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CLEANUP AND ABATEMENT OR9R NO. 5-01-703
<br /> CITY OF RIVERBANK WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
<br /> STANISLAUS COUNTY
<br /> c. The Discharger has begun negotiations with a neighboring landowner for use of a vacant
<br /> field west of the Summer 2 pond for emergency effluent storage;
<br /> d. The Discharger has implemented a program of inspecting the western berm every two hours
<br /> round the clock with emergency leak repairs;
<br /> e. The Discharger has considered the need to revoke the Sun Garden-Gangi discharge permit
<br /> for at least one year; and
<br /> f. The Discharger has considered a connection ban on all new development.
<br /> During the inspection, staff observed that(with the exception of the Winter Aeration Cell), the
<br /> freeboard in all ponds was significantly less than the required two feet. There was seepage at the
<br /> toe and saturation at the crest of the northern berm, but no overt evidence of impending
<br /> catastrophic failure. The western berm was also saturated and showed evidence of recent
<br /> temporary leak repairs. Due to the oversteepened exterior and interior slopes and sandy material
<br /> used in berm construction, this berm appeared vulnerable to sudden failure due to piping, wave
<br /> erosion, and/or animal burrows. The Winter Aeration Cell,which has very little storage capacity,
<br /> was being drained in preparation for the headworks retrofit project.
<br /> 24. As a result of the events and activities described in this Order, the Board finds that the Discharger
<br /> has caused or permitted waste to be discharged in such a manner that it has created, and continues
<br /> to threatens to create, a condition of pollution or nuisance.
<br /> 25. The Board's Water Quality Control Plan (Fourth Edition) for the Sacramento River and San
<br /> Joaquin River Basins (Basin Plan) establishes the beneficial uses of the waters of the state and
<br /> water quality objectives to protect those uses. The beneficial uses of the Stanislaus River are
<br /> municipal and domestic supply; agricultural supply; industrial supply; recreation; fresh water
<br /> habitat; migration; spawning; and wildlife habitat. The beneficial uses of the groundwater beneath
<br /> the facility site are municipal and domestic supply, agricultural supply, industrial service supply,
<br /> and industrial process supply.
<br /> 26. Section 13304(a) of the California Water Code provides that: "Any person who has discharged or
<br /> discharges waste into waters of this state in violation of any waste discharge requirements or other order or prohibition
<br /> issued by a regional board or the state board,or who has caused or permitted,causes or permits,or threatens to cause .
<br /> or permit any waste to be discharged or deposited where it is,or probably will be,discharged into the water of the
<br /> state,and creates,or threatens to create,a condition of pollution or nuisance,shall upon order of the Regional Board
<br /> clean up the waste or abate the effects of the waste,or, in case of threatened pollution or nuisance,take other
<br /> necessary remedial action,including but not limited to,overseeing cleanup and abatement efforts. Upon failure of any
<br /> person to comply with the cleanup or abatement order,the Attorney General, at the request of the board,shall petition
<br /> the superior court for that county for the issuance of an injunction requiring the person to comply with the order. In
<br /> any such suit,the court shall have jurisdiction to grant a prohibitory or mandatory injunction,either preliminary or
<br /> permanent,as the facts may warrant."
<br /> 27. Section 13267(b) of the California Water Code states: "In conducting an investigation specified in
<br /> subdivision(a),the regional board may require that any person who has discharged, discharged,or is suspected of
<br /> discharging, or who proposes to discharge waste within its region,or any citizen or domiciliary,or political agency or
<br /> entity of this state person who has discharged,discharged,or is suspected of discharging,or who proposes to
<br /> discharge waste outside of its region that could affect the quality of waters of the state within its region shall fiunish,
<br /> under penalty of perjury,technical or monitoring program reports which the regional board requires. The burden,
<br /> including costs,of these reports shall bear a reasonable relationship to the need for the report and the benefits to be
<br /> obtained from the reports."
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