$2.11 MILLION FINE URGED FOR SPILL; STATE OFFICIALS SAY T.O. COULD HAVE PREVENTED INCIDENT.Byline: Michael Coit and Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writers State water quality regulators issued a civil complaint Friday recommending a $2.11 million penalty against Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. for the 86 million gallon sewage spill into the Arroyo Conejo in February. Regulators said the city failed to safeguard portions of the sewer system Noun 1. sewer system - facility consisting of a system of sewers for carrying off liquid and solid sewage sewage system, sewage works facility, installation - a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry; "the from washout washout to disperse or empty by flooding with water or other solvent. medullary solute washout a syndrome in which the relative hyperosmolarity of the renal medulla is reduced due to an excessive loss of sodium and chloride from in the Hill Canyon streambed streambed or stream channel Any long, narrow, sloping depression on land that had been shaped by flowing water. Streambeds can range in width from a few feet for a brook to several thousand feet for the largest rivers. . The spill continued for 12 days, sending raw sewage to the Pacific Ocean, forcing beach closures, destroying crops and creating a public nuisance public nuisance n. a nuisance which affects numerous members of the public or the public at large, as distinguished from a nuisance which only does harm to a neighbor or a few private individuals. . ``After a long and exhaustive evaluation of the facts surrounding this event, board staff have determined that it was indeed a foreseeable and avoidable spill, and is thus subject to enforcement by the regional board,'' said Dennis Dickerson, executive officer for the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. ``The city's failure to address longstanding concerns about the integrity of the pipeline extended the time during which the pipeline continued to deteriorate and was at risk of failure,'' Dickerson said. ``The line ultimately did fail, resulting in the largest sewage spill in Southern California in recent memory.'' The regional board is expected to hold a public hearing on the complaint June 15 to either affirm, reject or modify the action. Thousand Oaks officials said they were ``surprised and disappointed'' with the complaint and will appeal the staff's decision. ``We were obviously hit by a natural disaster and the amount of the fine is excessive, unprecedented and unjustified,'' said City Attorney Mark Sellers. Sellers noted that the proposed penalty represents nearly two-thirds of the city's annual cost to operate the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant Wastewater treatment plant also called wastewater treatment works
``Such a penalty would severely strain the plant's limited financial resources of that enterprise, which are needed to expeditiously ex·pe·di·tious adj. Acting or done with speed and efficiency. See Synonyms at fast1. ex upgrade and replace that entire line, as well as the section washed out in February.'' |
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