SEWAGE PLANT
CLOSED

District Settles Charges of
Illegally Dumping Sewage

By Daniel Yi and
David Reyes
LA TIMES STAFF WRITERS

DANA POINT-A South County water district has agreed to shut down its Capistrano Beach sewage treatment plant as part of a settlement with the district attorney's office over criminal charges that the agency illegally dumped waste water into an open field next to San Juan Creek. The deal, which caps the first major environmental investigation of an Orange County public agency, also calls for the Capistrano Beach Water District to pay $75,000 in penalties and costs.

The San Juan Creek flows to Doheny State Beach, where swimmers and surfers have complained of skin rashes and infections. But in announcing the settlement Wednesday (Oct 21), prosecutors said they "found no evidence that the discharged waste entered the creek." Still, dumping sewage within "a stone's throw of the creek" presented an unreasonable risk, said Deputy District Atty. Michelle Lyman of the environmental crimes unit.

In filing charges in May, 1997, prosecutors accused the district of engaging in an illegal practice "that became policy" of ordering its truck drivers to collect sewage sludge and then let it seep into the ground outside its Victoria Sewage Treatment Plant. The district attorney's office charged that the dumping occurred because the treatment plant could not handle the waste. Lyman said the settlement was the best outcome possible for the public. Even if the criminal case was proved in court, prosecutors would have lacked the authority to close the plant, which has a long history of environmental problems, she said.

"This place should not be operating," Lyman said. "The public, I think, should be happy that they will not be in the business of treating sewage anymore." Paul S. Meyer, an attorney representing the district, said sanitation operations will not suffer with the plant closure. Under a recently completed consolidation with surrounding water agencies, the Capistrano Beach Water District will be allowed to treat its sewage waste through nearby plants. "The agency is still operating [and]… will continue providing water to its customers," Meyer said.

Officials plan to eventually construct a sewage flow station that will divert waste from the Capistrano Beach Water District into the nearby Southeast Regional Reclamation Authority. Initially, prosecutors had charged chief plant operator Steven Cory Sanchez with 18 felony counts and two misdemeanor counts. They also charged the district and its general manager, Dennis Emerson McClain, with criminal "imputed liability," meaning that while they may not have known about the dumping, they should have been aware of it.

Under the settlement, Sanchez pleaded guilty Oct. 13 to a misdemeanor charge of directing district employees to dump sewage material. He has been placed on three years' probation and must perform 200 hours of community service. All charges against McClain and the district were dropped. (The very least the DA should have sought for was the dismissal of the two men charged with crimes. It is not very consoling to know that someone who ordered illegal dumping of sewage, and the supervisor who should have known about it, will continue to work for the water and sewage district. DP Online) The district admitted to no wrongdoing under the deal.

Prosecutors and the Orange County Health Care Agency investigated the Victoria Sewage Treatment Plant for a month in 1996. Investigators saw district employees dumping sludge on the nearby field. Examination of the soil showed high levels of fecal coliform, which indicates the presence of human waste. They found no evidence that district officials or McClain had personal knowledge of the practice, Lyman said. (In the real world, that is what is called "plausible deniability." DP Online)

SOURCE: Excerpted from the 22 October, 1998, issue of the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition. Reprinted in the public interest.

RETURN TO DANA POINT ON-LINE NEWS INDEX