Coastkeeper's Sick of Sewage campaign addresses chronic sewage spills and insufficient wastewater treatment in the San Diego region by:
Massive sewage spills, slowly leaking sewer lines, and even permitted discharges from sewage treatment facilities combine to pose a sizable threat to public health, to the marine environment, to our quality of life, and the economic well being of San Diego.
The public health impacts of sewage are astounding. Pathogens in sewage-contaminated water can cause a wide range of diseases, including ear, nose and throat problems, gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis and respiratory illness. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that between 1.8 and 3.5 million beachgoers get sick each year from swimming in sewage-contaminated waters. Even more distressing, these swimming-associated diseases have the greatest consequences for children, elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems.
Sewage spills also have serious environmental consequences, choking off rivers and lagoons by encouraging growth of algae and other detrimental plants until oxygen in the water is depleted. The depletion of oxygen suffocates fish and massive fish kills often follow, damaging the already fragile marine ecosystems.
Sewage problems are especially acute in the San Diego region, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently ranked the City of San Diego among the worst 25% of agencies for both number and volume of sewage spills in the nation. San Diego's federal facilities pose additional difficulties. The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board recently rated Camp Pendleton Marine Base the worst performing sewer system among 32 dischargers in the region. In fact, in the last five years alone, more than 75 million gallons of untreated sewage has been spilled into San Diego's bays, rivers, lagoons and coastal waters. This translates into one bathtub full of untreated sewage for every man, woman, and child in San Diego.
This total only represents known sewage spills in the region. A recent study at Windansea Beach in La Jolla revealed that chronic beach closures have been occurring as a result of slowly leaking sewer lines that discharge into our storm drain system. It is possible - and even likely - that slow leaks are a much greater contributor of bacteria to our local waters than had been previously believed.
Sadly, we can expect sewage spills to increase. Because of decades of neglect and inadequate investment in our sewage infrastructure, nearly 1,000 miles of sewage pipes within the City of San Diego already exceed their life expectancy, and it will take more than 20 years to rehabilitate or replace these antiquated lines.
Through its Sick of Sewage campaign, Coastkeeper litigation and regulatory actions have:
Coastkeeper and The Surfrider Foundation jointly sued the City of San Diego in March 2001 for chronic sewage spills threatening public health, and undermining our local ecology and economy.
Coastkeeper and a coalition of environmental groups brought suit in 2001 over 15,702 sewage permit violations at Camp Pendleton's five sewage treatment plants from 1996 to 2001.
The Point Loma sewage treatment plant, which treats approximately 170 million gallons of sewage a day, is the nation's second largest facility exempt from secondary sewage treatment standards.
Sewage at our nation's border is a serious issue. We address this campaign through outreach and education.