LEUCADIA WASTEWATER DISTRICT Southern California Association of - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

LEUCADIA WASTEWATER DISTRICT Southern California Association of POTWs Presentation February 12, 2015

Presentation Overview  Brief Background on Leucadia  Leucadia’s Recent Citizen Lawsuit Experience  How It Happened  Conditions Imposed  Lessons Learned

LWD – Who Are We?  Established in 1959  Public Agency  Special District  5 Member Board  18 Member Staff

LWD – What Do We Do?  Wastewater Services to Over 60,000 Residents  Service Area 16 Square Miles  Southern Half of Carlsbad  Northern Half of Encinitas  Transport wastewater from homes and safely treat it  Provide Recycled Water to the La Costa Golf Course

LWD Infrastructure  200 Miles of Gravity Lines  5,000 Manholes  15 miles of Force Main  10 Pump Stations  Joint Owner of the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility  1 MGD Recycled Water Facility

Citizen Lawsuits – California River Watch (CRW)  Suing Wastewater Agencies for Clean Water Act Violations for Over 15 Years  Primarily in Northern California  Recently in Southern California  Cities of Laguna Beach, Carlsbad, Inglewood  Eastern Municipal Water District  Coachella Valley Water District  Questionable Motives – Settle Cases for $$ In Lieu of Court

Citizen Lawsuits – Can They Do This to Us?  U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA)  Section 404 – Strict Liability – liable for SSO’s regardless of whether it was intentional.  Section 505 – Citizen Suits – Authorizes citizens to file lawsuits for discharge violations.  Injunctive Relief & Penalties – fines & corrective actions can be imposed for violations  Attorney’s Fees – CWA authorizes award of attorney’s fees to prevailing party.

How They Go About It  Scan CIWQS Data Base  Generally Look at Last 6 Years  Issue “Notice of Violations and Intent to File Suit Under CWA”  60 Day Notice of Intent to Sue  Said Differently – They Take Your Own Information and Use it Against You!  Offer to Settle: “During the 60 -Day Notice Period River Watch is willing to discuss effective remedies…”

How They Go About It (Cont.)  Form Letter  Some Specific Examples – Excerpts: “The District has a history of non-compliance with the SSO reporting requirements…” “The District's field reports regularly indicate the SSO start time as the same time or within a few minutes of the time the District was notified of the SSO…These equivalencies are highly unlikely and result in an underestimation of the duration of the spill .”

How They Go About It (Cont.)  Excerpts (Continued): “ The District's common practice of underestimating the duration of spills leads to underestimating the volume of spills. …” “ The District's SSO reports in general, do not indicate the method used to estimate the total volume of spills, which calls into question the estimates of volume recovered and volume reaching a surface water .”

What Can You Do  Fight It In Court  If have CWA Violation – You Will Lose and You Will Pay CRW’s & Your Attorney’s Fees  Could Be Several Hundred Thousand to Over a Million Dollars  Prevailing Wisdom – Settle!  Retain Counsel Familiar w/ CRW  Typically Settlements - $35k - $60k  Don’t let Principle Get In the Way – It’s a Business Decision!

Leucadia Settlement  Monetary Settlement - $35k  CRW’s Attorney’s Fees  Negotiating Settlement Conditions  To the Extent Possible – We Agreed to Implement Operating & Capital Programs that We Already Do.  Still Ended Up w/ Additional Remedial Measures and Conditions

Remedial Measures and Conditions of Agreement

CCTV Inspection Ratings District’s defect rating scale for gravity sewer lines: 0 – the asset does not have any defect(s). 1 – the asset has a minor defect(s). Examples: minor cracks or minor roots 2 – the asset has a defect(s). Examples: medium offset joint, several roots, broken/cracked cleanout cap, medium sag, broken pipe 3 – the asset has a major defect that requires attention . Examples: Large offset joint, void in pipe, any infiltration, major sag, fractures 4 – the asset is in eminent failure

Sewer System Investigation and Repair Surface Water Condition Assessment – within 200 feet of surface waters, within 1 year  CCTV gravity lines  have not been investigated, rated or repaired in 5 yrs  are not newly installed or rehabilitated within 10 yrs  Rating 4 - repair, rehabilitate or replace line (within 1 yr)  Rating 3  place on list  re-inspect 6 months  move to rating 4, as needed  repair within 1 yr  Provide completion report to CRW

Sewer System Investigation and Repair Full Condition Assessment – beyond 200 feet of surface waters, within 1 year  Committed finds in Budget - Operations or Capital  Provide continuing assessment of manholes, gravity lines and pipe connections – ongoing 4 yr cycle  Provide continuing assessment of pump stations – ongoing 5 yr cycle  Metal force mains – Financial Plan has ongoing funding for inspection & replacement of force mains:  Excavate at strategic points  Extract section or remove coupon  Assess condition by a corrosion expert  CCTV force main adjacent to extraction point

Sewer System Overflow Response Modify SSO Report form to require , within 1 yr:  The method or calculations used to estimate  Total spill volume  Spill volume reaching surface waters  Spill volume recovered  For Category 1 Spills – Contact nearby residents or businesses to establish SSO:  start time  duration  flow rate  Provision to attach photos (taken without impeding response)  Brief description of clearly visible ecological impacts (fish kills, etc.), when appropriate

Sewer System Overflow Response Require water quality sampling / testing if 50 gallons or more spill into surface waters (if feasible / safe)  Collect and test 3 samples:  Discharge point  Upstream  Downstream  Test for:  Ammonia  E. Coli  Dissolved Oxygen  Constituents higher at discharge and downstream than upstream, within 1 week:  Structural deflect – spot repair or replace  Internal blockage – perform necessary maintenance

Sewer System Overflow Response Require water quality sampling / testing if 50 gallons or more spill into surface waters (continued)  Contract with Environmental Health Specialist or biologist (during first year)  Develop protocol to define SSO remediation procedures for SSO of 1,000 gallons or more reaching surface waters  Include in SSMP  Provide copy to CRW  Metals analysis (17 metals) of samples from 4 Category 1 SSOs, (during first year only)  No Cat 1 SSO – no metals analysis  Two successive samples for any particular metal is non- detect or below water quality objective – analysis for that metal may be discontinued

Lateral Grant Program Establish a Lateral Grant Program, within 1 year:  Budget up to $100,000 per year  Grant funds up to half the cost of lateral repair/ replacement up to a maximum of $3,000  Notify home owner of grant program in lateral letter

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned  Recommend $ ettling  Do not act on principle  Include your current program(s) / procedure(s) as much as possible  Pay attention to detail when filling out CIWQS Report  Provide detail, even when not required  Explain situation / actions

CIWQS Example B2 Force Main SSO May 6, 2010

CIWQS Entries 17. Estimated spill start date/time: 02/01/2103 00:00 18. Date and time sanitary sewer system agency was notified of or discovered spill: B2 Force Main SSO 02/01/2013 05:39 February 1, 2013 19. Estimated Operator arrival date/time: 02/01/2013 05:37 Spill cause explanation: (Required if spill cause is “Other”)

QUESTIONS?