A sparsely attended forum Tuesday at Malibu City Hall offered informational talks on current issues surrounding septic systems.
By Paul Sisolak / Special to The Malibu Times
The City of Malibu on Tuesday hosted what it called an education and outreach forum on the use of septic systems at Malibu City Hall.
The forum, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, covered a number of topics, from technical know-how to community building, and included talks on grant fundraising for septic projects, pollution and burgeoning technology.
Although the event took place at Malibu City Hall, Malibu City officials were conspicuously absent in the morning sessions of the sparsely attended event.
A number of guest speakers affiliated with the Chico-based California Onsite Wastewater Association (COWA) addressed the small crowd on a range of issues regarding septic systems.
COWA President Mark Adams spoke about Assembly Bill 885, a piece of legislation passed in 2000 that required all septic systems in California to be inspected once every 5 years, along with uniform regulations for repairs and new systems. But while the law was passed more than 10 years ago and slated for implementation by 2004, the regulations are still not in place.
Nevertheless, Adams expects the law to be implemented soon, and he suggested Malibu could benefit greatly when that happens. Los Angeles County contains, he said, the most contaminated septic systems in the state of California. “It can be pretty tough to work throughout the state because of the various entities and agencies,” he said. “But we’re getting close to implementation.”
Adams said the bill would place all septic systems installed in Malibu on the same page and spoke about how the planning process of wastewater treatment in the city needs more consistency.
“Agencies play the role of regulator but don’t play the role of monitoring. AB 885 I believe is going to change that,” Adams said. “Contractors would rather see local regulators be tough.”
Adams said that the assembly bill would funnel no money to Malibu. “Each one of these local agencies is going to have to, at some point, [assess] the impact of their entire program on salinity and nutrients. It could be quite involved and quite costly,” he said.
Kristen Cooper Carter, a grants development specialist, also from Chico, said that paying for an enhanced wastewater infrastructure in a city like Malibu is problematic due to the economy and constant fiscal cuts from the government. Federally, funding for water management comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“The funding does not go far,” she said.
The forum’s afternoon sessions concluded with discussion topics on the usefulness of septic system care and maintenance, and getting communities more involved with wastewater infrastructure improvements.
None of the morning speakers addressed the City of Malibu’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to build a central sewer system in the Civic Center by 2015.
Councilmember Jefferson Wagner told The Malibu Times the forum was an opportunity to bring awareness to pockets of local communities who use septic systems, like homeowners associations in Malibu Knolls and Malibu Bluffs.
“It’s of great importance because people often say we need more transparency,” Wagner said. “It’s broadened their spectrum for education and for those who don’t know what things may be about, they can ask questions.”
Olivia Damavandi, the city’s media information officer, said that the forum was not tied into any forthcoming wastewater capital projects in Malibu, but was “intended to empower the community.”
Details of Tuesday’s panel, including PowerPoint presentations, were expected to be available on www.cowa.org.