A stronger push for full secondary

Paul Clinton

State lawmakers, city leaders and environmentalists huddled at the

Huntington Beach Pier to declare their opposition to the Orange County

Sanitation District’s sewage waiver.

Speaking to a sparse crowd on the steps off the north side of the

pier, Assemblyman Ken Maddox (R-Garden Grove) pledged his support for

ending the waiver.

The district, via a federal waiver, is allowed to release 240-million

gallons of partially treated sewage into the ocean each day.

Maddox has introduced a bill that would short-circuit the district’s

application to renew the waiver and force the agency to step up its

treatment of the waste.

Wearing a Hawaiian-print shirt with Woodies and surfboards, the

assemblyman spoke about the issue at the Friday event. He introduced the

legislation, known as Assembly Bill 1969, on Feb. 14.

“It’s appropriate because it’s the summer of love,” Maddox said about

his bill’s number. “We love our beaches.”

Maddox was joined at the event by Assemblyman Tom Harman (R-Huntington

Beach), Council woman Connie Boardman and members of the Ocean Outfall

Group, who initiated the effort to end the waiver.

Several cities, including Huntington Beach, have supported the effort.

Surf City has paid a terrible price for bacteria contamination at city

beaches. Closures that lasted most of the summer of 1999 turned the city

into a ghost town during its most popular season for tourism.

“Our local economy is dependent on the ocean water,” Boardman said.

“This is an economic issue that strikes at the heart of Huntington

Beach.”

Maddox’s bill would require the district to move to what is known as

“full secondary” treatment. Right now, the district only treats half of

its discharge, via an outfall pipe on the ocean floor, to that level.

There is still some question as to whether the state can prevent the

district from renewing the federal waiver.

The waiver is issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency,

but the sanitation district was created by the state Legislature.

District spokeswoman Lisa Murphy said the bill would step on the

district board’s toes.

“The bill is Maddox’s attempt to push the district into a decision [to

implement] full secondary,” Murphy said .”The bill interrupts the local

decision-making process.”

The bill would not directly provide funding to the district to pay for

the $400-million price tag for full-secondary treatment.

Maddox pointed to the district’s $450 million in cash reserves to pay

for the additional treatment.

Murphy, however, said the money is tied up for capital improvements at

the district’s Fountain Valley plant.