New permit granted for Tapia plant

The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District got permission for a new permit at its Tapia Water Reclamation Facility, avoiding major upgrades to the Calabasas sewer plant that could have cost a potential $160 million.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board last Thursday approved a set of regulations that will permit the Tapia plant to continue operations using changes that are far less expensive.

Initially, the water district believed it would be forced to build a $160 million “reverse osmosis” facility to help prevent the pollution in Malibu Creek. According to water district officials, the facility would have cost ratepayers about $12,000 each. Although that requirement was dropped, the district must add a $10 million de-nitrification facility at the Tapia plant within five years.

The water district and Triunfo Sanitation District jointly own and operate the Tapia facility, which treats the area’s waste water and recycles the effluent as irrigation for golf courses, parks and other public areas.

Excess recycled water is allowed to be released into Malibu Creek for five months out of the year, but critics state the water has contributed to unwanted algae in the stream, which leads to pollution.

Last week’s hearing, which was conducted at Simi Valley City Hall, was continued from Sept. 1. The extension allowed the regional board additional time to study conflicting scientific evidence about the effects of recycled water in the creek.

Each year, Tapia is prohibited from discharging reclaimed water into the creek from April 15 to Nov. 15 when the sand berm at Malibu Surfrider Beach is open and exposed to the supposedly polluted creek.

Under the new permit, Tapia must conform to the Environmental Protection Agency’s water nutrient standards. In return, the plant will be allowed to discharge its recycled water at certain times during the prohibited months.

The amount of harmful nutrients in the water would rise just 1 percent during these “rare” discharge periods, said Dr. Randall Orton, Las Virgenes watershed manager.

Charles Caspary, president of the water district’s board of directors, said the new requirements are “doable.”

But not everyone believes the new standards are healthy for Malibu Creek. Representatives from the Malibu Surfing Association claimed the revised permit does not comply with the law and called it an “intolerable denial of due process.”

John Mundy, the water district’s general manager, said Tapia will not discharge “willy nilly” into the creek. “We don’t take this lightly,” Mundy said.

The new permit allows Tapia to rid itself of recycled water during stormy weather when the plant reaches overflow capacity, but the water district still must add a $10 million de-nitrification facility to the works.

“The $10 million will technologically enhance that (natural) process so those beneficial bacteria work harder than they do now,” said David Lippman, an engineer and director of facilities and operations at the water district. “The end result will be lower levels of (harmful) nutrients.”

Water district officials say the reclaimed water actually reduces bacteria in the creek, while environmental groups, including Heal the Bay, Santa Monica Bay Keepers and others, contend that the treated water is the culprit behind algae growth, which cuts off oxygen and kills fish.

According to the water district, excessive algae can be found upstream from Tapia, not just downstream. The recycled water pales in comparison to the pollution produced by urban runoff, septic tanks, animal waste— including droppings from thousands of birds—and other forces, all of which contribute to the degradation of Malibu Creek, the water district said.

Arlene Post, director of resource conservation and public outreach, said Tapia currently reduces harmful nutrients in the water by 86 percent. When the new plant is completed, the nutrient levels will be reduced by up to 93 percent.

“It’s so difficult because we are already reducing the nutrients so significantly,” said Post.

Heather Hoecherl, director of science and policy for Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental group concerned with the safety of Southern California coastal waters, said stricter standards are still needed. Hoecherl recommended that Tapia only be allowed to discharge water into the creek for 72 hours following a storm. She called the new permit “weaker” and said it is “detrimental” to steelhead trout and the creek.

One option would be for Tapia to release its recycled water into the Los Angeles River, but Mundy that would only serve to transfer problems from one watershed to another.

“The creek did not become impaired in one cycle and will not be fixed in one cycle,” Mundy said, calling the new permit “workable” and “sustainable.”

Susan Cloke, chair of the regional water board, said the board’s goal was to help the water district find ways to reclaim water, store water and use the water at future dates.

“I would be pleased to recycle every drop of water,” said Mundy, “but the reality is that the district is short on storage facilities. We have to build demand (for recycled water) or it has to be emptied each year,” he said.

“We are really challenged to find places to put this water,” Mundy said.

To increase the recycled water going to residential properties would require expensive new pipelines, Mundy said. A study on the recycled water distribution is currently underway, he said.

It has yet to be decided whether the cost for the Tapia denitrification improvements will be passed on to consumers. Officials indicated the district could pay for the cost using its reserve funds.