Richmond fined for sewage water releases into San Francisco Bay

RICHMOND Richmond agreed to pay a fine after it was located to have disclosed poorly treated sewage water into the San Francisco Bay for more than a year Half of that money will go toward environmental teaching for children Between July and Dec inadequately treated wastewater was published times from the Richmond Municipal Sewer District Water Defilement Control Plant at Canal Blvd the San Francisco Bay Regional Water District communicated Friday Each violation cost the city according to a settlement agreement between the city and water district Richmond s water toxicity control plant is responsible for reducing the amount of harmful chemicals and pollutants flushed down toilets and dumped in the drains of Richmond homes businesses and industrial operations before flowing into the San Francisco Bay Agencies with permits to discharge treated water into the San Francisco Bay are expected to meet certain standards for how much pollutants can be in the treated water explained San Francisco Baykeeper Executive Director Sejal Choksi-Chugh The Richmond plant exceeded permitted standards by to more than over the -month period according to a detailed list of violations included in the settlement Among those pollutants were heightened levels of ammonia coliform bacteria and copper Any exceedance can have an impact especially when you think of how a multitude of exceedances happen from any number of facilities in a given year Choksi-Chugh explained Think of it as death by cuts You don t really want to have multiple exceedances no matter if they re - or over Half of the fine Richmond will pay is expected to be paid to the State Water Information Control Board s Water Trash Cleanup and Abatement Account which funds grants for environmental cleanup projects in areas where no other agency or responsible party can do the work The other will fund trash cleanup projects at underserved Richmond schools to raise awareness around watershed soundness and human behaviors that contribute to garbage Those lessons will be led by KIDS for the BAY a Berkeley nonprofit providing youth environmental guidance services The fines are to encourage agencies to improve their practices preventing future polluting events Choksi-Chugh commented Better monitoring of agencies permitted to discharge into the San Francisco Bay and more regular interventions by the Water District and federal Environmental Protection Agency are needed she revealed We re worried this kind of enforcement does not happen as often as it necessities to Choksi-Chugh stated East Bay Municipal Utility District which oversees the plant at Point Isabel in Richmond agreed to pay in a settlement with the water district after million gallons of partially treated sewage spilled into the San Francisco Bay during a historical storm in October A million settlement agreement was also entered into between the EPA and East Bay MUD Oakland Piedmont Berkeley Alameda Albany and the Stege Sanitary District which serves El Cerrito Kensington and a portion of Richmond stemming from a lawsuit They were charged an additional in penalties in for violating the agreement after various infractions from July to June the EPA declared San Francisco Baykeeper has been working with Richmond for nearly two decades to improve its sewage system after the nonprofit and co-plaintiff West County Toxics Coalition sued the city for failing to upgrade its sewage pipes allowing pollutants like human waste bacteria chemicals and other harmful materials to spill into waterways yards and streets The project is complicated given the hundreds of miles of pipeline the city is responsible for Choksi-Chugh recognized calling Richmond a cooperative partner Learning of their fresh violations was disappointing she added We don t want waste water agencies discharging contamination into the Bay at any level It s not a great situation and I m glad to see they re working to try to fix their problems Choksi-Chugh disclosed Water Supply Division Manager Mary Phelps Senior Environmental Compliance Inspector Bradley Harms Chief Assistant City Attorney Shannon Moore and Senior Assistant City Attorney Kimberly Chin did not straightaway respond to a request for comment The community has until p m July to provide comment on the settlement agreement The Water District will respond directly to comments after which the agreement will be final and binding