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The
energy challenge facing California is real.
Every Californian needs to take immediate action
to reduce energy consumption
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For
a list of simple ways to reduce demand and cut
your energy costs, see the tips at: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/news/echallenge.html
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Regional
Board Staff Appointments
I
am pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Kuykendall
as Assistant Executive Officer, thereby filling
a long-standing vacancy. This appointment is effective
immediately. Jim brings to this position extensive
experience in the public and private sector and
very strong engineering credentials. He was formerly
an Assistant Executive Officer with the Lahontan
Region (in which he served in several positions
from 1972 through 1986), General Manager and Chief
Engineer of the Mammoth Community Water District,
and a private consulting engineer with a firm in
South Lake Tahoe. He received his M.S. in Environmental
Engineering from Stanford University and is a Professional
Engineer.
Additionally, I am announcing the appointment of
Catherine Tyrrell to a new assignment as Coastal
Water Programs Director. This new assignment is
a significant one for our Board creating a specific
role for Catherine as a steward for our coastal
water resources. This is becoming an increasingly
important program area, as noted by the Governor's
recent Coastal Initiative, and one in which we need
a
dedicated high-level manager to address. In this
position, Catherine will continue to play an active
role in many key projects she is already engaged
in, such as the Coastal Initiative, watershed planning,
and our efforts to address contaminated sediments
in our harbors and bays.
With Catherine Tyrrell's assignment as Coastal Water
Programs Director, the position she held as Assistant
Executive Officer is now vacant. I have designated
Debbie Smith as Acting Assistant Executive Officer.
This is an interim assignment pending completion
of the process to select a permanent AEO.
With Debbie Smith serving as Acting AEO, I have
designated Wendy Phillips as Acting Regional Programs
Section Chief. Wendy will assume this responsibility
immediately as well as continuing her management
of the Standards and Enforcement unit.
With Jim Kuykendall serving as AEO, I have designated
David Bacharowski as Acting Underground Storage
Tanks (UST) Section Chief.
1998 Water Quality Assessment and 303(d) Listing
Workshops
The Water Quality Assessment (WQA) is a process
by which staff, using available data, assess whether
the Region's waterbodies are impaired and thus not
supporting their beneficial uses. Those waterbodies
that are determined to be impaired are compiled
in the 303(d) List. Waterbodies on the 303(d) list
must be prioritized and scheduled to have Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs) established for them.
In order to ensure that the most recent data was
used in the assessment, once the draft WQA and 303(d)
List were released for public comment, two workshops
were held, one in Ventura and one in Monterey Park.
Board member Jack Coe participated in the workshop.
A second workshop was held to walk through the data
analysis used to add each of the waterbody impairments
in the most recent priority watersheds, Calleguas
Creek and Santa Clara River.
At these workshops the following topics were discussed:
the data sources and the criteria used to assess
impairment; the list of waterbody impairments that
had either been added or dropped from the 1996 303(d)
list; and an overview of the TMDL process. At these
workshops, staff requested interested parties to
submit additional data to either support or refute
the proposed listings. Following receipt of comments,
a responsiveness summary will be prepared and distributed
to the public. The 303(d) list will be presented
to the Board for their review and approval.
El Nino Rains Contribute to Major Spills in Region
Heavy rains contributed to many spills that
occurred during the month. Among these was a major
spill from the City of Thousand Oaks that resulted
in one of the largest spills in our Region's history.
A brief review of the spills is presented below:
Ventura County
Approximately 70 million gallons of raw sewage
to Calleguas Creek watershed due to a line break
to the City of Thousand Oaks Hill Canyon Treatment
Plant. The break was first noted on February 3,
1998, and temporary repairs were completed on February
14. On February 9, 1998, a Cleanup and Abatement
Order (CAO) was issued to the City of Thousand Oaks.
The CAO included a time schedule requiring the City
to: submit a preliminary report to the Regional
Board; complete a site assessment; submit a final
report on immediate actions taken; and submit a
plan for long term corrective action.
Ojai Valley Sanitary District had two major spills.
The first, a pipe break on February 7, 1998, released
approximately 2.5 million gallons to San Antonio
Creek before being bypassed. The second was a washout
of a section of pipe in Ventura River. Approximately
22,500 gallons were released to the river before
the pipe could be bypassed. To date, the temporary
bypasses remain intact.
Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) has
exceeded the capacity of their collection system
numerous times in the last two months; however,
on February 14, 1998, NAWS lost their ability to
pump to temporary holding ponds on base when a bridge
and two pipelines were carried away in the high
velocity flows of Calleguas Creek. In the latest
spill report, approximately 445,000 gallons of sewage
surfaced from the collection system. As of February
19th, the problem had not been corrected.
Approximately 8,400 gallons of crude oil escaped
a pipe that was sheared by a mud slide in Hall Canyon.
The spill was contained and cleaned with very little
oil making its way to the ocean.
Approximately 22,000 gallons of sewage was released
from a pipe that was ruptured in its crossing of
Calleguas Creek. The break occurred on February
8, and the following day the line was bypassed with
no further problems.
Los Angeles County
Six sewage overflows were reported on February
7. The major one (approx. 180,000 gallons) occurred
in the City of Pico Rivera and was fully contained
by County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
before reaching the receiving waters. The others
were of much less volume, however, some did reach
the San Gabriel River and Rio Hondo.
Approximately 2,500 gallons of sewage were released
from an 8 inch pipeline due to the heavy rain on
February 8 in City of Los Angeles. Fortunately,
no waterway was involved.
Los Angeles County Los Coyotes Wastewater Reclamation
Plant had a filter bypass of approximately 1.58
million gallons during the heavy rains between 2:50
p.m. and 9:20 p.m. on February 14.
Several low-volume spills (less 100 gallons) also
occurred because of pipeline rupture, sunken vessel,
and tank overflow due to the heavy rain.
In response to the many spills noted above, Regional
Board staff were in the field inspecting spill sites
and working with local officials to remedy the spills
as quickly as possible.
South El Monte "Hot Spot" Investigation
Board staff have been assisting a group of potentially
responsible parties (PRPs) in South El Monte Operable
Unit to complete required facility assessment and
remediation work. Results of phase one assessment
were released on January 9, 1998, for an area designated
as Area I and consisting of a number of small businesses
in South El Monte. On January 22, 1998, a meeting
was held among the representatives of Board staff,
the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority (WQA),
the PRPs and their consultants to discuss the results
of phase one assessment. Board staff recommended
soil cleanup for facilities where high concentration
of VOCs were detected. In a letter dated February
11, 1998, Board staff sent written comments providing
information and recommendations for locations of
additional groundwater monitoring wells for Area
I.
Arcadia Wellfield
Regional Board staff has been working with Mobil
Oil Corporation (Mobil), the City of Santa Monica
(City) and USEPA on the MTBE problems at the City's
Arcadia Wellfield. A substantial evaluation effort
and some cleanup have been accomplished at the former
Mobil station site. After Cleanup and Abatement
Order 98-001 was issued to Mobil on January 7, 1998,
Mobil and the City have been develoing a cooperative
agreement between themselves to oversee the remediation
of the wellfield and the aquifer. Their work toward
this agreement has caused some delays in shorter
term deadlines, but we have stressed our concern
for meeting the long term deadlines and goals of
the Order.
Charnock Wellfield
Field work by potentially responsible parties
continues this month. Reports on the work are due
by the end of March. Board staff and USEPA staff
met with representatives of Shell and Chevron concerning
additional evaluation of potential pipeline leakage.
The extent of the additional work has not been completely
defined, but is expected to be finalized by the
end of the month.
Underground Storage
Tanks Roundtable
On February 4, 1998, UST program managers for
all nine Regional Boards and State Board staff met
for the second in a renewed series of program manager
roundtables. The Los Angeles Regional Board was
host to this session that was held in the Children's
Court Building that is adjacent to our office. The
roundtable discussion included workload allocations,
closure criteria, Region to Region consistancy,
and responses to audit comments by the Regions to
the SWRCB.
Puente Valley Operable Unit
On January 28, 1998, Regional Board staff participated
in a U.S. EPA sponsored community meeting to present
the proposed plan for addressing the VOC contamination
in the Puente Valley Operable Unit of the San Gabriel
Valley Superfund site. The preferred alternative
is to contain contamination at the mouth of the
Puente Valley in both the shallow and intermediate
aquifer zones. The proposed plan is performance
based, which means that the plan does not specify
the method of compliance allowing more flexibility
in meeting the objectives.
Former Ojai Burn Dump, Ventura County
A Cleanup and Abatement Order was issued to
the County of Ventura in September 1997 to require
the County to mitigate landfill slope erosion and
exposed waste at the former Ojai Burn Dump. The
erosion is caused from undercutting by the Ventura
River during heavy flows. Regional Board staff expected
that the situation at the dumpsite would be exacerbated
by encroaching El Niņo storms, so the Order contained
a very tight time schedule for mitigation.
While the County of Ventura made every effort to
adhere to the time schedule, delays were experienced
in obtaining permits from the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, which were required before mitigation
work could commence. Before mitigation commenced,
recent large storms in Ventura County caused additional
erosion to the landfill, exposing more waste. Heavy
flows in the Ventura River prevent any mitigation
work from being performed until the Ventura River
recedes. Regional Board staff will continue to monitor
conditions at this site.
Azusa Landfill
Regional Board staff met with representatives
of Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) on February
11, 1998, to discuss a schedule for closing the
80-acre unlined portion of the Azusa Landfill. In
June 1997, BFI sold the entire 302-acre Azusa Landfill
to USA Waste. However, BFI retains the responsibility
for gas control, past placement of municipal solid
waste (MSW), and closure for the 80-acre portion.
MSW has not been accepted since October 1996. Other
wastes, including treated petroleum hydrocarbon
contaminated soil and inert materials, have continued
to be placed in the 80-acre portion. Current surface
contours of the 80-acre unlined portion meet drainage
requirements for closure. A conceptual design for
final cover, the ability of the existing cover to
inhibit infiltration of surface water, and a time
schedule for completing closure, will be submitted
to the Regional Board in March.
Toland Road Landfill, Ventura County
On January 27, 1998, staff received a letter
from an owner of property adjacent to Toland Road
Landfill who was concerned that foam he was seeing
in O'Leary Creek between Toland Road and Hall Road
was the result of landfill operations. Numerous
photographs were included with his letter showing
a beige colored foam on top of flowing water. Staff
inspected O'Leary Creek January 30, February 6,
and February 10, 1998, and saw no significant amounts
of foam. The small amount of foam observed appeared
to be consistent with streams carrying turbid water
as the result of runoff from rain storms. During
the February 10th inspection, staff was accompanied
by staff from the Ventura County Environmental Health
Department and the Ventura Regional Sanitation District.
The staff from Ventura Regional Sanitation District
stated that they would try and obtain a sample of
the foam the next day for analysis. The results
of the sampling will be submitted for review by
Regional Board staff when available.
Contaminated Sediment Management Plan
Recently passed legislation, SB 673 (Karnette),
requires the Regional Board and the California Coastal
Commission to coordinate efforts of the Los Angeles
Contaminated Sediments Task Force to prepare a Contaminated
Sediments Management Plan. The objective is to develop
a consensus among agencies and interest groups as
to proper management of dredged materials. Board
staff is participating with other interested agencies
in the development of a work plan for this multi-year
effort. Key issues to be addressed include proper
disposal methods and permit streamlining.
Stormwater Workshop
On a rainy and traffic-choked January 29th,
the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, LA Regional
Water Quality Control Board and the Southern California
Association of Governments co-sponsored a workshop
for elected officials entitled, "Los Angeles
County Stormwater Permit: Myths and Realities."
Over 110 persons, including elected officials and
staff of 52 cities and other organizations, attended
the workshop which explored a host of topics associated
with the implementation of the municipal storm water
permit.
Board member Marilyn Lyon helped to plan the workshop
and she was joined at the event by Board members,
Jack Coe, Hamid Nahai and Chuck Milam.
Featured speakers included Dr. Stephen Weisberg
of the Southern California Coastal Waters Research
Project, Dennis Dickerson of the LA Regional Water
Quality Control Board, and Don Wolfe of Los Angeles
County's Department of Public Works. A spectrum
of perspectives on the permit was showcased in a
lively question and answer panel, moderated by Burt
Margolin of the Santa Monica Bay Watershed Council,
which included Councilmember Eileen Ansari of Diamond
Bar; Dr. Mark Gold of Heal the Bay; Gary Hildebrand
of LA County Department of Public Works; Jorge Leon,
Regional Board Counsel; Dan Meer of USEPA Region
9; Ray Tahir, consultant to cities; and Catherine
Tyrrell of the LA Regional Board.
Jan Fambro and Shelly Fischer-Long of Rogers and
Associates presented the "Los Angeles County
Storm Water Public Education Strategy" during
the lunch hour. The afternoon sessions focused on
financing and implementation tool for municipal
storm water programs. Participating in these panels
were Neil Miller of Manhattan Beach, Chris Campbell
of the Southern California Coalition for Pollution
Prevention, Anthony Nisich of Santa Clarita, Sharon
Gosselin of Alameda County and Robert Westdyke of
Camarillo. Board Member Mary Jane Forster of the
State Water Resources Control Board wrapped up the
day with inspiring closing remarks.
Results of evaluation surveys indicated high marks
for the workshop program with attendees urging continuation
of these types of outreach and educational efforts.
Public Workshops held on Cost Effectiveness
On February 24th (El Monte) and February 25th
(Ventura), the Regional Board held two workshops
to explore interested party concerns and suggestions
to improve the cost effectiveness of Regional Board
programs. The workshops represented an opportunity
for individuals who are regulated through programs
administered by the Regional Board and to offer
their insights into how these programs can be improved
by reducing costs for regulatory requirements. Comments
received during the workshops will be reviewed by
the Regional Board's Task Committee on Cost Benefits
and a report prepared for consideration by the full
Board. One outcome from the workshops will be the
establishment of a permanent working group to explore
cost benefit issues on a periodic basis.
Enforcement
The LA County Bar Association sponsored an Environmental
and Land Use Symposium on February 24th. Jorge Leon
and Wendy Phillips provided an overview of the Regional
Board's enforcement strategy during a panel discussion
entitled "Enforcement and Compliance--Striking
a Balance between Environmental Protection and Economic
Recovery." Other participants on the panel
included representatives from Heal the Bay and the
City of Los Angeles.
Meeting held with Heal the Bay Enforcement Report
Author
On February 9th, staff met with Steven Flieschli,
author of the Heal the Bay report critical of the
Regional Board's enforcement record over the past
six years. The meeting was helpful in better understanding
the information contained in the report and the
data used in its development. During the meeting,
Mr. Fleischli provided staff with additional information
Heal the Bay had developed regarding TSDF facilities
not having filed Notices of Intent for stormwater
(these are now being reviewed) and a detailed listing
of commerical and multi-family units in the City
of Malibu possibly operating septic tanks without
having been issued a WDR by this Board.
Separately, a letter to the editor has been developed
and submitted to the Los Angeles Times in response
to their coverage of the Heal the Bay report.
CWEA Industrial and Hazardous Waste Conference
On February 9, 1998, Mark Pumford of the Ventura
Coastal Watershed Unit gave a presentation at the
California Water Environment Association's annual
Industrial and Hazardous Waste Conference in Huntington
Beach. The presentation, entitled The Watershed
Approach and its Effect on Small Pretreatment Programs
was given to a group of 62 pretreatment program
managers from programs throughout the West. The
presentation used the Ventura River and Calleguas
Creek Watersheds as examples of implementing the
California Toxics Rule on a watershed basis and
keeping up with the changing focus of source control
programs. Questions from the group were regarding
the costs to small treatment plants of added limits
and monitoring requirements. Concern was also expressed
that many of the contaminants causing toxicity in
receiving waters are common throughout the State,
and that the State should shoulder the responsibility
for public outreach or possibly banning products
that contribute these contaminants to the waste
stream.
Freedom of Information Act and Public Records
Act Requests for the Month of December 1997, and
January 1998.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and
Public Record Act (PRA) requests to review or copy
public documents are a very important part of the
work at the Regional Board. The FOIA and PRA cover
most of the documents at the Regional Board. Recently,
the State legislature adopted statutory language
requiring that these requests be tracked by the
Regional Boards. The FOIA and PRA require agencies
to provide a response on the availability of the
requested document within 10 working days (FOIA)
or 10 calendar days (PRA) of receiving the request.
The Regional Board has developed a procedure and
a database to track these requests.
During the month of December, 1997, 8 FOIA/PRA requests
were received and processed, and in all cases, a
response was provided within the mandated time frame.
During the month of January, 1998, 14 FOIA/PRA requests
were received and processed, and in all cases, a
response was provided within the mandated time frame.
WATERSHED REPORTS
Calleguas Creek Watershed
The Steering Committee recently interviewed
and are now negotiating a contract with a firm which
will act as the Watershed Committee's program manager.
The consultants will be working with the various
committees to produce a newsletter, an early action
program and a detailed outline of the watershed
plan itself. The Water Quality/Water Resources Subcommittee
is taking the lead in drafting a Water Resources/Water
Quality Chapter in the Calleguas Creek Watershed
Management Plan that will serve as model for other
chapters. Subcommittee members have developed a
list of their goals and objectives for water quality
and water resources and are working to clarify participants'
goals and objectives, identify possible solutions
to problems, pinpoint concrete actions which will
be taken to address the problems, filter out long-term
from short-term goals, and reach agreement on what
issues to deal with first. Two early action items
identified were utilization of agricultural Best
Management Practices (BMPs) and the issue of use
of residential/commercial water softeners. The subcommittee
met on January 23.
The Flood Protection/Sedimentation Subcommittee
last met on December 8. The group is continuing
to refine their list of flooding, drainage, erosion
and sedimentation, and flood water conservation
and re-use considerations and are proceeding to
prioritize these items.
A new group is being formed, the Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) Subcommittee. Its first meeting is
pending.
The first meeting of the Public Education/Outreach
Subcommittee took place on January 21. The subcommittee
will work on producing an educational brochure covering
Calleguas Creek Watershed issues and watershed management
in general.
The full Management committee met on February 4.
Agenda items included presentations on agricultural
BMPs and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). Information
about the management committee and its subcommittees
can be found at "www.calleguas.com".
Staff met with representatives of the watershed's
dischargers concerning the Calleguas Creek Characterization
Study workplan on February 3; the workplan is close
to being finalized.
Los Angeles River Watershed
The Los Angeles/San Gabriel Rivers Watershed
Council met on January 21. Meetings are generally
held at the Los Angeles County Public Works facility
in Alhambra at 900 S. Fremont Avenue on the third
Wednesday of each month. The Watershed Council has
a number of committees including Finance and Representation,
Three-Year Watershed Study (interaction with LA
River Task Force), Stakeholder Programs, Public
Education and Outreach, Projects, and Research.
The Finance and Representation Committee has made
a plea for financial support for the Watershed Council.
Another committee was formed to undertake prioritization
of projects for Proposition A funding. The committee
met on January 6 at the Regional Board to develop
initial recommendations.
Santa Monica Bay Watershed
The Modeling and Monitoring Subcommittee of
the Malibu Creek Watershed Advisory Council met
on February 5 to begin work on developing a watershed-wide
monitoring program for the Malibu Creek Watershed.
Other Santa Monica Bay Watershed activities are
covered under the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project
item.
SPILLS REPORTED IN LOS ANGELES/VENTURA COUNTIES
DURING DECEMBER 1997 AND JANUARY 1998
DECEMBER 1997
All Reported Spills
Chemical..............................................10
Crude oil.................................................1
Diesel...................................................12
Gasoline.................................................4
Miscellaneous petroleum products.......12
Oil..........................................................5
Other......................................................4
Sewage................................................15
Waste water...........................................2
Vapors...................................................17
Total.....................................................72
Spills Which Entered Waterways or Waters
Chemical.................................................1
Crude oil..................................................1
Diesel......................................................7
Gasoline..................................................1
Miscellaneous petroleum products..............5
Oil............................................................1
Other........................................................2
Sewage....................................................6
Waste water.............................................2
Total.....................................................26
JANUARY 1998
All Reported Spills
Chemical...........................................10
Crude oil.............................................7
Diesel................................................12
Gasoline..............................................3
Miscellaneous petroleum products.......10
Oil.......................................................6
Sewage.............................................15
Waste water........................................7
Vapors................................................4
Total.................................................74
Spills Which Entered Waterways or Waters
Chemical.............................................1
Crude oil.............................................1
Diesel.................................................7
Gasoline.............................................1
Miscellaneous petroleum products........5
Oil......................................................1
Other..................................................2
Sewage..............................................6
Waste water.......................................2
Total................................................40