Lakeport Utilities Director Mark Brannigan took to the council the proposed $19,700 agreement with SHN Consulting Engineers & Geologists Inc. to produce quarterly monitoring reports from the third quarter of 2008 to this year's fourth quarter.
He said the agreement was necessary in light of an Aug. 3 notice of violation from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The water board's notice of violation is requiring the city to provide the quarterly monitoring reports in order to comply with state rules and avoid a $7,961,000 fine, according to Brannigan's report to the council.
Brannigan's report said the notice of violation allows the city to provide a report by Sept. 1 “explaining why the monitoring was not performed and identifying actions that will be taken to assure future monitoring reports will be submitted on time and complete.”
The required monitoring is to ensure that the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District's operations aren't causing groundwater degradation, Brannigan said Tuesday.
He said the Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a Revised Monitoring and Reporting Program in 2004 which required that quarterly monitoring reports be done by a state certified geologist or engineer.
Brannigan said the city in October 2008 provided the state with a best practicable treatment and control evaluation report which concluded that groundwater degradation was not taking place based on testing the city had conducted.
At the same time city staff – hoping to save the city money – asked to reduce the monitoring requirements from quarterly to biannual or annual. Brannigan said the request was made again in January 2009 when the city applied for a revised report of waste discharge with the state.
In the meantime, the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District did not renew its monitoring contract in an effort to reduce expenditures. He said staff continued to sample and monitor eight city well facilities while waiting for the state to address the application.
“Here we are in 2011,” he said, with the state now just getting to the permitting requests made in 2009.
Brannigan said the city is ready to move on the issue to avoid the fine.
The city is being required to go back and prepare the reports. Brannigan said he wanted to be able to tell the state that the city is under contract for the reports.
The state's letter to the city requires that the first of the reports, for the third quarter of 2008, be submitted by Sept. 1, or the city must submit a report explaining why it isn't ready. The 2011 third quarter monitoring report also must be submitted to the state by Oct. 1.
The threat of the fine is “a standard tactic that the regional board uses when they find something that is out of compliance,” he said, explaining that the agency counted the number of days out of compliance and multiplied that by the maximum daily fine to reach the nearly $8 million figure.
The state is due to send someone for a site visit on the city's permit application on Oct. 8, Brannigan said.
“If they decide to be nasty about it, is there a way to appeal their findings and their fine?” asked Councilman Bob Rumfelt.
Brannigan said there is an appeal process. He said the city has been told that the notice of violation is a “fix it” order.
City Manager Margaret Silveira added that the order is “a threat to get it done.”
She also told the council that having the consultant on board shows the state that the city is exercising due diligence in addressing the problem.
Mayor Suzanne Lyons asked Brannigan if the city has the data the state wants. Brannigan said yes, that Finance Manager Dan Buffalo put it into a spreadsheet about a year ago.
Councilman Tom Engstrom moved to approve the contract, with Mayor Pro Tem Stacey Mattina seconding. The vote was 5-0.
The council also approved a resolution supporting the county of Lake's request that the governor declare a statewide emergency regarding invasive mussels.
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