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Regional board backs council motion to form sewage‑spill notification task force; council amends motion to include Los Angeles River
Summary
A representative of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board urged the City Council to support a motion creating a task force to speed public notification after sewage spills. Councilmembers proposed and seconded an amendment to extend the task force's scope to include spills affecting the Los Angeles River and Tujunga Wash.
A senior engineer from the Los Angeles regional office of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board told the Los Angeles City Council that the agency supports a council motion to form a task force to improve public notification of sewage spills and beach closures.
Samuel Unger, identified in the transcript as a senior water quality control engineer with the regional board, said the board wants to participate in the task force, arguing the existing program “is inadequate as evidenced by the events of 11/03/2001” when, he said, a 1,300,000‑gallon spill was not reported to the public for more than a day and a half.
The regional board representative emphasized the board’s regulatory role for water quality in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and recommended participation on the task force to improve notification procedures. He also cautioned that the proposed motion only addresses notification and does not address root causes or infrastructure changes to reduce spills.
Councilmember Tom LaBonge moved to amend the motion to explicitly include spills that affect the Los Angeles River and the Tujunga Wash; Councilmember Reyes seconded that amendment. LaBonge said the city is experiencing renewed investment along the Los Angeles River and that storm drains and tributaries feeding the river should be within the task force’s scope.
The council chair asked if other members wished to speak; no further public commenters were recorded on this item in the transcript. The clerk opened the roll for a vote after the amendment was seconded; the transcript in the provided excerpt does not include an audible final roll-call tally for this item.
The regional board’s representative and councilmembers said they expect the task force to focus on improving the speed and clarity of public notifications; the regional board also noted that longer-term work to identify causes and reduce spills would remain separate from a notification-focused task force.
Council direction recorded in the meeting transcript documents support for the proposed task force and the amendment to include affected river systems; final ordinance text, formal task‑force membership and a recorded vote were not included in the excerpt.
