SF BAYKEEPER LAWSUIT ALLEGES THAT CITY OF SAN BRUNO HAS BEEN UNDERREPORTING AND/OR MISREPRESENTING THE NUMBER OF SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS (SSOs).
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 1:50 PM by Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon
In an earlier Beacon article, the following questions were asked:
"Was there a coverup in San Bruno's City Government to hide and/or deceive regulators and the public about these 148 raw sewage spills that took place over a 5 year period? Were official and/or unofficial documents or reports destroyed, altered or otherwise changed to hide these spills or mislead regulators and/or the public about these raw sewage spills? Who are the players in this eco-disaster? Who knew what, when did they know it and what did they do?"
Section VI of the San Francisco Baykeeper v. City of San Bruno complaint is titled, "FAILURES TO COMPLY WITH LEGAL REQUIREMENTS". In Section VI(C), Baykeeper alleges that:
"San Bruno has been underreporting and/or misrepresenting the number of SSOs (Sanitary Sewer Overflows) from the collection system.............."
As I see it, this allegation is an invitation for the United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division to thoroughly investigate this very serious raw sewage dumping case to determine whether or not any criminal violations of Federal Law have taken place.
This allegation of underreporting and misrepresentation in the Baykeeper lawsuit against the City of San Bruno opens up a floodgate of possible tangential legal consequences for all individuals in the City of San Bruno government chain of command, associated with this eco-disaster, starting with San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson.
As I observed in an earlier Beacon article:
"These raw sewage spills began in 2004. San Bruno City Manager Jackson, who was appointed as San Bruno's City Manager in 2003, probably knew that San Bruno's sewage treatment system was being overburdened and that raw sewage was being dumped into the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. If she didn't have direct knowledge, she had constructive knowledge of the raw sewage problems.
San Bruno Municipal Code Section 2.12.060 (Powers and duties) provides in part:
"The city manager shall be the administrative head of the city government under the direction and control of the city council. He or she shall be responsible for the efficient administration of all the affairs of the city which are under his or her control. In addition to his or her general powers as administrative head, and not as a limitation thereon, he or she shall have the following powers and duties:
B. To manage and control the department heads of the city, and through them, their subordinates.....................................
J. To investigate the affairs of the city, any department or division thereof under his or her jurisdiction, and all complaints regarding the administration of the city government and public utilities services in the city;
K. To exercise general supervision of all property under the jurisdiction and control of the city;......."
It is quite clear that San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson, as San Bruno's administrative head of government during the 5 year period that these raw sewage spills took place, was directly responsible for the managment and control of San Bruno's Wastewater Division. Jackson also had the duty to investigate the affairs of the City and any department (including the Wastewater Division). In addition, she specifically had the affirmative duty to investigate all complaints regarding the "public utilities" services in the City.
Page 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the San Francisco Baykeeper v. City of San Bruno complaint make it quite clear that the City of San Bruno had specific notice from the Regional Board as to what the specific Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) permit requirements were.
Therefore, it would appear that the people in the Wastewater Division chain of command, who were allegedly underreporting and/or misrepresenting the number of SSO's (Sanitary Sewer Overflows) from the City's wastewater collection system, were doing it with full knowledge as to what the rules for these reports were.
There could be serious criminal and personal legal consequences for anybody in the chain of command at San Bruno's Wastewater Division if it is found that reports were falsified and/or anybody participated in the intentional misrepresentation or underreporting of the numbers associated with the raw sewage dumping incidents that are the subject of the Baykeeper lawsuit against The City of San Bruno.
