T.O. WINS SEWER-SPILL DELAY; CITY GETS TIME TO COUNTER POSSIBLE $2.1 MILLION FINE.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

Thousand Oaks officials have less than two months to prepare their defense that an 86 million-gallon sewage spill could not have been prevented and that the city should not be fined for the incident.

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board was scheduled Monday to hold a public hearing to decide whether to uphold a $2.1 million penalty for the 12-day spill in February. At the city's request, the board voted unanimously to grant an extension until Aug. 3.

Last month the board's staff found that the city neglected ``to adequately maintain its sewer system, which contributed to a rupture of a sewer line.'' The staff recommended the $2.1 million fine, which the board can affirm, reduce or even increase up to $858.8 million.

Board Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Craven said the city deserves to have additional time to prepare a defense, as the city of Los Angeles did last year after two sewage spills that resulted in a $150,000 fine.

``The last two spills we looked at had much more time, closer to a year. So extending this to Aug. 3 is not unreasonable,'' Craven said during the board's meeting at Simi Valley City Hall.

Attorney Jeffrey Dintzer said the city needed additional time to organize testimony and evidence to present to the board.

``This is the largest civil penalty ever recommended in the state of California and it is a substantial matter to the city of Thousand Oaks,'' said Dintzer of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, the Los Angeles law firm retained to represent the city in the case.

Dintzer said the city plans to show that the spill, which occurred during a series of intense winter storms, could not have been prevented. However, if the board finds the city was at fault, Dintzer said the city's legal team wants the opportunity to encourage the agency to reduce the fine.

During the public comment session of the board meeting, Thousand Oaks resident Nick Quidwai said he opposed the board's decision to postpone the hearing.

``The city had time to prepare. This just further increases the cost by giving the attorneys a green light to spending taxpayers' money,'' said Quidwai, a former City Council candidate.

The city in March allocated $275,000 to hire Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and to retain Tad S. Foster, an attorney specializing in regulatory law.

Last month, the city approved spending an additional $100,000 to hire two other attorneys to represent Councilwomen Linda Parks and Elois Zeanah. Mayor Michael Markey and Council members Andy Fox and Judy Lazar did not want their own attorneys.

In addition to the state agency's inquiry into the spill, the February disaster is at the center of a federal grand jury investigation to determine whether improvements at the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Center were improperly delayed by the political infighting of the Thousand Oaks City Council.

In a related move at Monday's hearing, board member Jack Coe announced that he will abstain from all votes pertaining to the spill.

A board spokeswoman said Coe has been a consultant with Boyle Engineering, which has a half-million dollar contract with the city of Thousand Oaks to complete repairs to its sewer pipelines.