Sick of Sewage

Sewage Spill Legislation
Baykeeper is sposoring a bill in the California Assembly to reduce sewage spills. Read more about the legislation.

Richardson Bay Pathogens Cleanup Plan
Richardson Bay in Marin County is one of the jewels of the San Francisco Bay Area. Just north of San Francisco, the Bay supports a relatively intact estuarine ecosystem. It is home to the second largest existing eelgrass bed in San Francisco Bay and is the site of important eelgrass bed and native oyster restoration efforts. It also provides essential spawning habitat for the Pacific Herring – San Francisco Bay’s last commercial fishery – as well as a large and diverse bird population, including the endangered California clapper rail.

Unfortunately, sewage from the many people who live on and around Richardson Bay has created a pollution problem. Many years worth of water quality monitoring data has shown that Richardson Bay contains unacceptably high levels of certain types of bacteria found in raw sewage. The San Francisco Bay Regional Board has identified houseboats and liveaboards as significant contributors of sewage to Richardson Bay and developed a cleanup plan to eliminate sewage leaks from these and other sources.

This plan is a good first step towards eliminating sewage problems in Richardson Bay, but it was created before the January 2008 sewage spills from the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin’s treatment plant. These spills shed a bright light on the high frequency of raw sewage spills in Marin, and Baykeeper is strongly urging the Regional Board to take another look at the cleanup plan and make sure that it addresses these spills by requiring specific actions to evaluate and repair southern Marin’s sewage system. Not only will this help fix the bacteria problem, it will significantly reduce the amount of many other pollutants – such as mercury, cyanide, and PCBs – that are present in raw sewage and impacting Richardson Bay.

January Spills in Marin
On January 31, 2008, heavy rains and operator error caused a huge overflow of sewage at a treatment plant in Marin County.  More than 2.5 million gallons of only partially treated sewage spilled out of the plant and into Corte Madera Creek which flows into Richardson Bay.  In fact, this was the second spill to occur in one week. Only six days earlier, the same sewage treatment plant discharged another 2.5 million gallons of sewage after having been overwhelmed by heavy rains.

Impacts on Marin Waters
The impact of these spills is unquestionable.  Richardson Bay supports a steelhead salmon population and is home to one of the largest eelgrass beds in the Bay, as well as populations of native oysters, herring, endangered clapper rails, and endangered salt marsh harvest mice.  Only three months after being hit by toxic oil contamination from the Cosco Busan, the ecologically sensitive area was slammed with bacteria, harmful pathogens, and industrial chemicals. This type of pollution can devastate the marine environment by depleting oxygen and severely impacting food sources.  Additionally, the toxic components of sewage spills can harm humans and pets by causing gastrointestinal illness, skin rashes and infections.

In fact, because of its unique value, Richardson Bay is a federally designated no discharge zone, meaning that even boats are not allowed to dump small amounts of sewage in the Bay.  The area is a very popular recreation site and a favorite spot for dog walking.

Stopping Sewage Dumping Throughout the Bay
San Francisco Baykeeper has been working for ten years to eliminate sewage and industrial wastewater discharges from the San Francisco Bay.  In the last few years, San Francisco Baykeeper successfully leveraged sewage infrastructure upgrades in the cities of Vallejo and Richmond – two of the worst sewage polluters to the Bay – and is currently working with the East Bay Municipal Utilities District to improve systems in East Bay cities.  On February 11, we filed a lawsuit against the City of Burlingame to hold the city accountable for rampant sewage spills and the illegal use of a pipeline into a sensitive marsh area.  Sadly, there are a number of additional sewage offenders in the Bay Area, and San Francisco Baykeeper plans to target at least one half dozen more cities with lawsuits in coming years in order to put an end to sewage spills.  

Baykeeper’s long-term goal has been to hold the worst violators accountable and to use the courts to force cities to invest in capital upgrades to their collection and treatment systems.  However, the scale of the southern Marin spill – one of the largest in recent years from any size treatment plant – has prompted Baykeeper to increase pressure for a systemic overhaul of Bay Area sewage systems. 

Public Notification
The statewide system for alerting county officials of reported spills is due for an upgrade.  The state alert system failed once again, and only after a long delay was the public finally warned to avoid coming into contact with the water of Richardson Bay.  Through our work on the Coast Guard investigation of the notification procedures for the Cosco Busan oil spill, Baykeeper has recognized a need for new requirements for procedures and training.  We are working with legislators to develop new policy that will ensure that the state and local officials work together to respond to spills and warn the public in a timely manner.