Local News 
Homeowners file suit to stop Rincon sewer
4/11/05
NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER[/b][/i]
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Three Rincon Point homeowners have filed suit to stop an expensive sewer project that could require 198 homeowners on the coast of Carpinteria to abandon their septic tanks.
The homeowners, Marilyn Ulvaeus, Roger Donlon and Doug White, allege that the Carpinteria Sanitary District failed to consider the impact of running sewer lines through coastal wetlands, creeks and archaeological sites when it conducted an environmental review of the project. The district itself has had sewage spills that could contribute to ocean pollution, and it ships treated wastewater only 1,000 feet offshore, the plaintiffs say.
“Nowhere in the environmental impact report does it state that the ocean and creek water will be better after we have a sewer,” said Marilyn Ulvaeus, one of the plaintiffs. “It could be very, very disruptive to the environment. With earthquakes and all kinds of things, it seems like a disaster.”
Some of Ms. Ulvaeus’ neighbors, however, say the majority of Rincon Point homeowners support the sewer project as a way to help clean up ocean pollution. The Rincon is a world-class surfing spot known as the “Queen of the Coast” for its epic waves.
“Our kids surf out there,” said Dan Emmett, who has lived on the point for 30 years. “We all instinctively know there’s a connection between the quality of the water and the septics in the area.”
On May 3, the district will ask a Santa Barbara Superior Court judge to dismiss the case as premature. The environmental review was “more than thorough” and the sewer project has not been approved yet, said Nancy Kierstyn Schreiner, an attorney for the district.
“This whole thing has been wasting a lot of time, energy and public money,” she said.
The district is proposing to extend its sewer lines along six miles of coastline to Rincon Point, Sandyland Cove, Sand Point Road, Padaro Lane and Beach Club Road, where all the homes are on septic tanks. In 1999, the cost for Rincon Point homeowners alone was estimated at $2.2 million, or about $45,000 to $60,000 per home.
Heal the Ocean, a local environmental group, initiated the campaign for sewer hookups in 1998, after the Rincon was discovered to have one of the most polluted surf zones in the county.
A DNA study later identified human waste as a major source of bacterial contamination in the Rincon Creek lagoon, which empties into the ocean. Based on that study, the district’s environmental report on the sewer project concluded that there was “strong evidence” that septic systems at Rincon Point were “substantially” contributing to ocean contamination.
A county survey later identified Rincon Point as a “high problem” area for septic tanks because of its small lots, aging systems and shallow groundwater.
But Eric Kitchen, an attorney for the Rincon plaintiffs, says no one has proved that septic tanks are polluting the surf zone.
“What was found in the lagoon was equivalent to one baby diaper,” he said. “There is no study that traces any bacterium in the ocean water or the lagoon to the septic systems.”
The district’s own offshore pipeline could be at fault, Mr. Kitchen said, or, he said, sewage spills could be polluting the ocean.
“Everybody knows it is the sewer systems themselves that spill in rainfalls, causing far more spillage than any septic system could in 10,000 years,” Mr. Kitchen said.
Craig Murray, general manager of the Carpinteria Sanitary District, said the district experienced only one spill this winter – about 300 gallons in all.
The sewer project, he added, was designed at the request of the Rincon Point Homeowners Association.
“A lot of it has to do with their ability to have people over for a party and flush the toilet,” Mr. Murray said. “At Rincon Point, a lot of people can’t do that. I think the lawsuits really lack merit. People are really being obstructionists.”
J. Ronald Gouger, an association director, said he opposed sewer hookups at first but changed his mind after the DNA study. Now, the cost of the project goes up with every lawsuit that is filed, he said.
“We voted for sewers years ago with a big, big majority,” Mr. Gouger said. “It’s just crazy, the way we’ve been fought.”
In 2000, the Rincon plaintiffs successfully filed suit to force the district to prepare a full environmental report. When the report was done, the plaintiffs challenged its contents.
Recently, they filed two more lawsuits, alleging that the district misused $423,000 in state funds for the environmental review and violated the Brown Act, the law that governs open meetings. At the Aug. 30, 2004 meeting in question, the board accepted Heal the Ocean’s offer to cover up to $100,000 of the district’s legal bills. To date, Heal the Ocean has paid $60,000.
As the Carpinteria project stalls, other South Coast neighborhoods, including Braemar Yankee Farm, just west of Arroyo Burro Beach, are embarking on studies of septic-to-sewer conversions. Pockets within the city, including Sunset Road and Carol Avenue near La Cumbre Road; Veronica Springs Road in the Las Positas Valley; and Hope Ranch, a community with 800 homes on septic tanks, also are candidates for study, said Hillary Hauser, executive director of Heal the Ocean.
“We’re helping groups of homeowners to move forward,” she said. “The ball is starting to roll. Once you can get this door open, people are signing up left and right.”
