Though the long-term future of Seaside Lagoon is in voters’ hands come March, the City of Redondo Beach is immediately faced with the water requirements set by state regulatory boards.
On Tuesday night, the City Council authorized staff to send a comment to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, responding to tentative water and pollutant discharge requirements for Seaside Lagoon.
“We’re trying to keep the Lagoon in one piece and operational for this year and the next year,” said Mayor Steve Aspel. “And we’ll probably have the same argument over again with government agencies.”
Seaside Lagoon has been operating under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit since 1999, enforced by the Regional Board. It draws off of discharge from the AES power plant’s once-through cooling system, wherein ocean water is used to cool power generating turbines. In order to comply with county standards, the City must chlorinate the water for swimming, and then dechlorinate it to discharge it back into the ocean.
“We’re giving back cleaner water than we’re taking in, but it’s not clean enough,” Aspel said.
According to staff, complying with new permit requirements for water treatment, monitoring and reporting have become “more onerous as water quality standards become more stringent and the facility infrastructure ages.”
Over the years, the city has been slapped with penalties for noncompliance, at one time threatened with a $20.1 billion fine, according to City Attorney Mike Webb. Through negotiations and discussions with the RWQCB, the City has been able to reduce the fine to a potential of $51,000.
The newest draft permit walks the same line, requiring the City to comply with limits for several new pollutants, such as mercury and cyanide, in addition to existing limits that Seaside Lagoon has exceeded in the past. It also requires greater monitoring and reporting, which would increase operation costs.
Moreover, staff is requesting the Regional Board to describe changes to permitting requirements should Seaside Lagoon be opened to the ocean, as planned in a potential waterfront redevelopment project, or should its operational scheme change.
AES is set to take its turbines offline in 2020 to comply with state regulations. Once that happens, the city will need to develop new methods to draw and heat ocean water for Seaside Lagoon, if it remains as is.
“We want to work with [the Regional Board] and collaborate as we have in the past,” Councilman Bill Brand said. “We’ve got to find a way to operate as clean as possible and still provide a great public asset.”
Rescue Our Waterfront representative Wayne Craig commented that this was “kabuki theater,” giving the city reason to potentially close down the lagoon, in accordance with development plans.
“Councils have fought very diligently to keep this open, long before any of us were on council,” Aspel responded. “This is something where the citizens get stuck with the tab and we try and lower the tab by arguing our position.”
Council then unanimously authorized staff to send a comment response letter to Regional Board staff, with a public hearing to take place before the Regional Board on March 2.
