SR-6-C (39)
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GS:CP:Secondtreat Santa Monica, California
Council Meeting: January 28, 1992
To: Mayor and City Council
From: City staff
Subject: Recommendation to Approve Resolution in Support of
Secondary Treatment of sewage Discharge
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends Council adopt the attached resolution in
support of requiring secondary treatment of sewage discharged into
Santa Monica Bay by the Los Angeles county Sanitation Districts.
Approval of the resolution will support the Management Committee of
the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project's (SMBRP) vote on a
similar resolution.
BACKGROUND
The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, among many others, have
been diligently negotiating with Los Angeles County Sanitation
Districts and lobbying for legislation to require that full
secondary treatment be provided for all Publicly Owned Treatment
Work (POTW) discharges into Santa Monica Bay. This action has been
undertaken in light of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) determination, after extensive study, that the existing level
of treatment at the LACSD joint sewage treatment control plants
adversely affects biologically sensitive sites in Santa Monica Bay.
The EPA has subsequently issued a denial to the sanitation
District's request for a waiver of full secondary treatment
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requirements. LACSD has appealed the decision and is awaiting an
evidentiary hearing process.
DISCUSSION
Secondary treatment of sewage is a means of reducing solids
discharged to the Bay, thereby reducing the amount of contaminants,
and is required to be provided by federal law. The county
Districts, which handle sewage from a broad stretch of inland
cities, have made three applications over the last twelve years for
a so-called "301-H waiver" from this federal law, which requires
that it upgrade its sewage treatment plants. While these
applications have been pending, the Districts have been able to
continue to dump inadequately treated sewage into Santa Monica Bay.
In the interim, however, under the auspices of the Santa Monica Bay
Restoration Project, the team of LACSD, Heal the Bay and the
Natural Resources Defense council have been actively negotiating an
agreement to resolve the LACSDls 301-H waiver issues. An agreement
between these parties is anticipated to come forth from that effort
shortly.
The desired result from this negotiation effort will be to require
that the Sanitation Districts upgrade their facilities to a full
secondary treatment capability, but that completion of the
treatment facilitles upgrades will be allowed to follow a
IIreasonable" schedule.
FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with the adoption of the
resolution.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the city Council adopt the attached
resolution in support of efforts to upgrade sewage treatment
facilities to provide for the secondary treatment of wastewater
before it is discharged into ocean water (Santa Monica Bay) .
Prepared by: stan Scholl, General Services Director
Craig Perkins, Environmental Services Manager
Richard Gonzalez, Senior Administrative Analyst
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RESOLUTION NO. 8350 (CCS)
City of Santa Monica
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA IN SUPPORT OF SECONDARY TREATMENT OF WASTEWATER
DISCHARGE
WHEREAS, the elimination of discharges to the Santa Monica
Bay that adversely affect biologically sensitive resources is a
goal of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, the City of Santa
Monica, and numerous other organizations and citizens~ and
WHEREAS, secondary treatment of wastewater (sewage)
discharge is a mechanism to reduce solids and other contaminants
discharged into the Bay~ and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
after extensive study, has determined that the existing level of
treatment at the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts I (LACSD)
Joint Water Pollution Control Plants adversely affects biologically
sensitive sites in the Bay~ and
WHEREAS, the EPA has issued a denial to the San1tation
Districts' request for a waiver to full secondary treatment~ and
WHEREAS, negotiations are continuing between interested
parties to resolve the waiver issues and gain compliance for the
improvements,
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Monica
does hereby support all efforts to require that the San ita t ion
Districts upgrade to and operate at full secondary treatment
capacity before it is discharged into the Bay and that the
treatment facilities be completed on a reasonable schedule,
developed by affected parties including the EPA, the Department of
Justice, and the state of Californ1a.
Section 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of
this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be
in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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ROBERT MYERS
City Attorney
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Adopted and approved this 28th day of January, 1992.
I hereby certify that the forego1ng Resolution No. 8350(CCS)
was duly adopted by the city Council of the city of Santa Monica
at a meeting thereof held on January 28th, 1992 by the following
Council vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers: Abdo, Holbrook, Ka tz , Olsen,
Vazquez, Genser
Noes: Councilmembers: None
Abstain: Counc11members: None
Absent: Councilmembers: None
ATTEST:
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AsST. c~y Clerk