Politics & Government

City Awaits Lawsuit Related to 2008 SASM Spills

Richardson Bay Sanitary District said it expects to sue the city within the next week over the fees and fines incurred in the wake of environmental violations.

More than three years after a pair of sewage spills cost the (SASM) $2.6 million in fines and fees, one of its six member agencies plans to file a lawsuit against the the city of Mill Valley, which operates the SASM plant.

The Richardson Bay Sanitary District’s Greenbrae-based attorney Peter Brekhus sent the city a letter last month demanding that the city reimburse and compensate “SASM and its respective agencies for the losses, fines and forfeitures they suffered as a result of the city’s operation and management of the facility.”

The Richardson Bay district, which collects sewage for more than 4,000 households in Strawberry and parts of Tiburon, is one of six SASM member agencies, along with Mill Valley, the and the sanitary districts of , Alto and Homestead Valley. Through a contract agreement, the city of Mill Valley operates the plant on Sycamore Avenue and oversees its staff and management.

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city responded on May 25 with a letter of its own, rejecting the district’s demand. In that letter, Mill Valley City Attorney Greg Stepanicich wrote that any expenses, costs or fees incurred in the aftermath of the spills were incurred by SASM, and therefore “only SASM has standing to assert such a claim.”

The city’s position is that since the fines and fees were paid out of SASM’s reserves and not by individual agencies directly, individual agencies have no legal claim for reimbursement.

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city’s letter did not surprise Richardson Bay district officials, Brekhus said.

“We didn’t anticipate that they would simply break out their checkbook,” he said. “It would be our intention to proceed with the litigation, perhaps this week or next.”

The standoff stems from two spills of raw and partially treated sewage in January 2008 during a period of heavy storms. On Jan. 25, 2.4 million gallons of sewage overflowed from the agency’s storage ponds and out into Pickleweed Inlet. On Jan. 31, an operator error led to not enough pumps being available to pump water out of the plant, sending 900,000 gallons of wastewater underground and out into Richardson Bay.

In the aftermath of the spills, SASM faced a $1.6 million fine from the state Regional Water Quality Control Board. The fines have been paid in full in three installments, according to Mill Valley City Manager Jim McCann.

Half of that fine went towards a shoreline protection and ecological enhancement project on Aramburu Island, which is in the northwest portion of Richardson Bay on the east side of Strawberry Point. The other half was used to establish the , which provided incentives for residents to upgrade their private sewer laterals that connect their homes to the city’s sewer system.

SASM also incurred approximately $1 million in engineering and attorneys fees from the spill. Though both of the spills originated from the SASM plant, the EPA’s enforcement action identified problems with the collection systems of all six agencies.

The Mill Valley City Council Monday night designed to pay for a , hoping to avoid future spills by upgrading an aging system.

“It’s just an unfortunate episode,’ McCann said of the possible lawsuit from the Richardson Bay district. “There are many communities with aging infrastructure and they should be focusing on fixing those systems, and that’s what we’re doing. The best thing to do is to move forward. That’s where everybody’s energy ought to be.”

John Elam, the general manager of the Tamalpais Community Services District, questioned the timing of the Richardson Bay action, particularly in the wake of three years of SASM board decisions to handle the aftermath of the spill.

“If it had been Richardson Bay’s money, clearly that would have been a factor,” he said. “But once we pay our fees to SASM, it becomes SASM’s money, not ours. I don’t believe that Richardson Bay has any money on the table at all either for the payments of EPA fine or the EPA work that was required. They will have to show that they themselves were in fact hurt by this financially.”

The city of Mill Valley has been the operator of the SASM plant on Sycamore Avenue since 1979. Although Richardson Bay district officials in 2010, on March 30the SASM board approved a revised operations and maintenance agreement with the city to continue operating the plant.

Brekhus said he couldn’t speak directly to why the Richardson Bay district decided to take action now instead of earlier, but said it was likely prompted by the recent 15 percent rate increase by SASM, part of which is to pay for infrastructure improvement and to replenish a reserve fund that was used to pay the fines and fees.

Richardson Bay might not be alone in its stance. Although it has not yet taken any legal action, the Almonte Sanitary District board voted May 23 to support Richardson Bay. Board chairman Kevin Reilly said his district is taking and wait-and-see approach to the matter.

“We want to be clear about our position to support Richardson Bay,” Reilly said. “But we reserve judgment until we see how things play out.”

Elam questioned the timing of the legal action given the ongoing pressure the districts face to consolidate. A 2009 Marin County Civil Grand Jury report prepared in the wake of the spills concluded that the six sewer districts that comprise SASM could run more efficiently if they combined.

Assembly Bill 1232, proposed by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael and passed in 2010, moves decision-making authority for consolidation away from district directors and into the hands of the countywide Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). The bill does not impact Mill Valley or the Tam district, only the other four.

“At a time when we’re trying to demonstrate that special districts can work together, this shows that conflicts exist between the districts,” he said. “I’m not sure how anything good comes out of this.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here