How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As Clearlake residents continue to deal with the fallout of a sewage spill earlier this week that’s impacting well water and threatening health, the Clearlake City Council on Thursday night ratified an emergency declaration in response to the situation.
The Robin Lane sewer spill began on Sunday morning with the rupture of a 16-inch force main operated by the Lake County Sanitation District.
The spill has impacted 58 properties in the area south of Pond Road and north of Rumsey Road, east of Pamela Lane and west of Robin Lane in and around the city of Clearlake.
The spill wasn’t stopped until Monday night, and cleanup and monitoring of the area are continuing, along with well testing.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved emergency declarations from the Public Health officer and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Service.
While the wastewater system is operated by the county, on Monday Clearlake City Manager Alan Flora issued the city’s declaration of a local emergency, which he asked the City Council to ratify at its Thursday evening meeting.
During a special town hall on Wednesday evening, county Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Bernstein urged residents in the impacted area to temporarily relocate, the first time that recommendation had been made publicly.
On Thursday, the council voted to add the emergency declaration as a special item.
Flora told the council that the sewage spill was ongoing for 37.5 hours.
While the county operates the wastewater system, Flora said that, in discussion with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, city staff was told that in order to maximize the community’s ability to recover, it was in the best interests of the city to declare a disaster.
It remains to be seen, however, if any state resources will be available to help, Flora said.
The council voted unanimously to ratify the declaration.
Council hears update from city manager
Later, at the end of the meeting, Flora said the response by Lake County Special Districts and the sanitation district it runs has been both frustrating and disappointing in a lot of ways.
“There's a real lack of information to the folks that are impacted out there, which is disappointing,” he said, adding that he didn’t see the county publicly issue any new information about the situation on Thursday.
Flora thanked all of the council members for being at the special town hall about the sewage spill held Wednesday night in the council chambers.
It was noted during public comment by one community member that Lake County Special Districts Administrator Robin Borre was conspicuously absent from the town hall.
Flora thanked Supervisor Bruno Sabatier for participating in the meeting, adding that he thought the tenor in the room would have been different had he not been there. He credited Sabatier for being “honest and authentic about the situation.”
While neither Special Districts nor the County Administrative Office issued any updates on the situation on Thursday, Flora said he had information to share thanks to Sabatier.
Garbage service resumed in the spill area on Thursday, and people who are staying at hotels have had their stays extended, at least, through Tuesday. Their status will be reviewed before then, Flora said.
He said work is underway to address decontamination of wells and hard surfaces, and water is being taken to livestock in the area.
Regarding ground decontamination, Flora said drone footage doesn't show a very thorough job having been done so far. He suggested they need to pay more attention to that work by the county.
He said Environmental Health initially had two teams out in the field working on well testing. “Now they have seven teams out there working, so a lot more testing is going to be coming in, and hopefully it will be a much quicker understanding of the status of what's going on in the aquifer and the water in the area.”
Flora said there’s been frustration about inadequate maps of the spill area, with the county now working on new ones that are expected to be released on Friday.
Portable showers remain available, with the shower trailer to be moved to a new and more accessible location. Flora said he’d made multiple offers for the county to use the shower trailer at the senior center, but the county hasn’t accepted. He said they’ll continue to offer to make them available.
He said the county is planning to begin road work on Pamela Lane next week and on Robin Lane toward month’s end. County crews have dug up, or are planning to dig up, a patch that happened due to a sewage spill that occurred roughly 10 years ago.
Anyone who needs support or information is urged to contact Sabatier at 707-695-0834 or Lake County Special Districts at 707-263-0119.
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