The city reveals its future wastewater management plans while a proposed Civic Center septic ban looms overhead.
By Brittany Yearout / Special to The Malibu Times and Olivia Damavandi / Assistant Editor
In anticipation of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Nov. 5 vote on whether to ban the use of septic systems in the Civic Center area, city officials last week held a public meeting to unveil preliminary designs of a $40-$60 million centralized wastewater treatment facility.
Additionally, city officials discussed the initial results of five current studies they say will prove the proposed ban will not improve water quality. The city wants the septic ban hearing delayed until those studies can be finished, which will be in about six to nine months. RWQCB staff has already provided the public with various pieces of information and studies that it says prove Malibu septic systems are the major cause of watershed pollution.
The next wastewater management workshop, presented by the water board, will take place Thursday of this week at Pepperdine University at 6 p.m.
As proposed, the septic ban covers both commercial and residential portions of the city, including the Civic Center area, the stretch of Pacific Coast Highway from Serra Road to Sweetwater Canyon, the Malibu Colony, Malibu Road, Serra Retreat, Sweetwater Mesa and the Malibu Knolls. Though city officials at the meeting said there is a possibility that the boundary lines will be redrawn, residents and businesses located within the prohibition zone could face fines as high as $10,000 per day if they don’t get rid of their septic systems within five years.
The estimated $60 million wastewater treatment facility would be paid for by the 500 to 600 property owners within the prohibition areas. With a low interest state loan, it is likely that each property owner will have to pay $650 to $1,000 per month.
The facility is required to process up to 600,000 gallons of effluent per day, and must be located on a two-acre site. The city has not secured a location for the facility, but intends to implement it on the La Paz property located on Civic Center Way south of the Malibu Library.
However, environmental group Santa Monica Baykeeper earlier this year filed a lawsuit against potential development of the La Paz property, which is currently under review by the California Coastal Commission.
But while some city officials predict the water board will enact the ban, many meeting attendees called the board “irresponsible” for refusing to await the results of five current studies they say will clarify the sources of pollution in the Malibu Lagoon, Malibu Creek and Surfrider Beach, which has consistently been ranked as one of the most polluted in the state.
Overall, the city states the initial test results prove that the impact of Malibu septic systems on water quality is much less than anticipated, and that storm water treatment is the most important aspect in reducing water pollution. (The city this month began construction of Legacy Park, which will contain a storm water treatment facility).
The research includes a water board-required groundwater modeling study conducted by Stone Environmental of Vermont, to which the city contributed $350,000; an epidemiology study at Surfrider Beach by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, which shows the correlation of water bacteria to human illness; a water resource study by the United States Geological Survey, which indicates through results of July testing that bacteria spikes along the coastline are unrelated to septic systems; a three-year study done by SCWRRP in Ramirez and Escondido Creeks, which has not identified any significant wastewater sources for bacteria contribution in the ocean; and a human specific bacteroides study by UCLA at the Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon and Surfrider Beach, which has preliminary results that indicate storm water is a potential source of human bacteria and that septic systems may have little to no effect on the cause of the bacteria levels in the groundwater and lagoon.
“Our belief is that each of the studies is important,” City Manager Jim Thorsen wrote in an e-mail this week. “Although each one is completely different, we believe that all of the data collected will help paint a picture of our water quality environment. With this information, we can then make educated decisions on treatment programs to obtain the highest impact.”
However, Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, also the owner of Zuma Jay’s surf shop, said this week in a telephone interview that he would support the implementation of a centralized wastewater treatment facility in the Civic Center area because the research is incomplete and because he still believes the septic systems are partially responsible for the poor water quality.
“I guess I will just have to pony up and join the rest of my fellow owners and do the right thing for the environment,” Wagner said. “I know it is going to be expensive but I will raise my t-shirts from $10 to $12.
“Then I will put a sign up that says, ‘the extra $2 is to clean our water, thank you Regional Water Quality Control Board.’”