Court Finds Long Beach City Hall Violated Its 2010 Court-Agreement w/ State Agency Re Underground Storage Tanks, Hits City With $2.5 Million Penalty

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(March 20, 2015, 11:15 a.m.) -- A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has imposed a $2.5 million penalty on the City of Long Beach, finding that between Jan. 2013 and August 2014 the City violated the terms of a 2010 judgment and consent degree related to underground storage tanks.

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The Court's action came after it heard arguments from the State Water Resources Control Board and the City, and concluded that the City violated the terms of a Jan. 21, 2010 Consent Judgment related to underground storage tank violations.

The state agency said in its release that "[b]etween January 2013 and August 2014 the State Water Board conducted compliance inspections at 15 of Long Beach’s 16 [underground storage tank] facilities. During these inspections, a number of violations were found, each of which triggered the reinstatement of the suspended $2.5 million penalty."

LB City Council agendas indicate the matter was scheduled for Council discussions closed to the public (as "existing litigation") on Jan. 20, 2015 and March 3, 2015. A State Water Board release indicates that the agency filed a motion to enforce in L.A. Superior Court on December 23, 2014; the Court heard arguments from the City and the State Water Board on Jan. 23 and Feb. 10, 2015...and the Court entered its order on Mar. 11, 2015.

LBREPORT.com invited comment from the City on March 18 and has received no response thus far.

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The 2010 consent agreement cost Long Beach taxpayers $1.5 million in civil penalties (plus $200,000 for the State Water Board's enforcement costs) after the state agency found that since 2003 the City had failed to perform required testing and monitoring, and not installing leak prevention equipment at 40 underground storage tank facilities. Many of the tanks are located at fire and police stations, the agency said in a release.

The State Water Board says in a release that under the terms of the 2010 judgment, the City took action to enhance compliance at its tank facilities above and beyond existing laws and regulations and a $2 million credit...and under the 2010 judgment, Long Beach City Hall "did not deny responsibility for any of the violations and an additional $2.5 million in penalties was suspended as long as Long Beach remained in compliance with the terms of the agreement for five years."

The agency said in its release that "[b]etween January 2013 and August 2014 the State Water Board conducted compliance inspections at 15 of Long Beach’s 16 [underground storage tank] facilities. During these inspections, a number of violations were found, each of which triggered the reinstatement of the suspended $2.5 million penalty."

[State Water Board release text] The State Water Board filed its Motion to Enforce in Los Angeles Superior Court on Dec. 23, 2014 and the Court heard arguments from Long Beach and the State Water Board on Jan. 23 and Feb. 10 [2015]. In its ruling, the Court found that Long Beach failed to conduct required leak detection testing prior to placing USTs in use, failed to timely repair secondary containment, and failed to install tamper-proof sensors as required.
The State Water Board was represented in the proceeding by California's Attorney General’s Office...