Huntington Beach Pleads Guilty in Sewage Leak Case

Huntington Beach pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony charges for allowing millions of gallons of raw sewage to leak from aging pipes, a highly unusual admission of criminal culpability.

Mayor Pamela Julien-Houcher appeared in court as the defendant, responding “guilty” as a prosecutor read the three charges of violating state water laws by knowingly discharging pollutants from the decayed sewage system.

Superior Court Commissioner Martin G. Engquist placed the city on five years’ probation, during which officials must obey a cleanup order already filed by a state water quality agency. The city also agreed to spend $250,000 to assess and clean up damage left by years of leaking sewage.

Several officials said Wednesday that the city is now considering a $5-per-home fee to help build a new sewer system. Parts of the old one date 1910.

The charges cap a lengthy investigation by the Orange County district attorney’s environmental protection unit and state water officials that involved testimony before the county grand jury.

Experts said that, although criminal cases against polluting businesses are increasingly common, charging a government entity remains extremely rare because of the difficulty of finding clear evidence of wrongdoing.

The Huntington Beach case, however, benefited from videotapes shot by the city in 1996 that showed widespread leaks in the 600 miles of pipes in the system.

Because the city did not have the money to fix the leaks, it put off completing the repairs until last year--allowing as much as 71,000 gallons of raw sewage to leak every day. During this period, the city failed to report the leaks to three local and state agencies, as required by law.

“These were serious leaks that occurred over a lengthy period of time, and they were unreported,” said Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas. “What we’ve done today is put the city under the supervision of the court.”

City officials acknowledged that they did not inform other agencies about the problems, though some called the district attorney’s aggressive action ill-advised.

A lawyer for the city expressed fear that the prosecution might dissuade some cities from inspecting their sewer systems for fear of what they might find.

“It’s a shame [Huntington Beach was] singled out because they took steps where no one else did to protect their citizens by inspecting the sewer lines,” said Gary Pohlson, a criminal defense lawyer retained by the city. “So for them to be punished is kind of ironic. . . . My concern is [that] other cities who don’t have the money to fix it will keep their eyes closed.”

Prosecutors disagreed. If Huntington Beach had reported its leaks as required, other agencies might have been able to help the city find funding for the repairs, said Senior Assistant Dist. Atty. Bob Gannon.

The Huntington Beach case underscores a problem that cities throughout Southern California may increasingly face as the region’s infrastructure ages, officials said. Rackauckas said he hopes the penalties Huntington Beach faces serve as a warning to agencies throughout the state.

The next big step for Surf City will come this summer when the City Council considers the proposed $5 sewer charge. The city would need $127 million in revenue over 20 years to rehabilitate and maintain the city’s sewer system, spokesman Rich Barnard said.

“I don’t see any way out of it,” said Councilwoman Debbie Cook. “We have to fix the sewers in Huntington Beach. We have to protect the public’s health.”

The criminal charges were met with wide support--and some surprise--from environmental groups, which said they send a loud message to government agencies that they will be held accountable for pollution they generate.

“A criminal penalty is very significant, because it’s very unusual,” said David Beckman, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “You rarely see criminal prosecutions, and even more rare are situations where defendants plead guilty to criminal charges.”

Beckman and others said the instances of governments’ being held liable have occurred primarily in civil judgments, not felony criminal cases.

One exception was in West Virginia, where state prosecutors filed criminal charges against the city of Fayetteville in 1999 after municipal employees allegedly dumped industrial sludge in the water supply.

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Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this story.