Neighbors, as I get more information I will share
alice
Question:
I am writing to ask if you have heard about the situation I
just read about in the May issue of the "North Valley Reporter" which
will impact many Altadena and other foothill residents….
I was alerted to this by a realtor (we are considering selling
a rental property in Tujunga) who informed me this is an important disclosure
point.
--Crestview resident
Answer
from LA County
From: "Novak, Paul"
To: "awessen@yahoo.com"
Sent: Tue, June 8, 2010 3:34:32
PM
Subject: FW: Hi Alice, have you heard...SEPTIC TANKS
Alice:
Sussy forwarded your e-mail on to me. Suffice it to say, I have had a LOT
of inquiries since the LA City meeting.
Please note that what is being proposed only impacts City
of Los Angeles residents with septic systems.
It does not bear in any way upon how the County handles septic permitting
issues in Altadena and other unincorporated
communities.
The County's Environmental Health Department
regulates permits for septic systems. While there are routine, periodic
amendments to our septic permitting system, I am unaware if any major
reform/revisions is proposed at this time.
There is, by the way, a flurry of activity on the issue due to State
legislation requiring cities and counties to bring their septic regulations
into "conformance" with each other. So that you know, several
deadlines have been missed, and the State has repeatedly extended the deadline
for compliance. Again, as far as I know, there is no imminent change
pending, and if one occurs, I expect that we would forward information to the
Altadena Town Council.
By copy of this e-mail to Angelo Bellomo of Environmental Health, I am asking
that he reply to all of us with the current status on this issue.
-Paul
The Article……
Septic Tank Owners Smell a Bad Law
North Valley Reporter
Free Community Newspaper
Serving the
City of Los Angeles Communities of
Arleta, Granada Hills, Kagel Canyon, Los
Angeles, Lake View Terrace, La Tuna Canyon, Mission Hills, North Hills,
Northridge, Pacoima, Shadow Hills, Sunland-Tujunga, Sun Valley, Sylmar, Van
Nuys
May 2010
Vol 5 Number 5
http://www.northvalleyreporter.com/
By Fritz Bronner
The Los Angeles Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Sanitation (B of
S) is requesting that the Los Angeles City Council pass an ordinance this year
which will include a series of Memorandums of Understands (MOU) and agreements
between the Water Quality Control Board and B o f S with little input
opportunity for the public. Many community members feel that it is creating a
collision course for potential financial ruin for many Los Angeles residents,
while greatly impacting all residential properties with septic systems. The
technical term for the proposed septic plan by B of S and PublicWorks, and
drafted by the State of California, is called On-site Wastewater Treatment
Systems (OWTS).
All OWTS will require mandatory inspections for continued Certificates
of Operation and will require fees of $350 for each permit, a $900 inspection
fee, plus other additional fees. Currently, there are no qualified city
inspectors for this function; therefore, creation of new positions and training
will be required. Some community members believe it will result in a new tax
bill to create jobs.
If OWTS property is deemed a “high-risk”, additional
inspections and permit renewals will be required every three years at
additional higher costs to residents.
If an OWTS fails inspection, (for which specified definitions and terms
are not defined), owners within 200 feet of a sewer line will be forced to hook
up to the city system. This will entail another range of fees and expenses for
property owners, a situation the B of S staff was not aware of at the time of
their recent presentation meeting in the La Tuna Canyon community. This was
later admitted by them during the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council’s Land Use
Committee Meeting in May. B of S estimated that a new septic system would cost
$30,000 with only a $758 hook up fee to a sewer line. But it was apparent they
didn’t check with Building and Safety, Public Works, or local contractors.
Local residents quickly pointed out that costs by other L.A. City departments
include $13,000 per 50 to 100 feet additional sewer line extension hook up to
the edge of the property line, plus building permit fees ranging from
$6,000-$15,000, repairs to street, an additional $5,000-$10,000, plus digging
and hookup fees within the property to the home, and another $8,000-$15,000,
which could easily add up to $50,000 or more.
What is a “high risk” OWTS? The city
identifies high risks OWTS systems per the MOU with water Quality Control
Board: within 900 ft. of active an water well, or 600 ft. from water bodies
identified as impaired due to high levels of nitrates, and or bacteria under
sec. 303(d) of the Clean Water Act.
This originally meant that water sources were proven to be impaired,
with scientific methodology, showing that there are high levels of nitrates and
bacteria and then specific sources (OWTS) being tested and confirmed as
discharging into the water as the polluter.
Continued on page 5
Continued
from Cover — Septic Tank
The rules changed in recent years according to conversations with
officials with B of S, regarding their interpretations of the MOU. Now, any one
of the above mentioned four provisions can make an OWTS deemed a high risk. Two
more provisions were also added to the mix in the last four years. Did City Council
members who support this really know the implications and how financially toxic
this would impair OWTS owners? These new rules added additional properties to
the high-risk designation. Streams and rivers were added from recent motions by
City Council: 1) 150 ft. near a stream; 2) Properties with only 5 ft.
separation from seasonal ground water - adapted by the Septic Tank Task Force.
The B of S confirmed that, by changing these interpretations of
the rules, the number of High Risk OWTS increased from 100 to over 2,000 homes
within the city. Ironically, on this same MOU, both signed parties, Water
Quality and B of S, acknowledge on page one of the document: "In many
instances, the discharge from these (OWTS) systems does not adversely affect
the beneficial uses of ground water or surface water quality.”
There are more than one million septic systems, or OWTS, active
in California, with over 100,000 in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Both the
Water
Quality Board and the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation have been
quietly crafting more stringent rules and, until attending recent community
meeting, neglected to interface or communicate with stakeholders for several
years.
There are over 12,000 OWTS in the city of Los Angeles: 32.3% are
in Council District 2, 10.2 % in Council District 7, 10.3%in Council District
5, and 13.6% in Council District 12. The B of S’s issue is supposed to be water
quality, yet, none of the existing OWTS are reported to be dysfunctional, nor
discharging into bodies of water or streams, and are well maintained. The City
and the state have decided, regardless of public input, that many of the OWTS
will need to be declared obsolete and their homes hooked up to the City sewer
lines or, at the very least, inspected on a regular basis.
With these new ordinances, one million homes are now toxic real
estate properties and are de-valued as a result these costly mandates. Many of
these homes have perfectly functional OWTS that could continue to operate for
several decades with no threat or impact
to water quality.
Revenue - At a recent town-hall style
meeting held in La Tuna Canyon, local residents requested that B of S make a
presentation because probing questions quickly illuminated many flaws in their plan.
Many citizens at the meeting questioned aloud if this is a ploy to create more
revenues for the city.
Reviewing all of the fees that would have to be paid in permits,
road repairs, hook ups, installation costs, and new job creations, the audience
quickly calculated it would amount to tens of millions of dollars. A community
member quickly calculated that it would have been cheaper had all the funding
for the B of S staff who had been working on this ordinance over the last five
years, been diverted into actual funding to connect these homes to sewer lines.
Several B of S officials pointed out how inexpensive this
proposed OWTS permit fee is for each property and the city services of creating
new inspectors compared to the costs of having sewer fees. They went so far as
to suggest that the public should be grateful. (This still might appear as
revenue justification for many readers.)
Outreach – B of S announced their latest
plan just within the last two weeks by attending local Neighborhood Councils
(NC). These forums have small attendance. NC’s have viable and dedicated
citizens who are already under-resourced, under-funded, and are expected to
alert the entire community. The flawed B of S Outreach Plan that expects NC’s
to fulfill their (B of S’s) responsibility is unjust to communities.
The great majorities of Septic OWTS owners, approximately 95%,
have not been alerted and are not aware of the financial impact on their lives and
the devaluation of their home/property resulting these proposals.
AB 885 - This State Bill has been in
both state houses for eight years and is on the verge of passage.
With a million OWTS within the state, only a fraction of the
public has been notified. This law becomes a death sentence for nearly all OWTS
who will eventually be forced to connect to sewer lines or buy very expensive
upgrades. According to professionals regarding this issue, there are more
moderate and reasonable solutions that could be proposed that would not destroy
homeowners financially nor devalue their property. Citizens must immediately
contact elected state and city representatives by letter or e-mail and voice
their opinion.
Both the City Ordinance and State Bill are both close to passage.
Citizens must give input to their elected officials in a timely manner by
either e-mailing or by calling their City Council Representatives and State
Assembly members. If you don’t know who they are, call 311 for information.
Editors Note; Fritz Bronner is a Board
Member of the Foothill Trails District Neighborhood Council and the Los
Angeles Horse Council. This article is not representative of those
organizations
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