The Power of the Blog

What the heck, huh? Yes! I will take full credit for the county's abrupt change of plan regarding the mid-town, Tri-W sewer plant, and whether its many fatal flaws would be analyzed by the Technical Advisory Committee during the screening process to determine a viable wastewater project for the Los Osos area.

In my last post on SewerWatch, I pointed out that the deeply flawed Tri-W project was being "carried through" the entire screening process by the county, immune to any scrutiny that all the other potential projects were being put through.

I also reported that in the county's Rough Screening Report, it says this:

"The previous project at the Tri-W site will be carried through fine screening process for comparison purposes..." [bolding mine]

That's no longer the case. It changed yesterday at the supervisors' meeting.

Now, thanks directly to SewerWatch (I'm assuming, since no one else wrote about it), county officials NOW say that Tri-W will be carried only through the "rough screening" process, but will be scrutinized during the "fine screening" process, according to John Waddell, of the county public works department. And, if that's an honest appraisal of the pros (none) and cons (lots and lots) of the Tri-W "project," then that project is dead. It will never pass through fine screening because it has too many fatal flaws to mention here. The project will simply never work. And, if it ends up as an option on the advisory vote scheduled for sometime in 2008 (2008!), then something is terribly wrong.

In case you missed it, the embarrassing-for-the-county U-turn happened Tuesday afternoon during the weekly update on the progress of the Los Osos wastewater project.

After taking public comment, 2nd District Supervisor, Bruce Gibson, asked Waddell if Tri-W was going to be part of the screening process. And that's when Waddell said that it would not be part of the "rough" screening process, but it will be part of the "fine" screening process, however, that's not what their own recently released document says. Nope. It says, "The previous project at the Tri-W site will be carried through fine screening process..."

My favorite part of the Gibson/Waddell exchange yesterday was when Waddell conceded that, yes, Tri-W will now be part of the fine screening process, Gibson let loose with a kind of self-righteous-sounding, "Thank you." Like he was saying, "See, people? We ARE playing fair with Tri-W."

The reason I enjoyed that exchange so much, is because it meant that Gibson either read my last post, or heard an earful from LO residents that had, or, most likely, both.

But, I'm not too sure Gibson, or any other county official, for that matter, has any room for self-righteousness there, because, I can almost guarantee that if I had not brought up the fact that an official county document said Tri-W was going to be "carried through" the ENTIRE screening process, it WOULD have been "carried through" the entire screening process... just like they originally said.

S.Wa.T.T. Force 1: 1
TAC: 0

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S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 vs. TAC

TAC, you're about to get your butt kicked.

Ladies and Gentlemen, SewerWatch is proud to present, S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 (The SewerWatch Technical Task Force... and then I just added the "1" because it sounded cool, you know, like Air Force 1).

That's my very own, personal Technical Task Force formed to find the best wastewater solution for Los Osos, and I'm approaching it as a friendly competition with the county's Technical Advisory Committee, recently formed to accomplish the exact same thing, but S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 is just flat-out better, MUCH better.

We're going to dominate.

I've been corresponding with a bunch of really smart people that know a heck of a lot about wastewater, and well, we're about ready to wrap this up, but what's holding things up is the Tri-W mess, and its ones of, unfortunately for Los Osos taxpayers, influential supporters. (Personally, I don't understand why the Tri-W contingent even gets a seat at the table at all. I mean, they were called "bait and switchy" by the California Coastal Commission. Why does a group that was called "bait and switchy" by the Coastal Commission, AND that was rejected by Los Osos voters in the last three elections, get a say in the matter at all? That doesn't make much sense.). If they would just stop obstructing things, there would be a lean and mean wastewater system built in Los Osos in about 2-and-a-half years, everyone in Los Osos would be compliant with 83-13 -- the state law that prohibits wastewater discharges from septic tanks in Los Osos, there won't be a huge sewer plant in the middle of a beautiful California coastal town, and it will be millions upon millions of dollars cheaper to build and to operate than the previous, deeply flawed, mid-town Tri-W project.

Wanna see a great example of how bad-ass S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 is?

Check this out: Look how fast we work -- we already have the sewer plant downwind, out of town, at a MUCH less expensive site, just like the community and the Coastal Commission have wanted for years, AND we've already eliminated the Tri-W location as a potential site for a sewer plant because 1) it's about the stupidest place imaginable to build a sewer plant (what were they thinking?), 2) it will never work (see reason #1), and 3) it's most likely very illegal to build a sewer plant at that location (more on that later).

In case you missed it, Ripley Pacific Engineering (by the way, Dana Ripley, a highly knowledgeable wastewater expert whose team completed a recent update to the LOCSD's sewer project, is an honorary member of S.Wa.T.T. Force 1) produced an excellent document called: Evaluation of Alternative Candidate Sites for Location of Wastewater Treatment Plant.

That document has a treatment facility location known as the Giacomazzi site floating to the top.

S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 says: "Excellent choice," for all the reasons listed in the document. It's downwind, out of town, hidden in an "environmentally preferable" area, and it costs a fraction of the centrally located, and multi-million dollar, Tri-W site. The Coastal Commission, and the vast majority of the community will love it. Plus, its price tag is about $323,000 dollars, so the Tri-W site could be sold, the Giacomazzi site could be purchased, and there would still be about $3 million (three million!) leftover. A quick update to the existing EIR to include the Giacomazzi site, and BAM, we're ready to rock 'n' roll. (I plan on contacting the staff of the California Coastal Commission soon to see what it will take to fast-track the permitting process for the site. So, we're also working on that at the same time we're looking into financing, including private sources.)

I mean it, we're going to blow the TAC away.

According to Ripley's evaluation, the owner of the site is willing to sell the property for treatment facility purposes. "He would like to be a part of the solution to the community’s wastewater management and water resource shortage problems," the document reads.

S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 says: "That's about the best, coolest reasoning I've seen in my 15 years of covering this story." Whomever the owner of the Giacomazzi site is, the majority of Los Osos voters over the past three elections says, "Thank you!"

And all that leads directly to what's been bugging me lately, and that's the fact that, these days, post-recall, there ARE official reports concerning various wastewater options for Los Osos. The reason that bugs me is because for the longest time (from about the time the Solution Group's plan flamed out in late 2000, to about the time of a certain election in the fall of 2005), everyone in Los Osos, and in the media, and in a bunch of government agencies was told by the Los Osos Community Services District that the Tri-W option was the only wastewater option for Los Osos. But, if that's the case, then why are all these alternative treatment facility locations coming out now?

Wait. It gets worse.

In the Tri-W Coastal Development Permit, it says: "CZLUO Section 23.08.288d allows public facilities within ESHA only where there is no other feasible location."

Now, when I see stuff like numbers separated by periods, like this "23.08.288," that tells me that the words that are about to follow all those numbers and periods are probably kind of important, which begs a question -- Is the ESHA-filled Tri-W site really the only "feasible location" for a wastewater treatment facility in Los Osos, as per CZLUO Section 23.08.288d?

"The simple answer is no," wrote Dana Ripley, in a recent e-mail to SewerWatch. "There is AT LEAST one other feasible location in our opinion – Site D (Giacomazzi parcel). This was confirmed by the NWRI panel in December 2006."

In that document, The National Water Research Institute concluded:

"There are two potential plant locations for the treatment facility: in-town or out-of-town, each with their own implementation challenges. Given the number of problematic issues with the downtown site (Tri-W), it is the unanimous opinion of the Panel that an out-of-town site(s) is a better alternative."

Ripley added, "It should also be noted that the County's just released Rough Screening Analysis Report includes eight "Treatment Facility Siting Alternatives." All eight sites (including Site D) "pass through rough screening.""

So, naturally, I'm confused.

If Ripley's tight analysis puts the Tri-W site dead last in potential site rankings, and the NWRI, with a bunch of really smart people on it says, "it is the unanimous opinion of the Panel that an out-of-town site(s) is a better alternative," and if the county itself has identified several other apparently "feasible locations," then why did the previous design team conclude that the Tri-W site, with lots of ESHA, was the only "feasible location" for a wastewater treatment facility in Los Osos?

It sure sounds like 1) the previous design team has got a lot of 'splainin' to do regarding CZLUO Section 23.08.288d, and 2) it sure sounds like CZLUO Section 23.08.288d makes the Tri-W project fatally flawed, because it's obviously NOT the only "feasible location" for a sewer plant in the Los Osos area. In fact, there are several other options, according to, well, just about everybody, and that means there CAN'T be a sewer plant on Tri-W. Apparently, it's in gross violation of all those numbers and periods that come after "CZLUO Section... ."

See how good S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 is? We kick butt. We handle things with such ease and efficiency, something none of the government agencies associated with the project over the years were able to accomplish.

But, too bad the county's TAC isn't as pragmatic as we are. In fact, reading through their Rough Screening Report, it seems they aren't familiar with Tri-W's flawed development permit at all, because -- get a load of this -- they're giving Tri-W a free pass all the way through the screening process. Apparently, Tri-W is immune to the "fatal flaw" process found in the Rough Screening Report. That nonsensical project doesn't have to fight its way through the field like the other viable alternatives. Nope, it gets "carried through" all the way to the championship game.

I recently sent the county's public works department this e-mail:
- - -

In the TAC Rough Screening Report it reads:

"1.2.1 Previous Project (Tri-W)

The previous project at the Tri-W site will be carried through fine screening process for comparison purposes. While a significant portion of the community (SewerWatch note: What they call "significant portion of the community," S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 calls "the majority of Los Osos voters over the last three elections") did not find the project acceptable, the Tri-W project remains a viable project, since it already met the basis of evaluation of being permitable, constructible and fundable."

it also reads:

The primary purpose of the rough screening wasis (sic) to develop a “short-list” of component alternatives and eliminate components that have fatal flaws or significantly problematic challenges that make permitting, funding and/or construction of the alternative unlikely.

Here are my questions:

Does that mean that the Tri-W project will be immune to the "fatal flaw" process during the entire alternative project screening period?

If so, what happens if there are fatal flaws discovered with the Tri-W project that make the "construction of the alternative unlikely?"

- - -

Of course, they never replied. Too bad, they would have learned that the Tri-W project is NOT "permitable, constructible and fundable," because not only are there a host of unfunded "conditions of approval" currently found in the project's Coastal Development Permit -- conditions like an elaborate public park, that require millions upon millions of dollars to fund and operate, and, right now, no one can say where that money is going to come from -- but, apparently, it's also illegal to build a sewer plant there in the first place, according to CZLUO Section 23.08.288d.

So, TAC, in the spirit of friendly competition.... in your face! Ahhhhaaaa. You still have Tri-W on the table as an option. You're "carrying it through" for "comparison purposes," even though NWRI representatives unanimously agree that an out of town site should be selected, and that's embarrassing, as you're about to find out in, what, about three or four months, when S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 is well on our way to securing funding and permits for a project that will actually work?

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Got an interesting e-mail from another fellow S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 member (honorary member), Dr. Tom Ruehr.

A lot of folks in Los Osos know Dr. Ruehr because he's been involved with the sewer issue for a long time, and he's really smart. He's also the only former Solution Group member that I am aware of that has jumped the sinking S.S. Tri-W ship... because he's really smart. (I wrote about all that here.)

"The whole process has been extremely flawed from the word go," Ruehr recently wrote to SewerWatch.

He added that he went through the Technical Advisory Commission's Rough Screening Report, and made a lengthy list of notes that include thoughts on private financing, and many other interesting points. He's allowed me to post his brilliant critique here. So now, S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 also has that killer document in our arsenal.

With the siting issue now behind us, S.Wa.T.T. Force 1 will be focusing on treatment technology, collection, financing, and permitting. That should be all wrapped up in about a month or two. Then, anyone that still supports the deeply flawed Tri-W project will be obstructionists.

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