Note: The deadline for filing comments on the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s administrative complaint against the SCV Sanitation District for failing to file timely environmental documents relating to the construction of a $250-million-plus treatment plant was Dec. 26. The treatment facility, which the Regional Board says is needed to remove chloride (a salt) from sewer and waste water in the SCV, would have to be paid for by SCV residents. The three-member SCV Sanitation District board (consisting of two Santa Clarita City Council members and one Los Angeles County supervisor) has been trying to convince the Regional Board to accept less costly methods of achieving the same result.

[SCV Sanitation District] – The Board of Directors of the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District moved swiftly last week in response to the State of California’s levy of a $280,250 fine on the property owners of the Santa Clarita Valley. The State fine, which could have been much higher than the proposed amount, is for failing to meet the State’s deadline to submit a Facilities Plan and Environmental Impact Report for a compliance project to meet the State’s legal mandate for levels of chloride (salt) allowed in the Valley’s treated wastewater.

The fine clearly shows that the State is serious about enforcing its strict legal salt limits and the timeline for the District to meet those limits. The Board of Directors acted to protect Valley property owners from further, steeper State fines by requesting a settlement with the State and by re-affirming the District’s commitment to adopting an environmentally-sound and cost-effective salt compliance project as soon as possible to meet the State’s strict salt limits.

For ten years, the District, with the full support of the Board of Directors, unsuccessfully challenged the State’s salt limits, including the science and timeline. The Board of Directors understand that delaying compliance further will likely cost property owners millions more in State fines, and could risk losing local control to the State.

The District’s staff is evaluating options to identify the least expensive solution to comply with the State’s strict salt limits for the property owners in the City of Santa Clarita and throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. The staff is conducting the technical studies and planning necessary to develop a proposed project and necessary Draft Environmental Impact Report for public review and comment. The Board and the staff are committed to a local planning process that encourages input from all the communities of the City and Valley. The proposed chloride (salt) compliance project plan will be available for public review in the Spring, and the District will hold public discussion workshops, meetings with civic and community organizations and a public hearing before any final decision is made.

The District serves the wastewater management needs of the Santa Clarita Valley. The agency protects public health and the environment by constructing, operating, and maintaining a regional system that collects, treats, recycles and disposes of sewage from homes and businesses in the Santa Clarita area. For more information, visit the District’s website at www.lacsd.org.