Threat of $21 billion fine closes pool
The saltwater pool at the Seaside Lagoon. Photo The City Council voted Tuesday night to suspend operation of the Seaside Lagoon’s saltwater pool indefinitely. The action, taken reluctantly but unanimously, comes after a decade-long struggle with the Los Angeles Regional Water Control Board, the state regulatory agency that oversees the lagoon’s water outflow into the ocean. The city had been in negotiations with the agency to reach an agreement that would have allowed the lagoon to open on Memorial Day weekend, as it has every year for the past half century. But a document recently released by the agency’s enforcement arm revealed that fines ranging from $150,000 to as high as $21.2 billion were being contemplated for alleged past violations of water quality standards. Recreation and Community Services director Mike Witzansky said the potential fines covered the years 2002 to 2008 and reiterated the figure was “$21.2 billion, with a ‘b’.” “That is an unconscionable figure considering the type of public recreational facility we are, considering the type of operation we maintain,” Witzansky said. “It’s extremely severe and extremely alarming.” Council members expressed outrage…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com