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Sonoma Valley fined $350,000 for recurring sewage spills
Published: Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:44 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 7:07 p.m.
State water quality officials on Thursday fined the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District $350,000 for a series of spills that have poured 930,077 gallons of raw sewage into waterways in the past three years.
It is the biggest fine ever imposed in Sonoma County by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, a regional state agency that enforces water quality standards in all areas that drain into San Francisco Bay. In Sonoma County that includes Sonoma Valley and the Petaluma area.
The penalty comes in the wake of a leak on Monday that sent more than 20,000 gallons of raw sewage into Sonoma Creek near Glen Ellen, according to the Sonoma County Water Agency, which oversees the sanitation district.
Though not included in Thursday's action, this week's leak was further proof that the district wasn't moving fast enough to correct problems in the area's aging system, said Lila Tang, the regional board's wastewater division chief.
“The standard is no sewage spills,” Tang said. “They're taking actions now and what we're saying is those actions could have been taken earlier.”
The regional board's complaint states that the district experienced 37 sanitation system overflows between Jan. 31, 2007 and Jan. 31, 2010.
The largest violation began Jan. 4, 2008 when a storm drain on the 400-block of East Watmaugh Road overflowed, sending 276,000 gallons of sewage into Nathanson Creek, according to the regional board.
Six of the failures occurred during storms on Jan. 20 that overwhelmed district pipes, sending more than 53,000 gallons of sewage flowing out of manholes and other drainage systems and into creeks.
Sanitation district officials said they were not surprised by the fine because they were aware that the water quality board was investigating the spills.
The district has begun efforts to hike sanitation rates by July 2011 to help fund repairs to the sanitation drainage system and pipes, some 20 to 50 years old, Sherwood said.
“The incident in Sonoma Creek definitely draws attention to the need to replace sewage pipes,” Brad Sherwood, spokesman for the Sonoma County Water Agency, said.
“We know that the system needs work,” he said.
The agency began overseeing the district, which serves 17,279 homes and businesses and maintains 130 miles of sewage pipes, in 1995, Sherwood said.
It issued a 12-year plan in 2006 to raise rates to bring in $1.7 million each year for improvement projects, according to agency documents.
District crews have replaced 2.8 miles of main sewage pipe between Studley Street and Watmaugh Road and are working on 1.5 miles of new pipeline to replace those that run north of Studley Street to Happy Lane, Sherwood said.
Tang said the fine was levied to emphasize that those rate increases and pipe replacements should have come at a faster pace.
Tang said those efforts, such as a new pressurized pipe that replaced an overburdened, leaky one in 2009 on Bokman Place in Boyes Hot Springs, showed the agency was on the right path.
“If we thought they were still sitting on their hands, the penalty amount could have been higher,” Tang said.
The fine, which will be reviewed at an Oct. 13 public hearing, could be a setback for county efforts to address the failures, said Valerie Brown, chairwoman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, which also acts as the Water Agency's board of directors.
“We've recognized all along that our infrastructure is problematic,” said Brown, supervisor for district one, which includes the Sonoma Valley. “Now I have to take $350,000 out of a potential repair some place to pay a fine.”
As much as half of the liability amount could be directed to a special environmental project in the district, such as creek restoration projects, if the district agrees to settle with the board, Tang said.
The rest of the funds will go to the state's Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account, which funds cleanup projects in areas where there's no responsible agency.
In the largest fine levied to a Sonoma County sanitation district, Healdsburg agreed in February to pay $369,000 for repeated sewage spills and other water code violations, some dating as far back as 2004, at its old sewer plant.
The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered the town to pay $177,000 to the state's Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account. The city will spend the balance, $192,000, on designing a system to use reclaimed water to irrigate parks, school grounds and vineyards.
News Researcher Janet Balicki contributed to this report.
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