Newsletter
Summer 2004
Cleaner Sewers, Water for L.A.
 The City of Los Angeles has agreed to clean up its sewer system
and eliminate foul odors that violated the Clean Water Act and
plagued communities in Baldwin Hills and South Central Los Angeles.
The agreement calls for the City to replace 488 miles of sewer
lines, clean 2,800 miles of sewers every year and increase the
system's capacity. The City also will improve a program to control
dumping of pollutants like restaurant grease that eventually ends
up in the ocean. The agreement mandates that the City spend $8.5
million on projects like restoration of wetlands and creeks.
The City had already admitted responsibility for almost 4,000
spills and could have faced fines totaling up to $100 million.
Most of the sewage spills were caused by broken pipes in low-income
communities. The spills overflowed into storm drains that led to
bacterial contamination of the ocean. Mayor Hahn described the
agreement as a "win-win" for everybody. The Mayor also
thanked all the groups "who really held the city's feet to
the fire."
The City Project joined the suit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice,
the California Attorney General's office, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the California Water Quality Control Board,
English, Munger & Rice and Santa Monica Baykeeper.
The City Project represented Concerned Citizens of South Central Los
Angeles, the Baldwin Hills Estates Homeowners Association, and
other community and homeowner groups.
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