EPA fines East Bay cities, utilities for releasing sewage into S.F. bay
Six East Bay cities and two utility districts have been fined more than $372,000 for failing to stop untreated sewage overflow from entering the bay multiple times between 2021 and 2023, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board said Oakland, Alameda, Albany and Berkeley, along with the East Bay Municipal Utility District and the Stege Sanitary District, each failed to prevent sanitary sewer overflow from reaching the ocean. Piedmont was also fined for failing to rehabilitate its required amount of sewer mains in 2023.
In 2021, the six cities and two utility districts entered a settlement with the EPA over several sanitary sewer overflows from 2005 to 2014 that violated the Clean Water Act. As part of the settlement, the entities agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty and upgrade their sewer systems.
But the EPA said each of the fined entities violated the settlement terms at least once between July 2021 and June 2023.
The lion’s share of the fines went to Oakland, which must pay $278,200 for 67 sewage releases, according to the two agencies. The EBMUD was fined the second most at $28,000. Along with releasing untreated sewage, the EPA said the EBMUD released water during a winter 2022 storm that had higher than allowed levels of coliform bacteria.
Albany and the Stege Sanitary District must each pay $25,000, while Piedmont was fined $15,876. Berkeley and Alameda were fined $600 and $200, respectively.
“These East Bay cities and utilities made commitments to upgrade aging sewer infrastructure, which is a necessary step for protecting the waters of San Francisco Bay and surrounding communities,” EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement. “We’re taking this action to ensure they live up to those commitments and undertake the efforts needed to renew wastewater infrastructure.”