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Goleta's HealTheOcean.org joined by O.O.G. and others to
oppose the Goleta Waiver!
Voting on the consistency of the Goleta Sewage Waiver:
the courageous Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Central Coast (Region 3)
voted to deny Goleta S.D. waiver request.
On Friday, July 12, the Board voted to approve "findings" that validated the decision.
"Sewage upgrade cost figures scare tactics", July 16, 2000, by Hillary Hauser in the "voice from
south coast":
"...Goleta Sanitary District (GSD) recent statement that
the cost of sewage upgrade to full secondary will cause '...fees...to possibly triple' is inaccurate and needs
to be corrected...Heal the Ocean recognizes the mandate...to keep costs down. But using terms like 'triple'...to
scare people away from [upgrading]...is not honest strategy..."
From the newspress.com "Sanitary
district told to upgrade...GSD lost the lastest go-around in its fight to avoid making about $42 million worth
of upgrades...the vote [of the Regional Water Quality Control Board] was 5 to 2. The Board wants the district to
use more intensive treatment on the 4.8 million gallons...daily...Heal the Ocean's president, Hillary Hauser, on
Saturday hailed the denial as 'a big victory for clean water'...[GSD] was seeking its fourth five-year waiver..."
At the original hearing:
HealTheOcean presented a video showing the actual outfall debris, contrary to the "biostitute"
videos presented by the Sewage Waiver backer. The basis of the Board's decision was that the NPDES permit with
the waiver violated at least condition 2 under which the waiver was last granted, in that the discharge, in conjunction
with other pollution, constituted a hazard and imaired the recreational uses of the beach and degraded fisheries.
The Board, looking back, noted that there was past impact on nearby shellfish operations, which were forced to
close prior to GSD adoption of disinfection. The Board, looking closely at the somewhat sloppy numbers provided
by glib GSD and staff members, determined that even though the sewage district was doing a pretty good job now,
they were at capacity for secondary, and seemed to have no plan to meet growth contingencies which might cause
further impairment in the future.
What the Board did NOT say was
that once granted, these waivers seem to take on a life of their own, and become a way of doing business with the
sewage districts. So the regulators, in effect, only have these once-every-five years periods to be able to give
input to the District; after the waiver is granted, it's too late, and all we get to do in 5 years is assess the
damages, if any. But clearly this was in the minds of the objective observer evaluating the proceedings.
This decision validates and enhances the Coastal Commission's determination on Apr. 8 that all four California
waivers must go, particularly, there must be a plan to eventually end even the most difficult waiver, San Diego.
Although the EPA and the San Diego Board are fighting very hard to keep the waivers, and pressure is being placed
on the Coastal Commission to rescind its request that San Diego plan for eventual end to the waiver, the sentiment
of the people is obviously against the bureaucrats and for an end to the waiver.
Now it seems obvious that the San Diego Regional Board is the one that is not looking at the law. Tiny Goleta,
with only 7 million gallons per day of sewage effluent, already disinfects and is only 7% primary. Giant San Diego,
at almost 200 mgd, dwarfs Goleta's impact; and the awful 244 mgd from rich but arrogant Orange County is almost
double each hour what Goleta discharges in an entire day. And OC is only half secondary, while SD's Point Loma
plant is all primary!
Thanks to the Coastal Commission, and to the Central (Region 3) Regional Board, for supporting common sense and
the future generations by opposing the sewage waivers!
4 Remaining California Sewage Waivers:
1. Orange County, largest waiver in the USA, 234,000,000 gallons
per day containing about 40,000,000 live bacteria per 100 ml (about half a cup). Decision to give up the waiver
must be made before Nov. of this year, preferrably sooner;
2. San Diego, second largest waiver in the USA. These two each
dwarf the other 34 waivers, which are mostly 5 mgd or less. San Diego, however, requires a regional solution with
help from the federal govt., as it treats Tijuana's sewage also. This waiver was approved by the sewage-lovin'
San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, but DENIED by the Coastal Commission which took its job seriously
this time;
3. Goleta, relatively tiny at 7mgd, their waiver is up this
year also. This is the waiver denied by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
4. Morro Bay, which has the toxic alga bloom that is supposedly
killing dolphins and sea lions in Southern California (Register article Apr. 20).
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