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CMC to pay $40,000 for spill

By Adobe Staff

The California Men’s Colony will pay a $40,000 settlement for alleged violations of the correctional facility’s wastewater discharge permit.

The settlement, worked out in an agreement between the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board executive officer and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, is the full amount included in a complaint issued against CMC by the water board staff.

A power failure and backup generator failure Jan. 27 caused 20,000 gallons of raw sewage to overflow the CMC wastewater treatment plant directly into Chorro Creek, according to water board Executive Officer Roger Briggs.

Chorro Creek flows to Morro Bay, a sensitive habitat area and state-designated marine protected area.

In arriving at the penalty amount, the water board staff considered and balanced many factors, Briggs said.

Those included the sensitivity of both Chorro Creek and Morro Bay Estuary and its protected status, CMC’s culpability and the degree of damage caused to natural resources.

The Central Coast water board staff also considered comments on the proposed penalty received from members of the community.

On a per-gallon basis, the penalty amount is higher than recent penalties imposed for similar violations in other regions of the state, according to Briggs.

A hearing before the water board to consider the proposed penalty had been scheduled for Sept. 5 but was canceled as a result of the settlement, although the public still may comment on the item, he said.