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PRESS RELEASE. From the City of Pacifica City Manager, Kevin Woodhouse, November 1st, 2021, “Connecting with Pacifica” Weekly Enews Update.
“Chance favors the prepared mind,” stated French chemist Louis Pasteur. In Pacifica’s case, years of preparation with improvements to wastewater infrastructure – replacements of sewer mains, construction of the 2.1 million gallon wet weather equalization basin, sewer lateral replacements by residents and supported through the City’s grant program, and annual cleaning of creeks, channels, and inlets of debris – all combined to prevent major flooding in the Linda Mar area from Sunday’s historic storm of more than 6 inches of rain in Pacifica, a very low percent chance storm. By comparison, the December 11, 2014, storm that flooded significant portions of Linda Mar was estimated at approximately 4 inches of rain. Were it not for these annual preparations and the Equalization Basin, this storm would have been a major disaster.
The extreme amount of rain in a short time did exceed the capacity of the basin (despite the basin being one of the largest in the region) and the Linda Mar pump station to transport the mixture of mostly storm water and some waste water to the treatment plant, which resulted in some discharge to the ocean. Similar “bypasses” or “sanitary sewer overflows” also happened to many other waste water systems in the bay area. However, protective measures and health monitoring were immediately implemented at the beach and will ensure a safe reopening of the beach, potentially as early as this weekend. As I summarized in detail at the City Council meeting last Monday, Pacifica’s storm preparations and response – Public Works Wastewater and Field Services, the Police Department, and the North County Fire Authority – were exemplary. The City Council, as they publicly stated on Monday, and I are thankful and proud of the commitment and service each employee in each of these departments provides to help protect the community and the environment in these extreme storm circumstances.
Sincerely,
Kevin Woodhouse
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Author: Coastside Buzz
Me
It sure looks that Woodhouse’s statements are a total lie. There are photos and more information here: https://www.coastsidebuzz.com/pacifica-sewer-spill/
CITY (# of Event Locations) (gallons)
Brisbane City (1 location) 350 gallons
City of Pacifica (2 location) 2,983,036 gallons
Millbrae City (3 location) 284,355 gallons
San Bruno City (1 location 3,600 gallons
San Carlos City (2 location) 16 gallons
San Mateo City (1 location) 1,720 gallons
San Mateo County DPW (2 location)406 gallons
TOTAL (12 location) 3,273,483 gallons
Not only was there sewage flooding in the streets of lower Linda Mar with toilet paper on the ground, but a day later Public Works neglected to turn on the Linda Mar Pump Station and at 5am Tuesday morning lower Linda Mar was fourteen inches deep again from storm sewer overflow which slowly drained into the sanitary sewer. At 8:30am they turned the pump station on and the Tuesdy flooding receded.