Source: http://www.sfgate.com, January 14, 2012
By: Peter Fimrite
A Menlo Park sanitary district has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a long-running lawsuit accusing the utility of spilling tens of thousands of gallons of sewage into creeks and sloughs that drain into San Francisco Bay.
The West Bay Sanitary District, which was found liable in May for 21 sewage spills over a five-year period, will pay the legal fees for San Francisco Baykeeper and use the rest of the money to fund projects that will benefit water quality in the bay, according to the settlement.
“We’re excited to have achieved our goal of reducing West Bay’s pollution to San Francisco Bay,” said Deb Self, the executive director for Baykeeper, which filed the lawsuit in 2009. “West Bay used to be one of the worst-polluting sewage agencies in the Bay Area, but they have reduced their sewage spills by two-thirds since we brought suit.”
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen granted summary judgment to Baykeeper in May, approving fines of up to $975,000 in federal Clean Water Act penalties. A trial was set for March to determine liability for dozens of other spills.
Representatives of the sanitary district, which approved the settlement on Wednesday, said major upgrades have already been made and overflows of effluent have been virtually eliminated.
“We have been doing a lot of work over the last several years to improve our system,” said Phil Scott, a manager for the district, which serves Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, Woodside and some unincorporated areas in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. “Now we can concentrate on cleaning and maintaining and repairing pipe for the collection system, which is our core competency.”
Baykeeper accused the district of spilling sewage beginning in 2004 into waterways including San Francisquito Creek, Los Trancos Creek, Bovet Creek, Atherton Channel, Bayfront Canal, Ravenswood Slough, Westpoint Slough and San Francisco Bay.