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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC AG PKT 2001-07-23 Supplemental Information - Articles and Correspondence re: sewage treatment and Orange County Sanitation DistrictORANGE COUNTY IS THE LAST All the other sewage districts its size were forced to go to full secondary treatment of all their sewage in order to clean up their beaches and Ocean. For example, Los Angeles, plagued by persistent beach closures and dead fisheries, was required to treat its sewage to the "secondary" level. Orange County Sanitation refuses to believe that its sewage is messing up the Ocean, they are spending millions on more "tests ". But it doesn't take a scientist to figure out that dumping live bacteria from 2.2 million toilets into the Ocean is wrong. Judge for yourself: "primary treatment" consists of letting the sewage settle for 2 hours or so, then dumping it -- 120,000,000 gallons per day - right into the Ocean, only 4.2 miles off Huntington Beach! Secondary treatment extracts almost all the "carbon compounds" - a polite way of saying "toilet debris" - a level of treatment that was thought, back in 1972, to be minimal for the protection of public health. Some smaller districts (such as OC San was at the time) said they could not comply by the 1985 deadline and were granted temporary "waivers" under sect. 301(h). OC San is still using the "waiver" to duck secondary treatment of all sewage. Signature Addrms Name Tele /Email After signing, please send to STOP THE WAIVER, P.O. Box 2911, Seal Beach 90740. Find out more at www.SeolBeach.ora To join up, send email to addme_@SeaiSeach ora 1 TO: Harbor Quality Committee FROM: Jack Skinner DATE: April 28, 2001 RE: OCSD's 301(h) waiver I am writing because I have concerns about the re- issuing of the Orange County Sanitation District's 301(h) waiver. I recently learned that the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) performed a study in the fall of 1996 known as the 20 -Meter Study. This study tested ocean water quality on ten different days between September 26, 1996, and November 25, 1996, to determine if the wastewater plume was moving shoreward. There were five sample sites located at the 20 -meter depth contour. Three samples were taken at each sample site (at surface, bottom and middle depths). No samples were taken closer to shore than the 20 -meter depth at the time of this study with the exception of the samples taken at ankle depth right at the beach To the best of my knowledge, this study was never released to the public or included in OCSD's yearly marine monitoring reports. However, this information was available to OCSD before they applied for the renewal of their current waiver, which was issued in June 1998. The study was only discovered by the public in January 2001. The findings of this study are troubling because it appears that, intermittently, the wastewater plume moves toward the beaches. On November 20, 1996, bacterial readings indicate that the plume did reach the beaches in West Newport. This is shown on the enclosed chart. Note the elevated total coliforms at the Newport Beach shoreline sampling locations and the exceedingly elevated fecal coliform levels taken near the ocean bottom at the 20 -meter sampling sites, stretching all the way from off the Huntington Beach power plant to off the Newport pier. Also enclosed is a picture apparently showing a composite of the bacteriological results of the 20 -meter fecal coliform study. The ocean bottom fecal coliform samples equaled or exceeded 400 WN in the area circled in red, showing that the wastewater field comes very close to Newport's beaches. Recently, a more extensive plume study was done on November 27, 2000, by OCSD, the results of which are shown on the enclosure marked Figure 28. Again, it shows that the wastewater plume is coming toward the shore, especially near the power plant in Huntington Beach. Please note how far the plume has moved toward shore from the end of the outf dl. Dr. Stanley Grant of UCI has performed an extensive review of the bacteriological data and has concluded that since a bacterial pulse arrives at the beach at station 9N during flood tides before any bacteria has entered the ocean from the Talbert Marsh that this is further evidence of an offshore source of bacterial pollution of the beach. This is because the high tides act as a temporary barrier, preventing the marsh water from entering the ocean. Extensive studies of offshore currents are planned for this summer. Based on the above evidence, I believe that there should not be a renewal of OCSD's 301(h) waiver. These studies indicate that there is a strong possibility that, intermittently, bacterial contamination from the ou[fall can reach the shoreline and thereby pose a threat to swimmers. It is for OCSD to prove otherwise. Secondary treatment with activated sludge removes about 95 percent of the viral pathogens. The lower suspended solids present in secondary treated sewage allow chlorination to be more effective should that prove necessary. Perhaps the only safe solution is to treat the entire effluent to the tertiary level to be used for reclamation purposes and eliminate all ocean discharges. Treating sewage to less than the secondary level becomes a disincentive to reclamation since all reclaimed water must go through the secondary process and beyond. In the past, Nancy and I have opposed the granting of 301(h) waivers to sanitation districts with short outfalls but until recently, we had not been concerned about the Orange County Sanitation District's discharge four and a half miles off the coast. However, we have had second thoughts about the safety of OCSD's ocean discharge because of recent evidence that there is shoreward movement of the wastewater plume. Jack Skinner (A 3 --I 3o? N cDD CD a: 3 m v C < O � CD O N (a a Z CD W W O N O O O O O Z O O N .�. 3 y O m 3 F tu C O N i � O rn A c0 C m y — m O W W Q i 8 0 n o �:y f r i A A A N N N G O C i i I .\ r' i O W N v a o t Q n A � 1 3 i{ P O N e 0) :r fb K .4 ha 0 S mo _ n�r n 00 � r r ry_1 Or r o � 6' N y, p O . z ,a y w n ` "ks � F . � 7 ID O C 9 z ... h � z u, m Tdai cwumn #"�r di fill w i.a i a.w E Car liwe.nrom.ol a.m a.a a.w r.aa a.r War • r a.r Bottom Conwur Belton CuMDUF 9 Nol(TH Figure 28. Bottom depth surface planes of Top) Total Coliform (log transformed) and Bottom) E. Cog (log transformed)for November27, 2000. oro•oewp s..ree. omr.,e+aw. iRafth Dangers Arise From Pumping Of Sewage Into Deep Sea :mm Ocean Update September 1999 Vol. 4, No. 9 Saul R. Epstein, Center for Health and the Global Environment, iarvord Medical School. Tel (617) 432-0493 \n outbreak of cholera on the southem Coast of Bangladesh in 1992 nay presage the risks posed to developed and less - developed countries alike from deep-sea dumping of human sewage, according to some eseamhers. Scientists have noted that the 1992 outbreak was rccompanied by an upwelling that brought deep- sea water to the surface near the Bangladeshi coast. In recent years, researchers have fiscovered a variety of pathogenic microbes, marry usually found only n human faces, at unexpected depths of the ocean. Marine scientist 1. Jay Grimes of the University of Southern Mississippi says that a variety of Amses that infect the human gastrointestinal tract - ncluding polioHms and rotavims - have been identified in ocean water samples taken below 1,0000 meters (3,300 feet). In the late 198Ps, Sagar M. Goyal of the University of Minnesota isolated gut >acteda from samples obtained as sewage - sludge dumping sites more han 170 kilometers offshore from New York City, 30 months after the rites were closed to dumping. The bacteria were resistant to several antibiotics, showing that they originated from humans who were taking :he drugs. August 13, 2001 Kitty Felde KPCC 893 FM Southern California Public Radio Fax (626) 585 - 7916 RE: Talk of the City, Ipm, Th. Aug. 16, 2001: Huntington Beach Health Issues Dear Ms. Felde, As a subscriber to KPCC I am aware of the excellent programming of many of your shows. However, whenever I call the lines are busy or time runs out before I get through To bad. I think I have a unique perspective on the thorny questions you ask. Anyway, I enjoy your show so I'll keep listening. Someday I'll get my '30 secs. of airfame.' This Thursday's show on beach public health issues is particularly compelling, and is being broadcast from Huntington Beach Pier where I take my retirement constitutional daily. My son (40) surfs just upcoast from the pier where the waters are only occasionally sullied, and my grandsons (5mos- 16yrs) swim and play along the entire coast. I hope that I may introduce myself, or at least wave, `Hi Kitty" while I walk past the tower. I'll be the one with the "Orange County CoastKeeper" Tee shirt, with the SURF (Stop Urban Runoff Forever) Logo on the back that shows someone "hanging -ten" with the words below: "TEST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM... SURF CALIFORNIA!" and Support Orange County CoastKeeper. We care for clean beaches and are now fighting for them Actually, I have over 30 -years expertise in this subject, ending my career as Chief Scientist of the County Sanitation District's (OCSD) Ocean Monitoring and Research Program I do not have the same "hands -on" experience as the HB Lifeguards, but I do have a different perspective on the scientific evidence collected to date. My opinion is that OCSD's offshore Ocean Outfall is the primary "smoking gun" in this "mystery" whodunit! I hope OCSD can prove me wrong; if not, they are guilty of deceiving the public, putting our health at risk, and misspending millions of dollars. In any event, saying this is all urban runoff related is clearly a `red herring," based on the data in hand. Hope to hear (see) you Thurs. on the pier. I'll be interested in what you ask and they say. Irwin Haydock, Ph.D. (e -mail ]]a Amki@wI.wm), (home Ph: 714- 775 -4415; Fax - 3283), (CelPh: 714 - 469 -3088) w SealBeach.org: full secondary treatment PAGE 1. Secondary treatment for Orange County Sewage Sewage. It's tap and shower drains, but its brown water or "sewage" if it includes toilet flushings. Common sense calls it sewage, it's treated in a sewage plant, and it's discharged out a sewage outfall. There are a lot of tech - terms, but sewage treatment is: PRIMARY: chemicals help to settle and remove most solids. This is coon. SECONDARY: uses tame bacteria to "digest" and clump up 90% of the carbon compounds -- including most live bacteria and virus. serraR, but still smells bad and contains some live bacteria and virus. TERTIARY: does even more, it can take much of the smell away. Would be sesT. Even after secondary treatment, its pretty dangerous stuff, 10% of really bad stuff is still bad. The problem: "Our 301 -H waiver" lets us avoid full secondary treatment for some of our sewage if discharged 4 to 5 miles off Huntington Beach. Half our sewage, 120,000,000 gallons per day, avoids secondary treatment and is discharged with only primary treatment -- still contains active bacteria and virus, for example, Hepatitis A. PAGE 2. Study - -does the "plume" come back to the beach? We are now being charged for a study to find that out. However, any of these studies can be ignored or misconstrued. For example, the 1999 study, which failed to pinpoint the source of persistent high bacteria counts, was interpreted to "indicate" that it was probably due to 'urban runoff'. Would it ever be acceptable if it returned to the beaches, even once? According to an alternative analysis of the 1999 data by Dr. Haydock, May 23, 2001, "...The risk is not zero, and never wall To continually deny this basic truth does disservice... this problem requires not more study but more treatment..." Even if we start now, it might be 5 years before we can catch up. Waiting will make it worse. Microfiltration to the rescue We are being charged to study a new way to clean up primary sewage by filtration. There is no guarantee it will work, but secondary is the standard -- it works. It cleans up primary sewage. According to our own sewage staff, secondary treatment will reduce virus count per 10 ml from .16 to .03, and will reduce fecal coliform from 40,000,000 to 1,400,000 per 100 ml. That's much better. Where do sewage solids go Riverside is refusing our sludge until it is treated to class "A" sludge. But our current theory, from the annual report, is "...cost savings would ... be primarily achieved through the reduction of the amount of secondary treatment, which results in a shift of solids disposal from the land to the ocean." Does this make sense? www.SEALREACH.ORO to sign up or find out more PAGE 3. Arguments to continue our discharges It's good stud. Observers say the outfall is a garden of delights for bottom fish, worms, shellfish, etc. Live Hepatitis A, B, C, Staph A, B and so on becomes nourishment for organisms in the deep. If we are correct in this approach, can we suggest that all the other 15,000 discharge districts are wrong to do secondary treatment? Perhaps they should tear out the tens of billions of dollars of sewage plant. Perhaps it was a big mistake to require secondary treatment. Secondary Costs too much. Far more than the benefits. But even the highest figure given for going to full secondary, $350,000,000 (350m(, is not very large in an existing construction budget of $1,600,000,000 (1.6b( over the next 19 years. Full secondary might even save money, since we could avoid the continuing cost of studies to prove the discharges harmless. L.A. and all the others went full secondary, we're not worse off than L.A., we can afford this. This issue is startling and not much fun. It must be placed in the open, and those who pay for sewage treatment must be given the knowledge and opportunity to decide if what we're doing now is satisfactory. If you think it's not OK, sign up on warw.SEALBEACH.ORG, you can even post your reasons on the "sewage forum" page. You can post reasons even if you think what we're doing now is OK. Most of all, speak up to your elected officials. This is a political decision, and if we want to fix this problem, our elected officials can do it for us. They are the Board that directs the district. PAGE 4. Addendum -- OCSD figures on cost, viral and bacteria counts lOptions & Costs for Treatment of Outfall Discharge 1 undamc omens - zas� .rw. ' v aam. ae ru:rdm dsak iuY ti,�n!wuen dodo PmNy and r,. s ta:wr,u sans vw. ro:wda w�wv ammnl vw oneery _ M.uV:kaGanal W%r':L^%'Y EXLm, t 1.A9.JW.OA s Nll[m1 30A3 van Nmun:M. 4®i` ien' Y'os d vwlF'A!66owntlpy { i iA:bACOS wIP'Pk� f<. Y alln x{!('CO %ISNMdaf iV{ 61.4A.W[.W91610N.aU U4W u-e Etl: Wn1FPaN amgeaNOC.n'.r -st teen- ,nfMCCm <'xY:'amau 3 Iawnw:Jtl Mla,..a xinin%Y'�oarN:cYm' Ntl rblKiN\dp LMmn mnmr: l9Mi.6nLabM ..zo-r. =+we,n.,.awmm...+n. u.,�wtnawnw,"w w.rwnnmreroem -.. i.a�du pw1, W M'xtrYx Kam.q IM'd .maanawaan wM.ddro corm Click br enlage M. Flgum supplietl py Ne mnitaaon dlstr ro Dave KIaM Newport eeacn, still need'Ynal review'. (100 ml. is aaout a pint) A: Capital cost without full secondary: $1,600,000,000 B: Capital cost with full secondary: $1,900,000,000 Capital cost of full secondary: $300,000,000 C. Fecal colifonn with current discharges: 40,000,000 per 100 ml D. Fecal colitis. with if we go to full secondary treatment: 1,400,000 per 100 ml redoei in feral W ilomr 38,600,000 per 100 ml „/ Q lv, science' academy _accused of bias �ronnmentallsts Zed consumer dMates say expert �CRlels are stacked h pro - industry scientists. RY JOAN LOWY Scripps tt6rram Nees Servka file National Academy of :ences. America's pre -,mi- tt scientific body, is under 'for accusations that it se- ts expert panels that are 'red toward the economic 'rats of industries that the academy millions of Ars in contributions each r. rota aruni: in modrinkinyg� If to genetically dJrd is to the use of animals in ratory experiments, the ctivity of academy panels ted to study controversial s has been questioned by ronmentalists, consumer cotes, scientific watch - groups and some mem- of Congress. `cause of their prestige mpact on public policy, they do and bow they do tf enormous importance American public; said :ollim of the Center (or ce in the Public Interest . wific watchdog group we cannot fully trust the sal Academy of sci- then much of our set - policy stands to be d suspect,” he said. academy was chaz- ry Congress in 1863 and �d upon by the govern - o act as a neutral arbi- difficult scientific is- But it is a private, fit corpomtioo, not a ment agency. majority of the wade - 2CIKNCK• PAGE 26 ie Orange County Register SCIENCE FROM PARK 22 my s nearly $200 million an- Goal budget is government funding, but it receives mil- lions of dollars in contribu- tions from foundations, cor- porations and other private organizations each year. Pri- vate contributions totaled nearly $30 million in 2000 and $24.7 million in 1999, ac- cording to the academy. Industry contributors in- clude virtually every major drug company as Well as auto- makers, trade associations and chemical manufacturers. Many contributors have a strong financial interest in the outcome of academy studies. The academy receives a greater share of its private contributions from founda- tions than from corporations, but critics note that some foundations have interests that dusdy align with their corporate founders. "We make blicly avail- pu able any funding that we re- ceive, so we're not hiding any- thing from anybody," said William Colglazier, executive officer of the academy. "We take our reputation for doing independent studies very se- rfously." _ - — 4V41 d '1 1 All experts serving on acad- emy panels azysgecncd for conflicts of interest, Colgla- zier said. The academy strides to create a balance of views on its committees and to pub- licly reveal acknowledged bi- ases or financial ties of ex- perts on its Web site, he said. Environmentalists are con- cerned about potential indus- try influence on the current a- cademy panel examining the arsenic standard for drinking water established by the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency under the Clinton adminis- tration last year. When the decision to sus- pend the tougher standard prompted a public backlash, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman asked the a- cademy to re- examine the is- sue. The new panel formed by the academy has fewer ex- perts than the previous arse- nic panel. One of the mem- ben of the previous panel who has been dropped is epi- demiologist Allan Smith of the University of California, Berkeley, one of the world's leading experts on the health risks of arsenic. EPA and industry officials lobbied the academy to keep Smith off the new panel, Ol- son said. Meanwhile, two members from industry- funded organi- zations have been added to the tow panel: toxicologist Rogene Henderson of the Lovelace Respiratory Re- search Institute in Albuquer- que, N.M., and risk expert Kimberly Thompson of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis in Boston. "1 think there is a problem when you remove imcroa- thmally known experts on ar- senic and replace them with industry- - funded people who don't have any expertise in ar- senic," Olson said. 9 o it a On tlK et q M uad ks,m d 5tlaxa- Y1r1rAIfIJY facer for $rlrra a tle Rsfx YOreC wa 4VW0_s1V/ ` 020 ce - ' SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 1001 ' JOHN P. PorRNER �uMWer Prate e M Si& �`.. � A. r AhleJ'P.mvtlrGJJ4er � �y ,r. Y CAasou 1. .. DEAN NBA BAQUEI ... Morwgl�F0lar JWETOAMN PL1mr0rdeFdnvlalPya —^ tEy Ik as i d t JOSEPH HUIfJNNSON Al.. SEPHHUTCHIN t fro An c�ime� u",xv Auva tMn pleo JOHN R r ME1195A MC or tyK fO$EPNM RIISSIN .}:. ! M1 : FL V . r FRANK o OWO < AADHI+HHim u RD r urfers shredding the breakers and par - 4 • ents helping toddlers slosh through the shorebreak have every right to ques- lion why the Orange County Sanitation •District is allowed to pump more bacteria, hu- =i, man wasteand other organic matter into the ocean than most other. districts. The answer is a federal waiver that holds the district's waste '1water treatment to a less rigorous standard under the Clean Water Act. It's a waiver that no longer makes sense. Orange County has grown enormously since the _. Environmental Protection Agency first .:., granted the exemption, one of 36 nationally, in 1985. Today; its sanitation district is the lug est holder of a waiver anywhere. It's time for the EPA to make sure Orange County subjects - its discharged water to the same treatment standard as many other densely populated ar- ens, including Los Angeles. ',The waiver expires in .2003, and scientists and environmentalists are already voicing concerns about the wisdom of piping a plume of partially treated sewage four miles offshore and hoping that it won't drift back to plague swimmers. In 1999, a baffling series of beach -- closings threatened Huntington Beach's economy. Last fall, UC Irvine researchers questioned the model that -had predicts d the offshore topography would trap the " moder ately treated" sewage and hold it at a safe' dis cane. One theory the district w-1 test this summer suggests that a nearby ,power plant's , suction of ocean water to cool. equipmenbis s bringing in sewage too. ^ TO it its credit, the dtstrict has pro tmaed. to take steps to improve treatment after the re- suits we in, but piecemeal measures wont do. At some point, common sense must take over, ,i and ratepayers will have to bite the bullet and do the job. right. Estimates put the cost of the advanced treatment that removes more solid waste at more than $400 Trillion to build new facilities and $15 million a year in operating; costs. It would be money well spent. 11 Orange County's beaches withstand urban runoff from the Santa Ana River and bacterial. waste from water fowl in the Talbert Marsh area. The hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage, discharged daily from the district's outfall pipe should be as clean as possible. The ways of the ocean tides and currents are a mysterious wonder; But every beachgoer' knows one thing intuitively: As resilient as:' this great resource is, we can't afford to treat it as a sewer. 0e n Lorr 041% JAN D. VANDERSLOOT, M.D. 1 ' ence: Busy_ 2221 E16 Street 8101 Newman, Suite C Newport Beach, CA 92663 Huntington Beads CA 92647 Phone: (949) 548 -6326 Phone: (714) 848-0770 Email: lonV3C4aol.com Fax: (714) 848 -6643 April 5, 2001 Tod Ridgeway, Chairman, and Newport Beach Harbor Quality Committee City of Newport Beach 3300 Newport Blvd Newport Beach, CA 92663 Re: Harbor Quality Meeting this afternoon, April 5, 2001, 3 PM 301(h) Waiver, Please Oppose Dear Chairman Ridgeway and Harbor Quality Committee Members, I understand your committee will he discussing the 301(h) waiver this afternoon and whether or not to approve the Orange County Sanitation District's request to approve an extension of this waiver. I request that you not approve an extension of the waiver, and instead, to actively oppose the waiver and ask for early termination of the waiver, perhaps through a revocation procedure. --this waiver from- cleanwateestanrlwds- embodre in the- 1977federal -ClemFWater Act9rants the OCSD the ability to discharge dirtier sewage into the ocean than allowed under the Clean Water Act. The Clem Water Act sets standards of 30mg/liter of BOD (Biologic Oxygen Demand) and 30 mg/liter of TSS (Total Suspended Solids), achievable by full secondary treatment of sewage. However, under the waiver, OCSD is discharging 240 million gallons a day of only partially treated sewage into the ocean, with a 50150 mix of primary and secondary treated sewage, exceeding the allowable limits of HOD and TSS by roughly double. Under the recently approved Groundwater Replenishment System (OWRS), these parameters will increase even more, because the mix will now by 80% primary and only 20 %secondary, with HOD dsmg _g to 111 and TSS to 57 in the year 2020, with corresponding increases in bacteria and viruses discharged into the ocean. I have attached Table 5 -26 from the EIR for the 1999 OCSD Strategic Plan fm, the Projected Effluent Quality for the year 2020, describing the different scenarios. Compare Scenario 2, the "Preferred Altemative" including the waiver plus GWRS, with Scenario 4, Full Secondary plus GWRS. All parameters are dramatically reduced with full secondary. HOD drops to 21, TSS drops to 24, well below the standards within the Clem water Act. When comparing Total Cohfmm and Fecal Coliform, note the difference in order of magnitude 1.8E +07 is 18E+06. Full secondary reduces this to 4.2E+06, a 75% drop in Total Coliform, Similarly Fecal Coliform drops from 6.4E+07 to 1.5E+06 (E +06 is engineering shorthand for 10 to the 6, E+07 is 10 to the 7's), a 98% drop in Fecal Coliform. Viruses drop from .23 to .03, an 87% drop. With full secondary treaunmt of the sewage, no waiver is required, and ocean discharge is much cleaner. Currently OCSD discharges its 240 million gallons a day through a 10 -foot diameter pipe extending 4.5 miles out into the ocean new the Santa Ana Rivermouth about 200 feet deep. This JAN D. VANDERSLOOT, M.D. Residence: Business 2221 E16 Street 8101 Newman, Suite C Newport Beach, CA 92663 Huntington Beach, CA 92647 Phone: (949) 548-6326 Phone: (714) 848-0770 Email: IonV364aol com Fax: (714) 848 -6643 discharge creates a plume extending 6 miles in length, 2 to 3 miles in width and 30 to 40 meters in thickness. This plume is supposed to be capped by a temperature thermocline that acts like a cap preventing surfacing of the plume. However, this Ihermocline is not present from October to April each year. Moreover, the Stanley Grant UCI hypothesis is that the warm water discharge from the AES power plant in Huntington Beach pokes a hole in the thermocline, drawing the plume closer to shore, which may be responsible fin beech postings and closures. This hypothesis will be tested this summer through a $2 million study. In addition, internal waves and upwellings may bring the sewage closer to shore than previously supposed. The plume's motion depends on currents and waves, and is present off the shore of Newport Beach as well as Huntington Beach. The potential exists that the plume may show up on the beaches of Newport Beach and Huntington Beach depending on the internal waves, upwellings and wind. The basis for the continuing granting of the waiver by the EPA and Regional Water Quality Control Board is that the OCSD, through its monitoring program., is showing no harm to the environment or public health. However, OCSD's o" monitoring reports show statistically significant incidences of fish liver lesions near the omf dl, showing possible harm to the environment, and the beach closure and postings in Huntington Beach show possible harm to public health. Thus, the clear implication is that the waiver is not protective of either the environment or public health, and the sensible approach a to follow the standards in the Clean - - -- -- Water Act, which means no waiver and full secondary treatment o� sewage: What is the cost of fidl secondary treatment of sewage? Projected cost is 5400 million. This equates to 5 cents a day per person in the 2.2 million - population service area Sewer bills for families may increase S3 per month in $36 per year. Orange County sewer rates are now $80 per year. The average California sewer bill is $185 per year. One of the wealthiest counties in California and the nation is paying much less frr its sewage treatment and should be able to afford-fall treatment of its sewage, leaving a much cleaner ocean. Moreover, there is a $50 billion federal program that can be tapped to offset the cost, if only OCSD would make the commitment for full secondary treatment and apply for the appropriate grants. A clean ocean is important for the economy and the environment. I urge you to start the process and recommend against the waiver. Let's send a message to OCSD to clean up its act and immediately plan for firB secondary, treatment. Ask OCSD to "Do us a Favor. Get rid of the Waiver." Thank you. Sincerely, 1 LO dersloot Attachment %§ / � ! � ■, J ■o , / §'m k�B >z ;r § § §; IBk k\ 2 ■ 1 { ;y�� ! , e 2 z . a T)!. _ . =, =a> \,] ; ;� , _ ... � h = - • !" | - -_ � 2! ( / !■ || `!! 22k ■ ;» E,`` _ I §| � ■ __ _ !&,. �;2§ -- - � _ � ;£ ® ;,�� ■! ;l ;!! !|!' ;� E.l, ;E;kel,277§ \ \\ J ■o , / §'m k�B >z ;r § § §; IBk k\ 2 ■ 1 { G § © #! /k! � /� // k��� § \)��2\w• / @§ 4&5 Q 33rd{ ■ !�! & ; -.- !B� '!I !�k \» � , ! �: ; E -- • « ;E! - ; \ /§|2`| ] { / .! t� � /� // k��� § \)��2\w• ■ !�! & ; -.- !B� '!I !�k \» � , ! �: ; E -- • « ;E! - ; \ /§|2`| . f,z ` `777i ` LA SUbj: Date: From: To: bee: Ocean Guttail Group-= 'ragress ma I. (/VG,' O�.QT.�' Wednesday, April 4, 2001 8:58:51 PM Jon V3 Jon V3 Dubbietub Dear OOG (Ocean Outfall Group), progress is being made against the 301(h) waiver which allows the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) to discharge less than full secondary treatment of sewage into the ocean (240 million gallons a day of a 50/50 blend of primary and secondary sewage). Last Wednesday, March 28, at the joint meeting of the OCSD and the OCWD (Orange County Water District), the first phase of the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) was approved. This project will change the ocean discharge to an 80/20 mix of primary and secondary, increasing pollution of the ocean. Thanks to the several speakers who brought this up, including political powerhouse Joan Irvine m1 meeting, I was advised that perhaps up to 8 of the 25 Directors of OCSD now oppose the waiver. Thus we need to work on the rest, at least 5 more to reach a majority. Tomorrow, Thursday, April 5 at 3 PM at the Harbor Patrol Office at 1901 Bayside Drive in Newport Beach, the Newport Beach Harbor Quality Committee will be discussing the waiver. I urge all who -can to attend;- as -we- need to workirp-- through- the City- Coaneil to-go ©n- record as opposing the waiver, which comes up for renewal in 2003. Also, don't forget our informational meeting at OCSD, 10844 Ellis, Fountain Valley, next Wednesday, April 11, at 1 OAM when the topic will be Huntington Beach Testing. I am also enclosing the link (select, copy, paste, go) to the website of the LA Times article March 29 which reported the GWRS meeting and the outfall commentators, and the Register article the same day. Jan http://Www.latimes.com/cgi- bin/slwebcli?DBLIST=ItOl &DOCNUM= 25206 &DBPUB= 20010329KLgvgEaH &Q Desc =1 st%20Phase° 20of %2OReclaimed- Water%20PIan %20OKd 04/04/01 America Online: Dubbietub Page 1 Shawn From: "Joey Racano" <joeyracano@yahoo.com> _ To: <joeyracano@yahoo.com> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2001 2:04 PM Subject: Tonights Speech at Seal Beach, Ca. ...On this date in 1961, the East German gov't. closed the border between East and West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was built later that week, and stood until 1989. ........Tonight, I, and the Orange County Ocean Outfall Group will be speaking before the Seal Beach City Council ... I will now bore you with the text of my speech for this evening... 8/13/01 Seal Beach, Calif. ......Honorable council and Mayor - It's mid August, and Barry Bonds has 50 homeruns! Even so, he still needs 21 more to break Mark McGuire's record of 70, and with 5 weeks left to the ' season, I think the record will stand, and Seal Beach will remain famous for it's resident, and his amazing feat. But, as we all know, Seal Beach is famous for another reason as well! Seal Beach is known as a community as much a part of the Sea, as it's Pelicans and it's Porpoises. As much a part of the Sea as it's glowing amber sunsets, backdropped by clouds that could easily have stepped out of a Rembrandt watercolor! The year 2000 has come and gone, and as 2001 turns to 2002, and 2003, and beyond, our call is to protect. Our call is to preserve. ...Ours is to look and see over the horizon, and accept the fact that the surprises of the future, both good and bad, are sometimes no accident at all! Our future situations, both blessings and predicaments, are controlled here and now, in this room, by us! Here tonite, we may not be able to stop the snowcap from melting off of Kilimanjaro, but we can take a giant step in putting the breaks on the insanity and recklessness that is the waiver of section 301(h) of the Federal Clean Water Act. We're given the tools, we're given the smarts, and our Ocean Outfall Group is here tonite to give you the support! Make no mistake, between computers, media, meetings, a well oiled'City By City' campaign, and Page 1 of 2 8/13/01 daily rush hour protests at Ellis and the 405 Freeway, we bring POWERFUL support, backed by the likes of SURFRIDER FOUNDATION, SIERRA CLUB, ORANGE COUNTY COASTKEEPER, and a growing list of others. Orange County is one of the richest counties in the richest nation in the world, and we are treating our sewage like a third world country! We've got Mark McGuire, The Angels, The Mighty Ducks, and Disneyland, but we are using the same waiver as ALASKAN FISHING VILLAGES!! The time has come. Word games will not save the waiver- it is teetering on the abyss - one that we, for a change, will not be pumping sewage sludge into- at least not without FULL . SECONDARY TREATMENT and a zap of ULTRA VIOLET LIGHT, for good measure! We welcome the Council and honorable Mayor on board, and respectfully request that you lend full support to Boardmember Boyd, as we lend full support to you! ...Public support is ours, and what's more, our collective support is the Ocean's, and the future's. Joseph J. Racano O.C. O.O.G. Orange County Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. htV / /im. yahoa .com/ Page 2 of 2 8/13/01