On May 22, 2007, the San Diego City Council approved a final settlement with San Diego Coastkeeper, The Surfrider Foundation and U.S. EPA that will obligate the City to invest almost $1 billion in its sewage collection system through 2013. Once officially filed with the Court, the settlement will ensure the continuation of the City’s successful Sewer Spill Reduction Program that has resulted in an 83% reduction in spills since 2000.
Coastkeeper and The Surfrider Foundation jointly sued the City of San Diego in March 2001 for chronic sewage spills threatening public health, and undermining our local ecology and economy. At that time, the City averaged nearly a sewage spill per day, and had spilled over 45 million gallons of untreated sewage into our waters over a five-year period. The goals of the suit were to bring the City into compliance with the law, and to set an aggressive schedule to reduce and ultimately eliminate the impacts of sewage spills on our waters.
The City has entered into two partial consent decrees with the environmental groups and EPA over the past two years to begin to correct its chronic sewage spill problem. However, due to the City’s fiscal constraints, a long-term settlement was not signed as the City was not able to obligate funds. With the February 26 increase in wastewater rates, the City is now able to enter into an agreement that will ensure continued investment in sewage infrastructure over the next six years