadership unfortunately lacking in Orange County to call for full secondary treatment of sewage from the 33 communities before it reaches our beautiful coastline.

Orange County is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, but we have a sanitation district that treats its sewage to one of the lowest levels in the nation and then dumps this sewage into the ocean right off our coast.

This is a no-brainer.

Are our county leaders afraid of the dreaded voter backlash on the cost of Clean Water Act compliance? The Orange County Sanitation District should know that there are many like myself who would be willing to pay the required 5 cents a day to make sure everyone’s sewage is treated to the right levels before going into the ocean.

I want a clean ocean for myself and my children’s children. Refusing to extend the waiver: 5 cents a day. A clean ocean: priceless.

Jeff Lebow

Huntington Beach

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The Orange County Sanitation District has a motto: “To maintain world-class leadership in waste water and water resource management.” It must be kidding.

The district operates under a waiver that allows it to treat the sewage from 2.4 million people to less rigorous standards than most other sanitation districts and then dump this partially treated sewage into the ocean right off our coast, treating the ocean like a toilet bowl.

This is world-class leadership? I have a suggestion for the district: “Do us a favor, get rid of the waiver.”

Jan D. Vandersloot

Newport Beach

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Congratulations. Your editorial draws a line in the sand that ends the debate about the Orange County Sanitation District’s waiver of full secondary treatment.

We can afford better treatment, and it’s the right thing to do, especially in the face of uncertainty over beach closures in the summer and the daily throngs of people placed at risk.

As a scientist with three decades of up-close-and-personal study of ocean outfalls, including the district’s, this is a no-brainer.

The district has stonewalled previous findings by pointing a finger inland and calling for more study to demonstrate its innocence. The cost is rapidly rising into the millions, with no end in sight, and the only other suspects in the closure of miles of beach are small flocks of sea gulls.

Now a groundswell of public concern has focused our attention on improving the level of sewage treatment substantially. Some are even advocating a step beyond full secondary in order to guarantee a future, vital freshwater resource that can be stored and reused from our local ground-water basin.

If the district still wants to convince us that less is better, I predict it will lose both of the coming battles. Regarding the cost, in “A Stink Brewing Over Offshore Sewage” (May 28) it says a family of four could pay $75 per year more. Divide $75 by 4 people per family by 365 days per year: 5.1 cents per person per day. Yes, indeed, really good treatment costs more. That would double my daily bill.

Have you looked at your electric bill lately? Multiply by twelve.

Irwin Haydock

Fountain Valley