LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday got an update on the abatement of the Hoberg's Resort property's fire-damaged wastewater system and discussed moving forward on an overall property cleanup, while hearing from a number of residents concerned about the impacts on their community.

County officials indicated that not only are efforts to get the property cleaned up moving forward, but District Attorney Don Anderson indicated his office is conducting an investigation into criminal wrongdoing relating to environmental damage from the property's condition.

Last week, after a series of storms surcharged the resort's wastewater system – causing it to run off into a nearby creek – the county served resort management with a 48-hour summary abatement based on a health emergency, as Lake County News has reported.

When the deadline came and went at 5 p.m. Thursday without the work being completed, the county hired Cobb contractor Ken Gifford to come in and finish the work, which he did over the weekend, according to Board of Supervisors Chair Rob Brown.

“They did a good job and they did it just in time,” Brown said of Gifford.

Brown said staff is now working on a 30-day abatement for the damage the resort sustained during the Valley fire in September as well as for removal of logs that had been stored there in anticipation of a milling operation that the resort management had wanted to carry out but which the county shut down.

He said the county can't afford to pay for the cleanup should the property owners, Lake County Partners LLC, fail to complete it.

“The taxpayers should not be on the hook for this, so it could potentially mean condemnation of the property in order to pay for it,” Brown said.

He said the county has spoken with the owners about having it cleaned up in 60 days, as it likely can't be completed in just a month. Brown said several different contractors will most likely need to be employed at once.

He said he's remained in constant communication with state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Bill Dodd about the property. “They're monitoring this program extensively, daily,” he said.

In January, the California Office of Emergency Services told county officials that they would not allow for further commercial property cleanups, as Lake County News has reported.

That was despite the fact that several commercial properties damaged by the Valley fire had been cleaned up before the end of the year as part of the state-led cleanup effort overseen by CalRecycle, according to county officials.

CalRecycle told Lake County News that the determination, ultimately, was up to Cal OES, which had decided commercial properties were not eligible unless they created a public health risk.

Before the commercial property cleanup was halted, county officials said CalRecycle had conducted cleanups at a tire shop, Havy’s restaurant near Hidden Valley Lake, at the Middletown water company and at Harbin Hot Springs, which Brown said cost $5 million alone.

Lake County Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski told Lake County News in an interview last week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is reimbursing CalRecycle $43 million for a portion of the Valley fire cleanup, doesn't consider commercial properties eligible, meaning the state would have to cover them.

On Tuesday, Brown reiterated that McGuire and Dodd were trying to get assistance for the county in the Hoberg's case.

Brown pledged that the Hoberg's Resort cleanup will be heavily monitored by the county. “We're going to be actively involved in this cleanup from one end of it to the next,” he said, adding, “We're serious about this. We've got to have this thing cleaned up.”

Ruminski said Tuesday that, before the commercial cleanups stopped, CalRecycle's contractor had carried out a site study on Hoberg's. The county has so far not been able to get that information, but over the weekend Cal OES staff told the county they would make the reports available.

He told the board that a significant part of the debris on the resort is burned asbestos waste from the buildings. Ruminski said the asbestos hazards should be identified and removed before the wood slash and logs.

Brown proposed having the property owners – who he said have money available for the cleanup – place those funds in an escrow account or have the county hold onto the money as it would do when an environmental study is done in order to make sure contractors are paid.

He said he also wanted a performance bond on the property, with Scott De Leon, the county's Public Works director and interim head of the Community Development Department, looking into that possibility.

Robert Stark, general manager of the Cobb Area County Water District, presented to the board results of the testing his district had done on the stormwater runoff from the resort's wastewater system.

Ruminski clarified during the discussion that Hoberg's did not have a septic system such as a residence would have, with a tank and a leach field. Rather, it consisted of a series of drains from the buildings to a lift station, which pumped it to an oxidation station.

Stark said the testing found high levels of materials such as aluminum, which was 42,000 parts per billion, when 11 parts per billion is the limit, he said. It was not detectable in the water from his district, located next door to the resort. He said there is no other place the aluminum could come from but the fire debris.

He also said barium – which does not occur naturally – was tested at 280 parts per billion, with 100 being the maximum contaminant level allowed.

While Stark noted that those levels aren't necessarily toxic, they are well beyond the desired limits, and he argued that they are proof that the elements are coming from the debris flow.

During public comment, board members heard from upset Cobb residents who ran the gamut from accusing the county of not taking action until the recent storms to questioning the priority of the cleanup.

“We've always considered this to be a priority. We don't establish the priorities for the state,” Brown responded at one point.

Jessyca Lytle, who watched Hoberg's be engulfed by flames as she was evacuating family members, told the supervisors, “It behooves this entire board to act swiftly,” going on to ask all of them what they have been doing to deal with the situation and wanting assurances that they will follow through.

Lytle also volunteered to help with lobbying state officials for assistance. “It's a job of many, not of one, not of a few.”

Brown said during the meeting that the county does not want to get stuck with owning the resort property, which accounts for $25,000 a year in property taxes on the county tax roll. He said the county is looking at a huge drop in property taxes in the near future. “We've got to have every nickel we can.”

He said the documentation provided by Stark will be very valuable in the effort to prove a health hazard exists to state officials.

Dave Svec, a business consultant for Lake County Partners LLC, said the county has been good to work with, and noted that the resort had issues attempting to find contractors to do the work last week.

Svec also distinguished the current owners from Cobb Mountain Partners, under whose ownership manager Dan Nelson had carried out a cleanup on the resort that resulted in him being prosecuted.

Nelson was convicted last spring of a misdemeanor for willfully violating a Cal/OSHA standard for potentially exposing his employees to asbestos during a 2012 renovation project. Earlier this month, he began serving his 60-day sentence in the Lake County Jail.

The resort could be looking at more issues with the law, based on comments made by District Attorney Don Anderson at the meeting.

Anderson spoke to the board, accompanied by Rachel Monten, a circuit environmental crimes prosecutor with the California District Attorneys Association.

“We have an independent investigation going on into the Hoberg's environmental crimes,” said Anderson, explaining that he wants to partner with the county on that effort.

He said they have reached out and spoken to some county officials, but have been unable to get testing and other information from others.

The California District Attorneys Association, he said, offers resources to help the county get the cleanup completed.

“We have a hammer. We have a big hammer. Not only criminally, but through civil litigation, which we can do through the DA's association. But we really need cooperation and to work together with you guys,” Anderson said.

Monten said the most important thing she and the District Attorney's Office need is copies of any sampling that's been done on the resort property.

“I need to know what's on the site so we can make an assessment about what charges, if any, would be appropriate,” Monten said.

Brown said he would send out an email to schedule a meeting with all relevant county staff on Wednesday, adding he couldn't imagine any of them wouldn't be cooperative.

Anderson referred to his office’s previous work on issues relating to Hoberg's before, mentioning Nelson, who he confirmed remained in custody. The audience applauded him as he ended his remarks.

Brown told Lake County News later on Tuesday that he is scheduled to meet with department heads at 10 a.m. Wednesday to discuss Anderson's request regarding the investigation.

He said staff continues to work on the 30-day abatement of the full resort property, but didn't yet have a firm date of when it is expected to be served.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.