Focus
Water board fines Oceanside $1.5 million for 2020 sewage spills
The San Diego Union-Tribune – November 20
In a settlement approved by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board on November 13, the City of Oceanside agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine for two separate spills that sent raw sewage into the Buena Vista Creek and tributaries of the San Luis Rey River four years ago, when rainstorms overwhelmed the city’s wastewater treatment system. The settlement funds are to be paid within 30 days to the State Water Board’s Cleanup and Abatement Account. At the time of the two spills, Oceanside received almost 6 inches of rain in a few days, including more than 3 inches in 24 hours on previously saturated ground. The Water Board originally proposed a $1.8 million penalty.
News
Environmental group sues Union Pacific for allegedly polluting L.A. County waterways
Los Angeles Daily News – November 20
According to a lawsuit filed in federal district court on November 18 by an environmental group, Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Clean Water Act since 2019 by failing to implement adequate pollution controls at four industrial sites in Los Angeles County, resulting in the discharge of hazardous materials into creeks and rivers flowing into Long Beach Harbor and the San Pedro Bay. The suit, which seeks injunctive relief and unspecified penalties, alleges that the stormwater discharges contained cyanide, lead, copper, iron, nickel, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and DDT.
California’s Central Valley is sinking at a record-breaking pace, new study shows
SFGate – November 20
According to a new Stanford University study, the ground in the San Joaquin Valley, which is responsible for much of the state’s agricultural production, has receded nearly 1 inch per year from 2006 to 2022. The new investigation fills in a gap in previous data, allowing researchers to look at the full extent of subsidence in the area and study how to potentially solve the problem in the future. The study’s author told the Stanford Report that she believes one way to mitigate the issue is by restoring the groundwater through “flood-managed aquifer recharge,” a flooding technique used to refill aquifers using excess diverted precipitation and snowmelt.
East Oakland foundry operator to pay $274,000 fine for harmful emissions leaks
KQED - November 22
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has settled with a shuttered Bay Area metal foundry over multiple violations of the Clean Air Act. EPA alleged that AB&I, which operated an iron foundry in East Oakland for more than 100 years, failed to monitor its emissions and released dangerous particulate matter into the surrounding community. AB&I, a subsidiary of parent company McWane Inc., was fined $274,000 for breaching its operating permit and exceeding federal emissions standards on at least five occasions between 2018-2020.
California water agency considers spending $141 million on Delta tunnel project
Los Angeles Times/Yahoo News - November 21
The board of Southern California’s largest urban water supplier will soon vote on whether to continue funding a large share of preliminary planning work for the state’s proposed water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is set to consider approving the expenditure of $141.6 million for planning and preconstruction costs at its December 10 meeting. The proposed 45-mile Delta Conveyance Project would transport water beneath the Delta, creating a second route to draw water from the Sacramento River into the aqueducts of the State Water Project.
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