Held at LACSD, noon-4 p.m.
1955 Workman Mill Rd. Whittier, CA 90601.
No charge, all agencies are welcome.
RSVP to Kent McIntosh
FOG clogs sewers and costs sewer customers additional money. Every day, large amounts are illegally washed into sewers mainly from food preparation establishments (usually through kitchen sinks and floor drains) that do not have adequate grease control measures in place. FOG attaches to the inner lining of the private plumbing system on your property, as well as the public sewer system in city streets.
Los Angeles County is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied a rehearing of Natural Resources Defense Council, et al. v. County of Los Angeles, et al. on July 13. The landmark appellate ruling, made in March, stated that cities with municipal separate storm sewer (MS4) permits are strictly liable for all stormwater runoff pollution at their monitoring stations, regardless of whether the pollutant originated outside the MS4 system. Even if the municipality is working to address known violations—an iterative process—penalties may be incurred.
The lawsuit was brought against the county because the county’s flood control district exceeded the pollutant limits of its MS4 permit. However, the county claims that upstream neighbors are responsible for some of the pollutant loads. There are concerns that this ruling could lead to litigation between municipalities regarding who is responsible for stormwater pollutants.
Brent Haddad studies water in a place where water is often in short supply: California.
Haddad is a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. About 14 years ago, he became very interested in the issue of water reuse.
At the time, a number of California’s local water agencies were proposing a different approach to the state’s perennial water problems. They wanted to build plants that would clean local wastewater — aka sewage water — and after that cleaning, make it available as drinking water. But, says Haddad, these proposals were consistently shot down by an unwilling public.
“The public wasn’t really examining the science involved,” Haddad says. “They were just saying no.” This infuriated the water engineers, who thought the public’s response was fundamentally irrational, Haddad says.
“That’s what I would hear at these water agency meetings,” Haddad says, “these very frustrated water engineers saying, ‘My public is irrational! They are irrational! They simply won’t listen!’ ”
The 2012 CWEA P3S Conference seeks presentations for workshop sessions in the following tracks:
- Non-Industrial Source Control
- Pretreatment Automation Tools
- Pretreatment 101 – how and why did the pretreatment regulations come to be
- Regulatory Issues
- EPA Audit Experiences
- Stormwater Issues
- Pollution Prevention Outreach Successes
- Permit Writing War Stories
The 2012 CWEA P3S Conference will be held February 27-29, 2012 in Southern California.
We would love to have you present your work and interesting “war stories” as we all spend some time learning together. Please send a brief description of your presentation for consideration to Mike Zedek (mzedek@ocsd.com).
Please join us for our next collection systems luncheon to be held on June 23, 2011 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
AQMD Fleet Rules (15 min)
Dean Saito, AQMD
An explanation of AQMD’s Clean Natural Gas vehicle requirements for new municipal equipment operating within the LA Basin as well as recent examples of the waiver process.
Equipment Options and Capabilities (15 min)
Dave Thomas, Haaker
The options available for purchasing CNG vehicles and equipment specifications and capabilities.
Clean Fleet Success Story (30 min panel discussion)
Barry Berggren, City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Sanitation
The panel includes Mr. Berggren and members of the BOS field crew and fleet staff. They’ll describe the challenges CNG equipment poses in the field and for fleet management, along with ways the City of Los Angeles is addressing those challenges.
Please RSVP by June 22nd to:
Cathy Macklin,
RMC Water & Environment
cmacklin@rmcwater.com
(310) 566-6460
Location:
City of Los Angeles
Bureau of Sanitation
Media Center
2714 Media Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90065
See flyer for more information
The next GREEN workshop, dealing with Injury Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP) Preparation, is scheduled for Friday June 3, 2011 from 8 am – 12 noon at the South Whittier Education Center.
The South Whittier Education Center is located at 14307 E. Telegraph Rd., Whittier Ca 90604 and is in front of the Sheriff’s Training Center. There is free parking at the center.
All existing GREEN participants should bring your GREEN Training Binders to this next event. You will also be given the next set of training materials for your GREEN library. If you do not have a GREEN binder, one will be provided for you at the workshop.
If you know of any company or individual that can use and/or benefit from this much needed IIPP training, please invite them to attend this next training event.
Please contact Steve Katnik at 562-463-7501 or email me at skatnik@riohondo.edu if you have questions.
Map to South Whittier Education Center
The next P3S Committee meeting will be held in The Industrial Waste Conference room at the L.A. County Sanitation Districts’ Joint Administration Office in Whittier, CA on Thursday May 26th, 2011 at 10:00 am.
All P3S members and other interested parties are welcome to attend. Remote attendance via conference call and GoToMeeting is available. See below meeting agenda for more details. Please RSVP jboyd@lacsd.org to if you will be attending in person to insure we have enough lunch for everyone. Lunch is on the Committee.
Maintenance: Safety, Reliability & Compliance Seminar
Key Learning Objectives:
- Maintenance practices for control panels and PLC systems that will enhance the reliability of your facility
- Appropriate measures to make your facility compliant with current arc-flash regulations and keep your staff safe
- Maintenance approaches to keep the equipment running smoothly and earn new-found respect for your maintenance
staff
With new regulatory information becoming available, it is critical to be prepared and up-todate with the latest regulations. The presenters will detail how to approach implementation of the 12 essential quality control elements for the top 10 testing procedures performed in wastewater labs.
On March 24, 2011, the State Water Resources Control Board released for public comment draft Waste Discharge Requirements for Sanitary Sewer Systems (SSS WDR). If adopted, the proposed SSS WDR would replace the existing statewide SSO WDR (Order WQ 2006-003.)
Written Comments are due Friday, April 29, 2011 at Noon
A State Water Resources Control Board workshop will be scheduled at a future date, most likely in June.
The proposed revisions represent a major departure from the program that has been successfully implemented under the SSO WDR. The water quality associations and local government associations are drafting comprehensive comments on the proposed SSS WDR. But we also need your help.
Please send a comment letter on behalf of your agency requesting that the State Water Board significantly scale back the proposed SSS WDR and allow the programs and progress begun under the existing SSO WDR to be fully implemented, since many of these programs involve capital improvements that will take time to be put in place.
Environmental Compliance Inspectors (ECIs) inspect and investigate sources of pollution to protect the public and environment and ensure conformance with Federal, State, and local regulations and ordinances.
CWEA offers four grade levels for ECIs through their technical certification program (TCP). Join Bill to enhance your knowledge of wastewater treatment processes, laboratory procedures, mechanical equipment, industrial processes, safety codes, budgeting principles, regulations and management strategies as you prepare to achieve the next ECI grade level.
No cost or pre-registration but send an email Bill Garrett at bgarrett@lacsd.org to sign up for the review session.
Location:
Los Coyotes WRP
16515 Piuma Av
Cerritos, CA 90703
(upstairs in the Maintenance Building lunch room)
See flyer for more information
The Wastewater Maintenance Section in the City of Glendale, Calif., has attacked the root of its sewer problems by letting the guys in the field do their thing.
Plagued by sanitary sewer overflows, most often caused by root intrusion, the section abandoned its program of scheduled line-by-line CCTV monitoring and adopted a “spot check” approach based on field observations from its maintenance crews.
The results have been spectacular. “In early 2005, we were seeing an SSO rate as high as 15 spills per 100 miles of sewer line,” explains John Hicks, wastewater superintendent. “Since summer of 2008, we’re down to an average of about 3.5 spills per 100 miles, and we’ve flat-lined at that rate. In fact, within the last year we’ve gone 100 days without an SSO — not bad for a collection system of this age.”
Join CWEA/SARBS Engineering Committee for a workshop geared for engineers, technicians, and other wastewater utility staff seeking a basic background on easements.
When:
December 8, 2010
8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Where:
Irvine Ranch Water District Learning Center
3512 Michelson Drive
Irvine, CA 92612
Cost: $50
See flyer for more information.
LABS is searching for a volunteer to help host this event. If you’re a LABS member and willing to help with registration and distributing lunch, please send an email to Alec Mackie at alecm@jwce.com Thank you!!
Workshop Overview:
Quality Assurance is the definitive program for laboratory operations that specifies the measures required to produce defensible data of known precision and accuracy. A brief overview will be given on current QA/QC practices and requirements.
This workshop will address many areas to help you implement and improve on your laboratory’s Quality Assurance Program.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Explore Quality Assurance: Past, Present and Future
- Learn about Quality Assurance Foundation
- How to use Quality Assurance in your Lab
- Understand Current Quality Control Terminology and its Meaning
Who Should Attend:
- Lab Personnel
- Environmental Compliance Inspectors
- Operations Managers
- Operations Staff
- Anyone who Reviews Laboratory Data
> See flyer for more information
Registration on line link:
http://www.cwea.org/et_attendees_conferences.shtml
FILLMORE – Never has the Santa Clara River been filtered so vigorously, so urgently and at such great cost to tiny towns as it has in the last two years.
At least three brand-new, state-of-the-art water treatment plants, recycling plants and one pump house have been built or are in the planning stage along the river between the Santa Clarita Valley and the Pacific Ocean.
High energy-efficient plants in Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru all started purifying water along the Santa Clara River within the last couple of months.
What motivated each tiny town to spend millions of dollars on infrastructure when each community, like the rest of America, struggles to rebound from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?
California beaches violated water quality standards fewer times than usual last year. That’s a key finding of a national report the Natural Resources Defense Council released this morning. The conclusion isn’t as good as it may sound.
Beaches in the Golden State tested dirty less often than before – particularly in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties – because testers sampled for bacteria at state beaches less often than before. “It’s really a case of ‘what you don’t look for, you don’t find,’” says Noah Garrison, a lawyer for the NRDC.
He adds that the culprit is a shrunken state budget. “We’re simply monitoring the beaches less. Often that’s in the wintertime, but that’s still a concern because people really visit the beaches year-round in California,” he says.
Ventura County cut sampling in the winter and spring; Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties saw around 60 percent drops in frequency. Some beaches Orange County used to test daily were tested weekly; overall Orange County’s testing dropped by a quarter. Los Angeles County recorded a 38% drop – not as bad as it could have been, Garrison said, mainly because regional water regulators have required sampling as a top priority.
In winter months, stormwater sends bacteria into the ocean as rainfall carries more pollutants into drains. But even in summer months, Garrison says water quality wasn’t necessarily improving. “During summer months the percent of samples that did not meet bacterial health standards for L.A. County and for Orange County remained about the same as it was in 2008, or in many cases actually was worse,” Garrison says.
The NRDC report points out that known sources of contamination at California beaches are a tiny fraction of the total. Unknown sources make up three-quarters of reported contamination; “no data” counts for 13 percent more. That could be stormwater, or sewage; nobody knows.
Some of the dirtiest beaches are the usual suspects: Surfrider Beach in Malibu, Santa Monica State Beach near the pier, Cabrillo Beach, Newport Bay. Garrison says beaches popular with tourists and locals are vital to the coastal and state economy. “To be allowing them to become a public health threat where not enough monitoring is done so people don’t know whether the beach they’re swimming at is safe for them to be in the water at, we really can’t continue that practice and hope that our economy will continue to thrive,” he says.
Federal stimulus money has followed this logic. In Hermosa Beach, the Environmental Protection Agency gave the city 1-and-a-third million dollars to reduce and clean stormwater runoff at Pier Street. The project includes a greywater component; wastewater will be recycled to feed plants in a pedestrian park at the area.
To learn more about the NRDC report, please join us on September 16 for a LABS luncheon with Senior Attorney David Beckman from the NRDC for a discussion of triple bottom line solutions that address regional stormwater from an inclusive perspective.
City Achieves 80% Reduction in Sewer Overflows and Aggressively Addresses Sewer Related Odors
LOS ANGELES (July 23, 2010)—The Bureau of Sanitation continues to be aggressive in implementing various projects and programs to manage effectively and renew the City’s 6,700 mile wastewater sewer system. As a result, the Bureau of Sanitation has reduced the number of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) by 80% since the baseline fiscal year (FY) of 2000/2001, reaching yet another record low number of SSOs this year. The City of Los Angeles wastewater collection system is operated and maintained by the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Sanitation (BOS). There were 687 recorded SSOs in 2000/2001, 444 in 2003/2004, 200 in FY 2007/2008, 159 in FY 2008/2009, and just 139 in FY 2009/10. The number of SSOs during last fiscal year is 12 percent lower than the previous year’s record low. The wastewater collection industry measures excellent system performance by the number of SSOs per 100 miles each year. The City’s metric for last fiscal year was a record low 2.07 SSOs per 100 miles per year, one of the lowest in the nation.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed daily pollution limits for lakes in nine urban and suburban parks in the Los Angeles area that have been identified as impaired due to nutrients, mercury, trash, pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls. EPA and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board are racing to beat a March 2012 deadline to establish total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for waterways in California’s Los Angeles and Ventura counties, a deadline set in a 1999 consent decree. Half of the over 90 TMDLs that must be established are in place, according to EPA documents. The latest proposed rule lists an additional 32 limits. The federal agency is stepping in because the regional board is short on resources and EPA can establish the TMDLs in less time, according to the EPA documents. The lakes and the pollutants contributing to their impairment are: Peck Road Park Lake – nitrogen, phosphorus, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, PCB’s, and trash; Lincoln Park Lake – nitrogen, phosphorus, trash; Echo Park Lake – nitrogen, phosphorus, chlordane, dieldrin, PCBs, trash; Lake Calabasas – nitrogen, phosphorus; El Dorado Park Lakes – nitrogen, phosphorus, mercury; Legg lakes (North, Center and Legg) – nitrogen, phosphorus; Puddingstone Reservoir – nitrogen, phosphorus, chlordane, DDT, PCBs, mercury; Santa Fe Dam Park – nitrogen, phosphorus; and Lake Sherwood – mercury.
