The Malibu Country Mart, Cross Creek Plaza and Malibu Colony Plaza are among those cited for violating wastewater discharge permits.
By Olivia Damavandi / Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has cited three main Malibu shopping centers and more than 30 other Malibu businesses and public facilities in the vicinity of the Civic Center area for violating wastewater discharge permit requirements.
Malibu Country Mart, owned by developer Michael Koss, Cross Creek Plaza, managed by Pouya Abdi and Michael Shabani, and the Malibu Colony Plaza, owned by sports team owner and developer E. Stanley Kroenke, are alleged to have violated conditions of their existing wastewater discharge permits.
Alleged violations include failure to submit monitoring reports, incomplete monitoring reports, flow violations, water quality (effluent) violations or failure to report material changes in operations.
Surfrider Beach, Malibu Beach Inn, owned by DreamWorks cofounder David Geffen, HRL Laboratories, and a couple facilities and the office building owned by Miramar Properties that is home to Malibu’s City Hall were also cited for these violations.
Although it has been closed for several months, the Malibu Inn restaurant and nightclub was also issued a notice.
“The Regional Board is committed to protecting human health and the environment,” Tracy Egoscue, executive officer of the board, said Tuesday in an e-mail to The Malibu Times. “It [the board] looks forward to working cooperatively and productively with Malibu facilities to achieve compliance with clean water statues and to reduce the threat wastewater poses for those who visit Surfrider and other area beaches.”
The board said Malibu Country Mart had missed the deadline for upgrading its wastewater treatment system. Koss said Tuesday in a telephone interview that the reason he has not upgraded the system is because he is waiting for the city to implement a centralized wastewater treatment facility to which the Country Mart will connect.
“I can’t spend millions modifying an old system when the whole plan is to change the system,” Koss said, adding that there have never been any problems with the existing wastewater system, and that it is monitored and tested daily by a full-time environmental engineer.
“Septic systems are not a practical or safe solution for the type of [waste]water conditions in the Civic Center,” Koss continued. “It’s difficult to manage those individual systems. Everyone agrees the solution is to put in a centralized wastewater system, which I would like to see happen because I want a more efficient system.”
Koss said he would share the cost of implementing the centralized wastewater treatment facility once the city secures a location for it.
The city has said it secured the La Paz site on Civic Center Way, across from Malibu Country Mart, to house the centralized wastewater treatment facility, but the site is currently under review by the California Coastal Commission. Also, the environmental group Santa Monica Baykeeper filed a lawsuit against the city earlier this month, challenging the site’s environmental impact report, which may slow down the process of implementing a facility at that site.
The city is also working on building Legacy Park, which would include a stormwater treatment facility to address some water pollution concerns. The park is still in the planning stages, and the city is still looking for funds to help build it.
While the board has long stated the urgency for Malibu to implement a centralized wastewater facility, City Manager Jim Thorsen said Tuesday in a telephone interview that every property owner is ultimately responsible to comply with the standards of the water board.
Thorsen explained that the water board issued the permits in question, so they are not overseen by the city.
The city does, however, have jurisdiction over smaller permitted properties that discharge less than 2,000 gallons of wastewater per day, none of which have been cited for violations by the water board.
Los Angeles County Fire Station 88, located on Malibu Road, has also been cited.
“The Fire Department and the Department of Public Works for [Los Angeles] County updated the septic system [at Station 88] in 2006,” L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
“However, recent monitoring has indicated we are in violation again,” Osby continued, adding that the Fire Department is working with the Department of Public Works to achieve compliance.
Among the businesses and other facilities cited for allegedly operating wastewater discharge systems without the required water quality permits are City National Bank and JP Morgan Chase Bank National Assn., Casa Malibu Inn, the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Pacific Coast Highway, Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church and Webster Elementary School Serra Retreat, and the Malibu Racket Club.
All must begin the permitting process and, within 90 days, provide information on the design, construction, operation and groundwater and surface water impacts of their on-site wastewater disposal systems.
Editor Laura Tate contributed to this story.