Direct view of open tanks upsets some, and charges are made that there are many errors in initial impact study.
By Rachelle Kuchta/Special to The Malibu Times
Stop the stink?
That’s what some residents are saying before plans are pushed through for the Trancas Water Pollution Control Plant (aka sewage treatment plant), which will be rehabilitated and upgraded to replace deteriorated facilities and to comply with new requirements.
Some neighbors are protesting the new facilities will have a significant harmful impact on the local vicinity.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works has prepared a draft negative declaration and initial study to analyze the environmental impact of this proposed project. The initial study, which is being circulated for a 30-day public review period, ending on July 15, states the project will not have a significant effect on the environment.
However, Malibu Park resident Hans Laetz strongly disagrees.
In a letter to Jeff Bouse, the civil engineer overseeing the project for the county, Laetz states he has found 32 specific errors in the report that render the initial study useless and contends the finding is “fatally flawed and violates several laws.”
Laetz, whose home is on the adjacent hilltop along with a few other single-family homes, is demanding the county reject the initial study and its conclusions, and order a new study that addresses his points.
The Trancas plant is located at the southern end of the private Malibu West community, which is located at the mouth of Trancas Canyon about 1,000 feet from the Pacific Ocean.
The 39-year-old plant receives domestic sewage from 237 single-family homes and condominiums in the Trancas and Malibu West communities and 33 single-family homes in the Lechuza community, not including the homes in Malibu Park.
While Malibu West resident Steve Hotchkiss, whose home is immediately next door to the plant, is glad he moved there and looks forward to a safer plant, Malibu Park resident Julie Finke sides with Laetz.
“We’re pretty upset about it,” Finke said. Finke’s home overlooks the plant and when the upgrade takes place, she will be looking directly into the tanks. Finke said she would like to see covers placed on the open tanks.
Although the initial study states it has been prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, Laetz, who has lived in his home for five years and has a background in hydrology, said the fact he can see into the tanks is a “flagrant public nuisance” and a violation of the State of California’s Environmental Water Quality Control Act.
According to the California Water Code 13050, this plant would be a nuisance if it met three requirements, which includes affecting an entire community or neighborhood or any considerable number of people.
Laetz also states there are deficiencies in the county’s research, evaluation and conclusions, where the study fails to mention several important factors, including the addition of five feet to the height of the tanks due to new railings, that it is a sensitive archaeological area and how the county plans to shield the plant from public view.
Laetz said the plant would be plainly visible in the primary viewshed of nearby residences, from vista points within the adjoining Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and from the three pedestrian/bicycle/equestrian trails (including the Morning View Connector Path and the historic Chumash Trail) that are adjacent to and overlook the plant.
“We are trying to keep everything low into the ground and out of sight as much as possible,” said Bouse, who read Laetz’s findings and is submitting them to the consulting firm, Lee & Ro, Inc., which prepared the initial study for review.
Laetz also outlines how the initial study lessens the impact of the Trancas plant on significant environmental aspects, including the possibility the site will be designated an environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA) in new land use plan maps, the effects of Santa Ana winds, rare or endangered species seen in and around the Trancas facility.
Bouse said “it would be a very significant cost” to cover the tanks.
Each of the 270 homes the Trancas facility services pays nearly $2,000 for the plant in taxes.
Bouse said in accommodating Laetz’s points, he doesn’t want to make the residents pay more for the plant. “They already pay a lot to flush the toilet.”
City Engineer Rick Morgan said the city’s planning and environmental health departments will assess the initial study and submit comments to Bouse. The negative declaration and initial study are available for review at the Malibu Public Library and in the general files in the Public Works department in Alhambra.
Comments must be received by Bouse by 5 p.m. on July 15 via mail to: County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Waterworks and Sewer Maintenance Division, P.O. Box 1460, Alhambra, CA 91802-1460.