Providing Wastewater Collection, Treatment and Safe Disposal to Protect Our Community’s Health and the Bay

Update on Local Health and Safety Issues

Sausalito, My Community Magazine Article: Protecting the Bay

Essential upgrades are underway at the Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District (SMCSD) to ensure that we are able to protect our precious Bay environment and keep residents healthy and safe. In order to ensure that we are able to effectively treat sewage and waste water, SMCSD is undertaking an upgrade of its treatment plant capacity in order to continue to meet regulatory requirements and help prevent spills of sewage.

To ensure that our plan achieves these goals while being cost-effective, our Board has carefully considered how best to accomplish these necessary upgrades in the most prudent and fiscally responsible manner.

SMCSD is responsible for the treatment of sewage in both Sausalito and Marin City.
Sausalito residents are also served by the City of Sausalito which handles the collection of sewage.  SMCSD continues to work closely with the City to create the most efficient and effective solutions possible.

All of us have a responsibility to keep the Bay clean, and at SMCSD we take it very seriously. Sewage spills can create hazardous Bay conditions, often requiring the closure of beaches and waterways to ensure the health and safety of our community. Essential upgrades to sewage infrastructure fulfill our responsibility to prevent these spills and minimize Bay pollution.

Currently the SMCSD and the City of Sausalito are under an Administrative Compliance Order from the US Environmental Protection Agency to improve our systems. If we fail to reduce the existing frequency of problems, or otherwise fail to comply with the Order, the EPA has the authority to levy fines of $25,000 per day, per violation, for sewage that leaks or spills from our system of pipes. 

We have been diligent and above-board in reporting the occurrence of spills and problems as well as the causes of the overflows.  We have an old system that has served us well for decades,  and, although we have made many upgrades, it still contains infrastructure that was designed to meet standards that are no longer acceptable under today’s federal and state regulations.

Environmental standards have evolved over time.  Our infrastructure must be repaired, upgraded and replaced to meet those standards.  Delaying these legally-required upgrades and repairs only increases their cost and leaves the SMCSD vulnerable  to litigation  from the EPA and citizen lawsuits which can result in expensive legal fees and large settlements which are ultimately paid by and provide no benefits to rate payers.

Now is a prudent time to undertake needed upgrades when we can do so in a cost efficient manner, which also helps stimulate the local construction economy. Construction costs are at an all time low -- projects are currently bidding at 30-40% below engineering estimates.

As part of this planning we are proposing an updated four year rate structure that will allow the SMCSD to make the upgrades necessary to maintain the health and safety of our community and keep the Bay clean in the most fiscally responsible manner.

For more information, please visit: www.smcsd.net. If you have questions, please call 332-0244.