The penalties started accumulating with the law, changed in 2000 to impose same for violations... since the city’s plant cannot consistently meet the discharge limits, the city reported 2,821 violations between January 1, 2000 and August 22, 2006. “As a result, the city faces approximately $8.6 million in fines,” Berger told the Council.As a result of Procter’s 2003 meeting with the state board, an agreement was reached that outstanding fines would generally be applied to construction costs of a new treatment plant, and that the city would pay for a supplemental environmental project. In addition, it was agreed that there would be some portion of the fine that the city would pay “out of pocket.”Through the Consent Decree, “and in return for building a new treatment plant,” Berger said that the city will pay $350,000 for permit violations between 2000 and 2007. The $50,000 supplemental environmental program, State Department of Justice legal costs of about $65,570, and a $6,300 reimbursement for regional board administrative costs will also be paid by the city. Overall, noted Berger, “this is an unprecedented” agreement that “unlikely will be done again” by the RWQCB and State DOJ.
$470,000 fines, costs: S. P. City Council, RWQCB enter into WWTP consent decree
August 10, 2007
Santa Paula City Council
The city and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board formally entered into a consent decree that could lead to a stipulated consent judgment and final order when the City Council approved the document - the result of years of illegal discharges from the city’s aging wastewater treatment plant - at the July 16 meeting.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe city and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board formally entered into a consent decree that could lead to a stipulated consent judgment and final order when the City Council approved the document - the result of years of illegal discharges from the city’s aging wastewater treatment plant - at the July 16 meeting. The agreement will cost the city about $470,000 in fines and costs, but save more than $8 million if the new sewer plant is finished according to the timeline.City Attorney Karl Berger noted that in 2003, then-Mayor John Procter met with the RWQCB to discuss the issue, which had emerged in October 2002 shortly after City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz and new Public Works staff found that the city was incurring “minimum mandatory penalties for ongoing violations.” Such violations centered on the 1997 National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit issued to the city.