Redding fined $72,000 for spill of chlorine-rich water into Sacramento River
Dylan Darlin
Redding.com
05/12/2011
State water officials are fining the city of Redding $72,000 for a January spill of chlorine-rich water into the Sacramento River from its Stillwater Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Treated wastewater in the 67,250-gallon spill had almost 70 times the amount of chlorine allowed in the city's permit with the state, said Robert Crandall, assistant executive officer of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. The water control board announced the fine Thursday.
A faulty pump caused the spill, Crandall said. He said the city needs to be more careful with its wastewater.
"We need to take corrective measures to make sure we are not going to have this in the future," he said.
Brian Crane, Redding public works director, said the city was reviewing the fine and would likely request a settlement conference with water control board officials.
"We just want to better understand why the $72,000," he said.
In February Crandall said the water board was considering fining the city, but that the fine could be about $10,000.
He said that was a minimum for a spill.
Crandall said that in determining the fine, water control board officials looked at the size of the spill, what was in the water and how much spilled. The fine worked out to about a $1 per gallon.
He said the water control board could have fined the city as much as $10 a gallon, or nearly $700,000 for the spill.
If the city has to pay the fine, Crane said, he is hopeful that the water control board will use it for a project in or near Redding.
Crane said the city will wait to see whether it will contest the fine or not. If the city does, the water control board will review it at its early August meeting in Rancho Cordova.
The city could possibly face another fine for the release of unfiltered wastewater into the Sacramento River from the Clear Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant earlier this spring. During heavy rains between March 23 and April 2, the city bypassed part of the treatment process at the plant and released a mix of filtered and unfiltered water into the river.
