For years the County of Los Angeles has allowed millions of gallons of water that is treated could be used, to go out to the ocean—wasted. Millions of gallons.
Finally a court has ordered this waste of water stopped. It is forcing the County into protecting the water. That is the good news. The bad news is that billions of dollars will be spent on saving the water—new systems, infrastructure, holding tanks, etc will be needed. Since the County has no money they will have to pass a bond—what happens if the voters tell the county to take a hike—where will the money come from to pay for this court mandate? At the same time the County has to come up with 50% more money to pay for CalPRS—and they do not have that money. Maybe this is the big squeeze—finally government will be forced to be fiscally responsible.
“Officials also called the decision costly. “This could force municipalities to redirect limited public funds from other critical services to spend on controlling pollution from private and other sources who are the responsible parties, said Gail Farber, chief engineer for the Flood Control District and director of the Los Angeles County Public Works Department. County lawyers had argued the county was not responsible for the polluted runoff because it comes from multiple sources and various property owners and cities upstream.”
Supreme Court says LA County is responsible for storm water pollution
Molly Peterson, KPCC, 5/5/14
The Supreme Court has decided not to review a lower court ruling that Los Angeles County is responsible for cleaning up pollution is storm water runoff.
The U.S. Supreme Court today indicated that Los Angeles County is responsible for cleaning up storm water pollution which flows down the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers.
This morning the Court decided not to hear an appeal by the county and its Flood Control District in a dispute that had meandered for six years through federal district and appellate courts. The move lets stand a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that county authorities had violated the Clean Water Act by allowing polluted runoff to foul waterways.
In a statement, county officials called the Supreme Court’s decision “disturbing” and said move assigns liability without considering the sources of the pollution and without evidence of violations.
Officials also called the decision costly. “This could force municipalities to redirect limited public funds from other critical services to spend on controlling pollution from private and other sources who are the responsible parties, said Gail Farber, chief engineer for the Flood Control District and director of the Los Angeles County Public Works Department. County lawyers had argued the county was not responsible for the polluted runoff because it comes from multiple sources and various property owners and cities upstream.
Two plaintiffs in the case, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Los Angeles Waterkeeper, say the resolution of the liability question is a major victory.
“No longer can the county ignore the law,” said Liz Crosson, executive director of Los Angeles Waterkeeper, in a release.
Monday’s action is not the end of the legal battle. A federal district judge will now hear evidence on the best way to clean up pollution in the county’s storm system. The trial is expected to pit experts against experts, on technical subjects like pollution monitoring technology, storm water captures and how water percolates though and is filtered by topsoil.
“Los Angeles County needs to face the facts and get to work to clean up its mess, said Steve Fleischli, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “With a trove of 21st century green infrastructure solutions, the county has no excuse not to ensure this pollution is addressed immediately.”
For now, current pollution levels are likely to continue. Funding sources for new pollution controls range from federal funds, to state bonds, to local grants, but securing that money can be challenging.
Regional water quality officials have updated the permit under which the county operates its storm water system. Administered by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the permit sets limits on individual pollutants in storm water and establishes the locations at which to monitor water quality. The new permit is under appeal to the State Water Quality Control Board, both by environmental groups, and by more than three dozen cities.
Local authorities including the City of Los Angeles have also made new efforts to capture storm water closer to where it falls to filter or treat it and then reuse it. LA’s “low impact development” ordinance promotes rain barrels and parking lots that permit water to pass into the ground.
County water managers proposed a storm water parcel tax late in 2012. In March of last year, the county board of supervisors sent the proposal back to the drawing board after fielding public criticism about the size of the levy, the way it would be calculated, and the transparency for how it would be spent.
Water is precious to man, dehydrated humans can not survive, but the source of millions in waste waters discharged read, real pollution, not good for this awful, stop and investment very clean water consuming but well worth funding and must do. we raise awareness of protecting our environment.friv juegos
May 6, 2014 at 6:46 am