City stuck in a sewer squabble





In the name of being “environmentally conscious,” the city of Calabasas has targeted 100 homes currently on septic systems.

Calabasas has proposed an unnecessary and extraordinarily harsh Ordinance to monitor OWTS (on-site waste treatment systems) that will result in thousands of dollars in costs to these few homeowners.

When they first introduced it, officials promised to mirror the ordinance adopted by Malibu. When the first draft was published on the website however, it was clear they had no intention of mirroring the working-model already in effect in Malibu. The city of Malibu has over 6,000 septic systems, Calabasas, just over 100.

Why evoke such an excessive and intrusive ordinance on so few?

Recently, city officials promised to work with the community in drafting this ordinance, claiming the city is only trying to meet water quality requirements regarding bacteria flowing into the Malibu Creek watershed.

Citing the city’s own water quality tests, bacteria levels from sewered communities are more than 17 times greater than those from Old Topanga Canyon (on septic). Extensive documentation shows leaking sewer laterals are often the cause—tree roots, earthquakes and general ground movement, the culprit.

Leaking laterals disperse raw sewage into our groundwater. Calabasas has nearly 9,000 homes currently hooked up to sewer laterals. Why not an ordinance to monitor 9,000 homes versus 100?

Perhaps the city is hoping to extend sewers into the scenic corridor rural community of Old Topanga. This would not only create a trench (adverse to the ordinance to protect oak trees) down the center of an oak-lined Canyon, but more importantly, open the flood gates to extensive development of this peaceful, scenic canyon.

Smells like sewage to me.
Jody Thomas
Topanga



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