Mike Adackapara, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board: “Deepak Moorjani has done everything that needs to be done.
Below is the Transcript from the July 7, 2015, Beaumont City Council Meeting. The NPDES Permit referenced only covered Residential and not Commercial or Industrial waste.
Kyle Warsinski, Elizabeth Gibbs-Urtiaga, and Mike Adackapara from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board stood before Council and ‘gave the runaround’ on the NPDES Permit and Title 22 Compliance.
Quote of the night was from Mike Adackapara “As far as I know Mr. Dee [Deepak Moorjani] has done everything that needs to be done.”
July 7, 2015 Beaumont City Council Meeting Transcript:
161:00 Knight: Item 4.j Draft NPDES Permit No. CA0105376
Warsinski: The City of Beaumont received the Draft NPDES Permit attached from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board in May of this year. The Regional Board’s Public Hearing for this Permit, which is our discharge permit for the Beaumont Wastewater Treatment Plant, is set for July 24, 2015, in Irvine. The City has posted and published all required notices of that public hearing and Staff has started numerous hours of reviewing the document and has also scheduled meetings with Regional Board Staff, some of which have already occurred and some of which are going to be occurring in the near future to ask questions and receive clarification on items prior to that public hearing.
162:00 Warsinski: Staff will continue to update City Council on any new information as it comes available. Just so you know; there are three members of the Regional Board Staff here tonight to answer any technical questions that you may have regarding the Permit. And since it’s just a Draft I want to assure Council that myself and our team of people working on water-related issues, treatment plant issues, and Regional Board compliance, have been looking at this and skimming through it and identifying certain things that we feel are errors, small stuff. Or things that we would appreciate revisions on.
163:00 Warsinski: For the most part, the Draft NPDES Permit is exactly what the City expected. It follows the Basin Plan Amendment that was approved last year by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board in which the City supported the Approval of that document and the Permit follows in that framework.
163:30 White: It’s requirements for us going forward to qualify for the Permit?
Warsinski: Basically; your qualifications to discharge.
164:00 White: My understanding is that there have been other comments or letters from some of the other [agencies], like the Water District. Have they commented on this?
Warsinski: I am aware of one letter from the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District that was submitted to the Regional Board and send it to us.
White: Do I have to call the Regional Board and ask for it?
164:30 Urtiaga: Maybe we should invite the Regional Quality Control Board Staff up and maybe they can answer these questions. Because technically; it’s their document. We’re not the office of permanent records. I don’t want to speak for another agency on their public records’ request.
Warsinski: Any other questions for me?
White: Yes. If this was in place right now, would we be in compliance?
165:00 Warsinski: Yes.
165:30 Mike Adackapara, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board: Councilman White asked if any comment provided to us is available. Yes, it’s available on our website.
166:00 White: At this point; has the City of Beaumont everything that we need to do to be properly represented for the meeting of the 24th. Have we followed all the deadlines and the processes.
Adackapara: As far as I know Mr. Dee [Deepak Moorjani] has done everything that needs to be done.
Orozco: Does this have any relations to Title 22?
Adackapara: The Title 22 Report is in Engineering Report. It used to be the Department of Health Services. It’s now it is at the State Water Resources Control Board. The provision requires for you to use recycled water for certain purposes.
167:00 Orozco: So it’s part of this Report? Part of what the permit requires?
Adackapara: No. The Permit requires Title 22 Report be prepared prior to use the of recycled water.
170:00 Orozco: Is there cost associated by going out for a Permit?
Warsinski: The Permit itself doesn’t cost the City anything. The requirements outlaying the Permit of cost does, but those are the same requirements that were discussed at length during the Basin Plan Amendment process. This documents is the simple Permit that governs the City’s discharge and potential recharge of effluent treated by the treatment plant pursuant and under the guides of that Basin Plan Amendment. So this document doesn’t have any impact, which is why I wrote that there was No Impact. The impacts would be; we’ve already talked about them before. This document is consistent with the Basin Plan Amendment that was already approved by the Regional Board and supported by this City and all of the other stakeholders within this Basin and adjacent Basins.
171:00 Orozco: The Cost would all be associated improvements in certain areas.
Warsinski: We’ve talked about it before. It’s the requirements are the same requirements that we said we were going to do in the City in January which is to build certain facilities, to offset the salt loads that are going to be counted the second that this permit is approved. We’ll have to build facilities and operate the facilities and all of those different things that were laid out on that preliminary plan and schedule that the Council approved in January and the Regional Board approved subsequent to that submittal. This is being drafted to go off of our submittal the Basin Plan.
172:00 Knight: I’m going to take advantage of our Water Masters while they’re here. The water that we’re discharging right now; that it is basically under the Water Masters’ direction and it is basically within State Law, for what I understand, and that the Title 22 actually is an engineering report that allows us to actually put it in the purple pipes because it makes it a higher level of disinfectant. Is that correct? Yes? Okay, thank you.
White: We approved the plan in January with the options to make amendments to it or changes to it. I think we’re in the process of getting an RFP back on the different options. We approved that and we’re in that process, correct?
173:00 Warsinski: What you’re referencing is the analysis for how to dispose of the Brine.
White: Correct.
Warsinski: That is true, we are reviewing the two proposals that came in on that project and that will be coming forward shortly. The overall big picture; got to build the desalter, how to get rid of the brine, we’re still determining, and that will be brought to Council for approval.
White: So this is a draft. Is there any way that we get the Title 22 compliance without going through this draft process?
Warsinski: Has nothing to do with it. The Permit is the permit to discharge. The Title 22 that I think we’re talking about is the validation process.
White: This is not part of that process?
174:00 Warsinski: No. The Report that Michael and his colleagues referenced are engineering reports that need to be submitted pursuant to this Permit. Once we get our Title 22 done at the Plant we have to do an engineering report telling the Regional Board how we plan on using it. Whether it’s purple pipes, whether we plan on using it with water trucks, for example, but it’s probably a bad example because it’s not likely. Sending it somewhere through a pipe, recharging it in a Basin.
White: So we’re not under this Order until we have Title 22 Compliance?
Warsinski: No, this Order’s going to occur and be approved by the Regional Board and we will be subject to all requirements in this Permit as soon as they approve it.
White: And you said earlier that we are in compliance, so we wouldn’t have any costs to get to that level that the Order is requesting us.
Warsinski: Now I’m…
Urtiaga: Can you say that again?
175:00 I asked you earlier that if this Order were in place now; would we be in compliance? And you said “yes”, so when the Order does come into being; we don’t have any costs to get us to the level of compliance we need to be?
Warsinski: Not at first. The Desalter. We have to build the Desalter, so if you want to say there’s an upfront costs the second that this is approved for for the Desalter, then that’s true. It was also true when the Basin Plan was approved over a year ago.
White: Does the Order indicate that we’d have a time limit to get other projects in place like the Desalter We will have that schedule that we approved in January, the 5-year schedule?
Warsinski: We have to build it and operate it is in five years, so 2020.
176:00 White: This is just says Action: Receive and File.
Urtiaga: I would like to suggest that you, the Mayor, appoint an elective representative to represent Beaumont at this Meeting. In years past we have asked an elected official to – it’s on a Friday morning in Irvine, so you’ll need to take that into consideration and it’s merely a recommendation.
Knight: I had planned on being there and if anyone else would like to go. Mr. Orozco, Mr. Lara, Mr. White? It will be myself and Mr. Orozco.
Urtiaga: Other than that; it’s just a Receive and File.
Knight: I want to thank our Water Basin people for being here tonight.