In a unanimous 6-0 vote, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) approved on Thursday a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) requiring properties in Civic Center area of Malibu to hook up to centralized wastewater treatment facilities. The three-phase plan, which first calls for commercial properties in the Civic Center to connect to a centralized wastewater treatment facility by 2015, was negotiated over several months between RWQCB Executive Director Sam Unger and Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen. It was approved June 27 by the Malibu City Council.
RWQCB member Steve Blois said of the agreement, “I think we’re witnessing a bellweather moment in the relationship between Malibu and this board.”
Malibu City Councilmember Jefferson Wagner hailed the agreement as a step in the right direction.
“It was a real eye-opener to see something finally happen,” Wagner said. “All sides are now shoulder to shoulder in an effort to clean our beaches.”
The negotiations between Unger and Thorsen began after the state water board imposed a ban on septic systems for properties in the Civic Center area of Malibu in 2010. That original plan, developed by the RWQCB, included far more residential properties than the eventual MOU.
Many speakers at the hearing opposed the MOU Thursday. Representatives of environmental groups Heal the Bay, Santa Monica Baykeeper and the Surfrider Foundation each said the original plan drawn up by the RWQCB was superior, and that the current MOU does not put enough pressure on the City of Malibu to resolve its water quality issues in Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon and Surfrider Beach.
“Clearly the MOU is substantially weaker and less costly [than the original plan] to the City of Malibu,” Heal the Bay president Mark Gold said. “I’m concerned the weakened requirements will result in reduced protection of public health and the environment.”
Malibu resident Lucille Keller, speaking for the Malibu Township Council, opposed the MOU because she said the recent U.S. Geological Survey study done by Dr. John Izbicki proved that septic systems were not to blame for contamination in the Civic Center area.
“There is no evidence that residential septic systems contribute to contamination,” Keller said.
Phase One of the MOU, covering commercial properties in the Civic Center area, requires a centralized wastewater treatment facility to be built by Nov. 2015. The facility has been projected to cost as much as $52 million, and will be paid for by an assessment district. By 2019, residential properties in the area must also connect to the centralized facility, which is expected to be expanded to accommodate the Phase Two properties. The expansion would be paid for by an assessment district.
Commercial and residential properties in Phase Three must connect to a centralized facility by 2025, although that condition is contingent on water quality studies to be performed after properties in the first two phases connect to the facility. If the treatment facility has been found to improve water quality in Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon and Surfrider Beach, Phase Three properties must also discontinue their septic systems and hook up to a centralized facility. If water quality is unchanged, the Phase Three facility will never be built.