Spills Articles in THE UNION

Hard rains caused another landslide at the beleaguered Cascade Shores Wastewater Treatment Plant this week.

Gordon Plantenga of the Nevada County Sanitation District said the spill broke a water pipe used to disinfect the water. About 9,000 gallons of partially treated effluent had to be discharged into Gas Canyon Creek while repairs were made Thursday.

A system of fences and berms cut into the hillside to prevent slides from hitting the plant worked for the most part, Plantenga said.

"We'll modify it now so that won't happen in the future," Pantenga said.

Plant operator Dan Buchholz said Friday that the slide pushed debris right up to the plant's tanks.

"There's still lots of water coming out of the hillside," Buchholz said.

The fences and berms were put in after the major slide that knocked the plant off line May 10, spilling 178,000 gallons of untreated effluent into the creek over a period of several days. The plant is scheduled to be moved away from the hillside, which is part of an old hydraulic gold mining site.

The county has been repairing the plant with grant money from the state and is hoping the work will stop environmental officials from finally imposing a $574,000 fine they threatened after the spring landslide.

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To contact staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.

October 1, 2005

Nevada County has been awarded a $70,000 grant to complete an economic development study of the western part of the county, as well as a wastewater upgrade study for the Penn Valley area.

The grant was given by California's Department of Housing and Community Development. The department gives similar grants to help communities formulate plans for growth and affordable housing to be used by planning, housing, education, and business professionals.

The economic development study will include a detailed inventory of commercial and industrial property, along with recommendations on how to best use areas for development.

The Penn Valley Wastewater Upgrade Study will help determine the best solutions for upgrading the current wastewater facility.

The money will not be available for several months, and the work done will be contracted out by the county's community development agency. It is anticipated that both of the studies will be completed by the fall of 2007.

- Brittany Retherford

By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
September 22, 2005

County sanitation officials hope to land state funding for repairs and improvements at the Cascade Shores Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was knocked off-line by a landslide May 10.

The state water board is expected to waive an October hearing about the plant and send a revised set of guidelines for renovations. The county sanitation district's geologic consultant has recommended moving the plant away from the hillside that collapsed on its main intake plant.

The hillside is a former hydraulic mining site that gave way after unusually heavy rains soaked the area in the late spring. The state has threatened the county with a $574,000 fine for allowing 178,000 gallons of raw sewage to flow into Gas Canyon Creek for nine straight days after the landslide.

The county government has argued that it is not the responsible party in the landslide. Instead, state water board officials have been asked by the county to hold the county sanitation district fiscally responsible for the repairs, state official Melissa Hall said.

The sanitation district is officially separate from the county government, although the county supervisors sit as board members, County Counsel Rob Shulman said.

Cascade Shores homeowners make up a zone of the county sanitation district and had already agreed to pay for a $1.5 million upgrade for the plant prior to the landslide. County officials said the zone has qualified for a state hardship grant of almost $1 million for disaster repairs and has already landed another $407,000 grant for the originally planned upgrades.

Deputy County Counsel Ed Kiernan, who is representing the sanitation district, said the price of improving the plant above and beyond the upgrade will be about $2.5 million. Kiernan said the county will seek to avoid paying the $574,000 fine by spending the money on plant improvements.

"Massive fines will create a problem," Kiernan said. "We're hoping to work it out."

Cascade Shores homeowners are already paying some of the highest sewer bills in the nation, Kiernan said, and the district does not want to see more burden upon them. About 83 homeowners voted in 2004 to double sewer bills to $1,795 a year to pay for the original upgrade to meet new regulations.

County wastewater chief Don Corbett said work will start at the site Friday morning to improve drainage for the winter season. The district will also install a new lift station over the weekend to move sewage out of the site in case of another emergency.

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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@ theunion.com or call 477-4237.

The Union staff
September 8, 2005

A 1,000-gallon sewage spill into a pond adjacent to Lake of the Pines Tuesday has been cleaned up, and authorities said it probably did not pose a danger to residents or the environment.

County treatment plant supervisor Don Corbett said Wednesday the spill was caused when a power outage shut down several pump stations. An emergency generator at the pump station near the pond failed to kick in, and the spill ensued, Corbett said.

County workers responded with a vacuum truck and washed the area down, Corbett said. Initial tests were taken for unsafe bacteria levels and more were taken yesterday, the results of which will take several days to return.

- Dave Moller

By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
August 27, 2005

State water officials have set deadlines to remove the threat of further disaster at a Nevada County wastewater treatment plant.

This week, the state water board issued the deadlines to deal with the hillside that collapsed the Cascade Shores Wastewater Treatment Plant's intake pipe May 10. Earlier this month, the state threatened a $574,000 fine to get the county to pay for the damage or explain itself by late October.

The late rainy season last year soaked the 160-foot hillside above the plant. Tons of earth collapsed from the former hydraulic-mining site onto the main intake pipe, and 178,000 gallons of raw sewage polluted Gas Canyon Creek for nine straight days.

The county's inability to react quickly was sharply criticized by the state. Officials said county trucks could have hauled the sewage to another plant, or the effluent should have been piped to a neighboring facility. Lack of staffing was also blamed for not discovering the spill until a Tuesday morning after a weekend occurrence.

County leaders earlier this month were shocked at the fine and said they thought the state was OK with the progress of the project. County wastewater plant chief Don Corbett Friday said Grass Valley engineers Holdrege and Kull were working on the plans and should be done by the end of August.

"I haven't even seen a draft yet," Corbett said.

The engineers need to meet September and October deadlines, which call for ideas to stabilize the hillside before the winter wet season and overall plans to eliminate the problem with options. Holdrege was on vacation, and Kull did not return phone calls

Corbett said earlier that the plant could be moved for about $1 million above and beyond the $1.5 million upgrade that had been planned for the plant prior to the slide.

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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237

By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
August 12, 2005

A state water board has fined Nevada County $574,000 for sewage spills from the Cascade Shores Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The spills occurred during the past five years and included the May 9 landslide that shut the plant down and caused 178,000 gallons of raw sewage to surge into Gas Canyon Creek for nine days. The creek is a tributary of Greenhorn Creek, Rollins Reservoir and the Bear River.

County officials said they were shocked when a letter outlining the fines and spills arrived Thursday from the state's Regional Water Quality Control Board. County engineer Doug Farrell said the county had been working with the state to upgrade the plant.

"We were very surprised and disappointed that the state suddenly adopted an enforcement approach rather that a cooperative approach," Farrell said. "Ironically, the state's action of imposing fines will divert needed plant upgrade funding into paying fines."

After the landslide, according to the state board's letter, the county had the ability to truck the sewage to other plants or redirect it to nearby sewer lines. But the waste was allowed to flow into the creek.

However, the bulk of the fine was for a number of unsafe discharges into the creek through the years, which the state said could have endangered wildlife and recreationists.

The state's Regional Water Quality Control Board said the county can send a check by Sept. 10 or attend a hearing Oct. 20. At that hearing, the county can buy more time or contest the board's ruling.

Don Corbett, the county's wastewater plant operating supervisor, said Thursday he had just received the report and would meet with county officials to decide what to do.

"It's kind of a breath-taker," Corbett said about the board's ruling. He said he did not think county insurance will pay the fine, but it will help with rebuilding the treatment plant. Another $1 million in recent grants will also help, Corbett said.

Looming danger

The county may move the Cascade Shores plant from underneath the cliff that fell on it. Heavy rains had soaked the former hydraulic mining site, which gave way, breaking the plant's main intake pipe. The pipe then proceeded to spew sewage and wastewater into the creek.

The water board said a 2001 report from the county about the plant recognized the possibility of a landslide and what it could do to the pipe. However, the county did nothing to stabilize the slope or the pipeline, the board said.

Spills of undertreated and overtreated sewage have been occurring from the plant since Jan. 1, 2000, up to the May 9 landslide, the board said. Undertreated spills, caused by breakdowns at the plant, produced unsafe bacteria levels - threatening water users and the irrigation of crops downstream. Overtreated spills put too much chlorine into the creek, threatening fish and wildlife.

The board said the plant is only staffed 12 to 16 hours a week and left unmanned the rest of the time. That means when problems occur, they often go unnoticed for long periods because the plant also does not have a proper alarm system, the board said.

The state board said it could have levied fines up to $3.6 million for the spills but chose the lower number based on the county's ability to pay.

The water board has also sent a letter to the county asking for a report on the adequacy and legal status of septic systems in Cascade Shores. The letter said county regulations do not match up with state rules for septic tank depths.

It also said that the fractured ground at Cascade Shores might not be conducive to septic systems. State guidelines call for areas with questionable ground to be on sewer systems, the letter said.

The county has until Sept. 5 to reply to the septic system letter. Corbett said he had not seen the letter, and the county environmental department was awaiting the return of environmental health program manager Kurtis Zumwalt Monday to deal with it.

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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.