Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER AN UPDATE ON THE SEWER SPILL IN CARSON (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
At its January 11, 2022 meeting, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (the “BOS”) adopted a motion introduced by Supervisors Mitchell and Hahn to call for an investigation into the sewer spill that occurred on December 30, 2021, in the City of Carson.
No update has yet been provided to the BOS regarding the investigation into the exact cause of the infrastructure failure as of the writing of this report. City staff will continue to monitor any published reports provided to the BOS and share these with the City Council and the Carson community as they are made available.
The text of the motion as approved by the BOS on January 11 is noted below.
“Instruct the Directors of Public Works, Public Health and the Director of the Office of Emergency Management to support the Sanitation Districts in their investigation into the exact cause of the recent sewer infrastructure failure, along with their efforts to report on the status of the health and environmental impacts of the discharge, and the necessary steps taken or that will be taken or proposed to be taken to mitigate them; report back to the Board with initial findings at the January 25, 2022 Board meeting alongside the County Sanitation Districts and report back to the Board in writing with their final findings within 60 days; and instruct the Director of Public Works to continue to monitor dissolved oxygen levels within the Dominguez Channel to ensure that ongoing treatment of the spill does not impact recovery efforts within the Dominguez Channel related to the odor emergency and provide weekly written reports to the Board on the dissolved oxygen levels at established monitoring locations along the Dominguez Channel.”
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
RECEIVE and FILE this informational report.
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action deemed appropriate by the City Council and that is consistent with applicable laws.
IV. BACKGROUND
As stated in the Motion introduced on January 11, 2022 by Supervisors Mitchell and Hahn: the largest sewage spill in the history of the Los Angeles County (County) Sanitation Districts’ dumped eight and a half million gallons of untreated sewage into County waterways on December 30, 2021. The spill occurred after a concrete pipe collapsed in Carson, but the cause of the collapse and reasons for a spill of this magnitude are still unknown.
Los Angeles County agencies are continuing to investigate the causes at the direction of the BOS.
Additional updates will be provided to the City Council as latest information becomes available.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
VI. EXHIBITS
None.
Prepared by: City Manager's Office and Public Works Department