Huntington Sewer Leaks Didn’t Foul Water Table

A court-ordered study has concluded that Huntington Beach’s ground water was not contaminated by the massive sewage leaks that resulted in criminal charges against the city.

The study was undertaken after Huntington Beach officials pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of violating state water laws by knowingly discharging pollutants from the city’s decayed sewage system.

As part of a plea agreement reached with the Orange County district attorney’s office, the city was put on probation and ordered to follow through on previous commitments to assess the damage and make any necessary repairs.

At a cost of $200,000, Komex H20 Science, a Huntington Beach-based environmental consultant, sampled ground water at 10 wells over the last five weeks, testing for bacteria, viruses, four forms of nitrogen, two types of phosphate and organic carbon.

When found in large amounts, these elements would indicate the presence of sewage, said Wade Major, the company’s project manager for the study. But no unusual levels of any of the elements were found, he said.

Komex’s report will be filed June 4 with the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, which under the city’s plea agreement is overseeing efforts to fix the broken sewer lines.

City officials, who face a huge task in repairing the aging sewer system, expressed satisfaction and relief with the findings.

“It is clear from this fifth week of test results that the water quality in the downtown area meets the required state standards,” Huntington Beach City Administrator Ray Silver said.

City officials continue to dispute how much raw sewage leaked from its lines in 1996. The amount has been estimated as high as 71,374 gallons a day.

State and local officials do not believe the leaks were related to the costly closures of beaches during most of the summer of 1999. But it remains unclear what happened to the sewage.

“I think the city would contest the amount of leakage reported,” City Engineer Dave Webb said. “And if there was any sewage spilled, it tends to break down very rapidly.”

The crumbling municipal system, which stretches some 600 miles and handles about 32 million gallons of sewage a day, remained in disrepair until 1999, when crews embarked on a videotape and repair project, focusing first on the most troubled area, downtown.

In the meantime, Orange County prosecutors began building a rare criminal case against the city for failing to report the leaks to state and county health officials.

To date, the city has spent nearly $2 million to fix sewer leaks, and that figure is expected to at least double over the next few years as repairs spread to the Huntington Harbour area. The work is being paid for by grants from the Orange County Sanitation District and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The city estimates it will need $127 million over 20 years to rehabilitate and maintain its sewer system. Public hearings are expected in late summer over a proposal to charge homeowners a sewer fee of up to $6 each month to repair and maintain decaying lines. If approved, the fee would go into effect in October.

Huntington Beach officials also reported Friday that roughly 48,000 feet of clay sewer pipelines downtown have been reinforced with special plastics to repair holes and cracks discovered by a comprehensive video investigation.