Manager Jim Thorsen says Tracy Egoscue, head of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, has no authority to rescind a memorandum of understanding between the city and the board.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen has angered an environmental nonprofit that has a pending lawsuit against the city because of a letter he wrote to Regional Water Quality Control Board Executive Officer Tracy Egoscue. In the letter, sent Saturday, Thorsen accused Egoscue of having a bias because of her previous role as director of the Santa Monica Baykeeper.
Thorsen’s letter was in response to a notice issued to the city earlier in September about terminating a Memorandum of Understanding between the city and the RWQCB. The MOU went into effect four years ago and, among others things, gave the city the right to issue wastewater discharge permits for projects that generate 2,000 gallons of water or less. Larger projects are still handled by the RWQCB. Egoscue on Sept. 19 sent the city a “Notice of Intent to Terminate the Memorandum of Understanding.” The board will vote on the termination next month. Thorsen replied with a two-page letter that included the personal accusation against Egoscue.
“The city is concerned that your previous role as the executive director of the Santa Monica Baykeeper and prior advocacy on these matters is evidence of bias and creates a [state] constitutionally impermissible appearance and risk of bias,” Thorsen wrote. “Your participation in these decisions taints the Regional Board’s process and denies the city and its residents an unbiased decision maker.”
Thorsen cited two state court cases in this statement.
The Baykeeper has been a frequent critic of the city over water quality issues. Earlier this year, along with the Natural Resources Defense Council, it filed a federal lawsuit against Malibu regarding storm water runoff pollution of the Malibu watershed. The suit has not yet gone to court, and both sides claim discussions are ongoing among the parties. City Attorney Christi Hogin has said she believes the issue can be solved outside the courtroom.
Egoscue did not return calls for comment, but current Baykeeper head Tom Ford had a response in an interview on Tuesday.
“The unfounded allegations directed at Tracy Egoscue for doing her job to protect water quality are disingenuous and an attempt to divert attention from Malibu’s serious water quality problems,” Ford said. “It is disappointing that the city of Malibu would stoop to such levels and waste precious energy and resources better used to clean up the waters for which the city is responsible.”
In the notice to the city, Egoscue did not explain why she believes the city should lose its permitting authority. She did not return calls for comment last week. Thorsen, however, took a guess as to why she sent the notice to the city. He wrote it “appears to be a reaction to the city’s unwillingness to agree to have the Regional Board be the lead agency for the OWTS [onsite wastewater treatment system] for the first phase of the Lumber Yard project.”
Thorsen said in an interview on Monday that the RWQCB had “tried to take over the project,” but the city would not allow it because the mall being constructed by Richard Weintraub and Richard Sperber on the city-owned Legacy Park would initially generate less than 2,000 gallons of water per day. This is because, Thorsen said, when the mall opens later this year it will not include the planned restaurants. When those restaurants finally do come to be, the mall will generate more wastewater, but Thorsen said the RWQCB has nothing to worry about.
“They’re [Weintraub and Sperber] designing a state-of-the-art [wastewater treatment] system that is tremendously better than what was there before and may be the premier system in the entire state,” Thorsen said.
Thorsen further stated in his letter to Egoscue that she did not have the authority to issue the notice. He wrote, citing language from the MOU, that the city could only be noticed about an attempt to terminate the MOU through a vote by the board. Thorsen said this means the board would have to vote that it intends to terminate the MOU, and then vote again on whether to go through with the termination.
“Your purported notice on behalf of the board is unauthorized, premature and of no legal effect under the terms of the MOU,” Thorsen wrote.
Thorsen said the city has attempted to talk to RWQCB staff about issues involving the Lumber Yard project. But he says talks have been difficult because “they [the RWQCB] have opinions that vary greatly from what the MOU allows and how we see the project. We’re on a different wavelength.”