FPUD fined $3,000 for 2008 sewer discharge violation

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board settled a May 2008 Fallbrook Public Utility District sewer discharge violation by approving a $3,000 penalty against FPUD.

The RWQCB’s 6-0 vote January 12 imposes the mandatory minimum penalty for an effluent limitation violation. FPUD had previously agreed to the amount and did not contest the fine.

“It was a very simple matter,” said Frank Melbourn, a water resource control engineer in the RWQCB’s compliance assurance unit.

In fact, it was simplicity rather than complexity which led to the 2 1/2-year timeframe between the violation and the fine. “It was one violation over a long period of time,” Melbourn said. “We haven’t seen anything to show that it’s a recurrent chronic problem.”

The one-time violation required a penalty but did not place the case as a top priority. The mandatory minimum penalty is $3,000 per day while the maximum penalty is $10,000 per day.

FPUD’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit includes effluent limitations for the discharge of treated wastewater to the Pacific Ocean through the Oceanside Ocean Outfall. The limitation for settleable solids is 3.0 milliliters per liter of water. On May 6, 2008, FPUD sampling of settleable solids at Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 1 on Alturas Street found an instantaneous result of 5.0 milliliters of effluent per liter of water. Because that amount exceeded the effluent limitation by at least 40 percent, it is considered a “serious violation” and subject to the mandatory minimum penalty. The formal report on the violation was received by the RWQCB on June 10, 2008.

After the case was reviewed, FPUD sent a $3,000 check to the RWQCB, which will be placed in the State Water Resources Control Board’s Cleanup and Abatement Account. The RWQCB received that check on October 29, 2010, although the need for a public comment period and board approval delayed the final settlement approval until January 2011.

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