San Diego Region - Enforcement Actions for September 2011

Enforcement Actions for September 2011

During the month of September 2011, the San Diego Water Board initiated the following enforcement actions:

Administrative Civil Liability Settlements (2)
Cleanup and Abatement Order Addendum (1)
Investigative Orders (2)
Investigative Order Amendment (1)
Notice of Noncompliance with Storm Water Enforcement Act of 1998 (3)
Staff Enforcement Letters (2)
Total (11)

A summary of recent regional enforcement actions is provided below. Additional information on violations, enforcement actions, and mandatory minimum penalties is available to the public from the following on-line sources:

State Water Board Office of Enforcement webpage at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/enforcement/

California Integrated Water Quality System (CIWQS)
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/ciwqs/publicreports.html

State Water Board GeoTracker database:
https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/

ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL LIABILITY (ACL) ORDER SETTLEMENTS

Santa Margarita Water District, Rancho Santa Margarita
ACL Order No. R9-2011-0057 was issued to the Santa Margarita Water District on September 14, 2011 for $900,000 to resolve violations resulting from the discharge of 2.3 million gallons of untreated sewage to Tijeras Creek and the Pacific Ocean in March 2010. As part of the settlement agreement, the Santa Margarita Water District will pay $450,000 to the State Water Resources Control Board Cleanup and Abatement Account. The remaining liability is suspended upon completion of a Supplemental Environmental Project to (SEP) restore habitat at the Audubon Starr Ranch and completion of an Enhanced Compliance Action (ECA) project to realign the Plano sewage forcemain out of Tijeras Creek. The SEP must be complete by October 15, 2012, and the ECA must be complete by October 1, 2013.

Roripaugh Valley Restoration, LLC, Roripaugh Ranch Development, Temecula
ACL Order No. R9-2011-0056 was issued to Roripaugh Valley Restoration, LLC (RVR) on September 14, 2011 for $418,150. As part of the Settlement Agreement, RVR will pay an unpaid administrative liability (Order No. R9-2007-0221) that had been issued to previous owners of the Roripaugh Ranch Residential Development Project and bring the site into compliance with an existing section 401 water quality certification and the general construction storm water permit. The San Diego Water Board agreed to release a lien on the property and to forgo administrative civil liability for violations accrued during the ownership transition period.

CLEANUP AND ABATEMENT ORDER (CAO)

Ametek, Inc., El Cajon
Addendum No. 2 to CAO No. R9-2009-0073 was issued to Ametek, Inc. on September 27, 2011. The addendum changes the Feasibility Study due date to January 31, 2012 and establishes May 30, 2012 as the due date for submission of a Remedial Action Plan. On August 19, 2009, the San Diego Water Board adopted CAO No. R9-2009-0073, An Order Directing Ametek Inc. to Cleanup and Abate the Effects of Waste and Submit Technical Reports Pertaining to Corrective Actions at the Site of the Former Ketema Facility, 790 Greenfield Drive, EI Cajon, California. Due to unforeseen complexity of the geology and hydrogeology at the site and recent unpredicted groundwater monitoring results, Ametek Inc. has requested additional time to drill and install deeper wells near the former facility to better understand vertical delineation and the extent of contaminants migrating off-site. In addition, more time is needed to complete a fluorescent dye tracer study to fully evaluate the potential hydraulic connectivity along preferential groundwater flow pathways in the vicinity of State Route 67 and Gillespie Field.

INVESTIGATIVE ORDERS (IO)

City of San Diego, Sanitary Sewer Overflow to Los Penasquitos Creek
IO No. R9-2011-0070 was issued to the City of San Diego on September 28, 2011 for an investigation into the cause, effects, and response to the discharge of untreated sewage into Los Penasquitos Creek on September 8, 2011. The discharge was caused by a loss of power at Pump Station No. 64 during a regional power blackout. A technical report on the cause, effect, and response is due on October 14, 2011. The IO requires the City to conduct water chemistry and bioassessment monitoring for three months. A final monitoring report is due January 14, 2012.

Citizens Development Corporation and LDG Holdings, LLC, Lake San Marcos
IO No.R9-2011-0033 was issued to Citizens Development Corporation and LDG Holdings, LLC on September 14, 2011 for an investigation of nutrient impairment in Lake San Marcos. A workplan is due December 1, 2011, and a final report is due December 1, 2012.

City of San Diego, Chollas Creek TMDL Monitoring
An amendment to IO No. R9-2004-0277 was issued to the City of San Diego on September 19, 2011 to change the location of a monitoring location. The IO requires the California Department of Transportation and the cities of San Diego, La Mesa and Lemon Grove, the County of San Diego, and the San Diego Unified Port District to conduct a monitoring program to determine compliance with the Chollas Creek diazinon total maximum daily load. The IO was issued on August 13, 2004 and previously amended in December 2006.

NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE WITH STORM WATER ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1998, FIRST NOTICE

Multiple Parties
Notices of Noncompliance (NONC) were sent in September 2011 to three parties for failure to enroll in the statewide General Industrial Storm Water Permit Order No. 97-03-DWQ. The Notices are the first inform the dischargers that, pursuant to Water Code section 13399.30(a)(2), failure to enroll will subject it to mandatory penalties. If a Notice of Intent to enroll is not submitted within 30 days of a second Notice, the violation will be subject to a mandatory penalty of not less than $5,000 per year of noncompliance plus staff costs pursuant to Water Code section 13399.33.

STAFF ENFORCEMENT LETTERS (SEL)

Promenade Mall Development Corporation, San Diego
An SEL was issued to the Promenade Mall Development Corporation on September 20, 2011 for discharging extracted groundwater to Mission Bay without enrolling in Order No. R9-2008-0002 (General Waste Discharge Requirements and NPDES Permit for Discharges from Groundwater Extraction Waste to Surface Waters within the San Diego Region except for San Diego Bay).

America Plaza Owners Association, One America Plaza, San Diego
An SEL was issued to the America Plaza Owners Association on September 13, 2011 for violation of the chronic toxicity effluent limitation of Order No. R9-2007-0034 (General Waste Discharge Requirements for Discharges from Temporary Groundwater Extraction and Similar Waste Discharges to San Diego Bay, Tributaries thereto under Tidal Influence, and Storm Drains or other Conveyance Systems Tributary thereto).