City of Santa Barbara Leaky Sewer System Issues!

Channelkeeper Notifies City of Santa Barbara

of Intent to Sue Over Leaky Sewer System

February 24, 2011

Today Santa Barbara Channelkeeper served the City of Santa Barbara with a Notice of Violations and Intent to File Suit under the federal Clean Water Act to compel the city to address the serious problems causing excessive sewage spills in Santa Barbara.

The City of Santa Barbara has the highest rate of sewage spills of the 20+ communities from Santa Cruz to Thousand Oaks with similarly sized sewage systems. In the last five years, there have been at least 171 spills from the city's sewage collection system. Health advisories have been posted at City beaches for excessive bacteria on a far too frequent basis, including two recent multi-day beach closures that were directly caused by sewage spills.

Channelkeeper has been tracking the sewage spill problem in Santa Barbara for nearly ten years, and we've worked hard through outreach, education and advocacy to persuade the city to address the problem, but sewage spills continue to occur. The city's sewage spills are violations of the Clean Water Act and Channelkeeper is filing this legal action as a last resort to make sure that the sewage system finally gets fixed and the spills stop.  Channelkeeper's goal with this action is to protect public health, the environment, the local economy, real estate values, and the quality of life in Santa Barbara.

Sewage spills should be prevented through proper inspection and maintenance of the sewage system, and upgrading it as needed. The City of Santa Barbara, however, has failed to make the investments needed to maintain a robust and reliable sewage collection system. As a result, the city's aging system, largely constructed between 1900-1960 and made mostly of vitrified clay pipe, is in a state of disrepair and is failing regularly.

Channelkeeper hopes the legal issues are resolved quickly and city staff and engineers are rapidly deployed to implement the kind of comprehensive and proactive program needed to upgrade the city's sewer system and come into compliance with the Clean Water Act as soon as possible.

Channelkeeper has more information about this matter available on our website, and we will keep you posted the case moves forward. Meanwhile, thank you for your continued support for Channelkeeper's efforts to defend your right to clean water.