Feds fine EBMUD, 5 East Bay cities for raw sewage violations

The federal government has fined Oakland and four other East Bay cities along with regional water districts for violating a settlement regarding untreated sewage reaching San Francisco Bay, according to a news release Thursday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board announced $372,876 in penalties against the East Bay Municipal Utility District, the Stege Sanitary District and five East Bay cities: Oakland, Alameda, Albany, Berkeley and Piedmont.

Oakland is responsible for a majority of the total combined fine.

The EPA says all the entities violated a settlement under the 2014 Clean Water Act in which they had paid a combined $1.5 million penalty for past sewage discharges and agreed to upgrade their 1,600-mile-long sewer system infrastructure over 21 years.

Since that settlement, about 114 miles of sewer main pipe have been upgraded and about 650 miles of private sewer pipes have been certified as leak-free, the EPA said.

"These East Bay cities and utilities made commitments to upgrade aging sewer infrastructure, which is a necessary step for protecting the waters of San Francisco Bay and surrounding communities," said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. "We’re taking this action to ensure they live up to those commitments and undertake the efforts needed to renew wastewater infrastructure."

The violations occurred between July 2021 and June 2023, the EPA says. Here's how the fines break down by entity:

• City of Oakland, $278,200: Failure to prevent 67 sanitary sewer overflows from reaching waters.
• EBMUD, $28,000: Failure to prevent a sanitary sewer overflow from reaching waters and failure to meet effluent limitations for coliform.
• Stege Sanitary District (serving El Cerrito, Kensington, and a portion of Richmond), $25,000: Failure to prevent a sanitary sewer overflow from reaching waters.
• City of Piedmont, $15,876: Failure to timely rehabilitate the required footage of sewer mains.
• City of Alameda, $200: Failure to prevent a sanitary sewer overflow from reaching waters.
• City of Albany: $25,000: Failure to prevent a sanitary sewer overflow from reaching waters.
• City of Berkeley, $600: Failure to prevent three sanitary sewer overflows from reaching waters.