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Coastal Commission to Rule on City’s Wastewater Plant

Coastal Commission to Rule on City’s Wastewater Plant

Environment: Opponents Promise to Sue if Waiver Granted

BY LEE ZION

Staff Writer

The state could decide this week whether San Diego will have to comply with additional environmental regulations on the city’s Pt. Loma sewage treatment plant. Forcing the city to comply could cost as much as $3 billion.

However, local environmentalists warn that if the city wins this round, they will sue the city.

The California Coastal Commission will decide Sept. 9 whether to reconsider a waiver for San Diego’s sewage treatment plant. The waiver, if granted, will allow the federal Environmental Protection Agency to issue a permit for the plant, without requiring the city to conduct “secondary treatment” before discharging waste into the ocean.

Secondary treatment, a more stringent standard than the primary treatment the city now conducts, could cost as much as $3 billion, said Scott Tulloch, director of the Metropolitan Wastewater Department.

The commission had previously voted 6-1 on April 8 to reject the waiver and demand tighter controls for the Point Loma facility. However, the state EPA later warned the commission that it had made a “serious error” when it acted “prematurely and in excess of its jurisdiction.”

In an April 16 letter, state EPA officials warned the Coastal Commission members that they are prohibited from preempting decisions on water quality already made by other agencies. The Regional Water Quality Control Board had previously approved San Diego’s waiver, the letter stated.

Tulloch pointed out that several water agencies have signed off on San Diego’s waiver. The city has been in compliance with the conditions of its permit for the past decade, he said.

“The EPA has studied our ocean monitoring for the last 10 years , all the data that we’ve collected , and agrees that there is no negative impact on the ocean or its environs,” Tulloch said. “So we’re confident that we’re continuing to protect the environment without unnecessary costs to the citizens of San Diego.”

Tulloch expects the commission to release a finding of “consistency” on the project , meaning that it now agrees with other regulatory agencies which sided with the city. This will free the federal EPA to issue the permit, he said.

Marco Gonzalez, senior attorney for the local environmental group Baykeeper, warned that if the Coastal Commission sides with the city, it plans to sue.

“Both the state and the city of San Diego will be sued, because that permit violates the provisions of state law,” he said.

Like Tulloch, Gonzalez expects the commission to release a finding of “consistency” on the project. However, he also expects the EPA’s permit for the treatment plant to come with a number of conditions attached, he said.

Once that happens, Gonzalez then expects the city to sue to the EPA trying to lift those conditions, he said.

Whether or not the city sues the EPA, Gonzalez’s group will then sue the city because the re-issued permit violates the federal Clean Water Act, he said.

“The Clean Water Act precludes you from issuing a new permit that is less stringent than the prior permit, without making a certain showing, and they can’t make the showing they need to. This permit will have a significant increase in discharge,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez adds that San Diego’s pursuit of a waiver will make the city the largest waiver holder in the country. This could tarnish the city’s reputation, and could hurt the local tourist industry.

Gonzalez also disagreed that the secondary treatment would cost as much as $3 billion. since no credible economic analysis has ever been done. Estimates have varied between $1 billion and $10 billion, he said.

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