LA County Board of Supervisors appear to be against clean water, clean beaches measure

Listen to the full audio story

Download the MP3

Clean water advocates called on the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to take steps to improve the quality of water and runoff system in L.A. County. The environmentalists showed up with signs outside the Board meeting but ran up against stiff resistance. 

In 2012 Los Angeles County received a “D” grade for urban runoff from the American Society of Civil Engineers. A “D” grade indicates polluted runoff water with high levels of trash, motor oil, pesticides, and other pollutants.

The society and Heal the Bay, an environmental advocacy group, proposed a measure that they believe will improve that grade, which hasn’t changed since 2006.

 “What this measure would do is attempting to do is to raise critical funds for water quality improvement projects,” Kirsten James, water quality director at Heal the Bay said.

The funding would come from a tax on L.A. county property owners. The proposed tax would cost each property owner about $54 per year, according to heal the bay. The tax varies depending on the property size and its pollution contribution. 

Richard Haimann from the American Society of Civil Engineers says there are many reasons L.A. county needs the funding.

"Our infrastructure is underfunded its degrading and its reaching the end of its useful life,” Haimann said. “Resulting in trashing our beaches, dirtying our communities, making our rivers look and smell like sewers, and overall degrading the property values and the quality of life within our community.”

However, not everyone agrees there is a need for additional funding. Fifth district supervisor Michael Antonovich acknowledges the runoff problem but opposes the measure.

“The department of public of works and the storm control people, the flood control district are already receiving millions, hundreds of millions of dollars to solve this problem and they have failed to do so,” Tony Bell, a spokesman for Antonovich said. “So instead of using the current resources that they have, they want to go back and ask for even more money from propoerty owners and that includes businesses, school districts and local cities, most of whom are absolutely opposed to it.”

In today’s meeting, supervisors Gloria Molina and Don Knabe opposed the measure and recommended against it. Antonovitch agreed.

After today’s meeting it appears the L.A. County Board of Supervisors are prepared to reject the initiative. Clean water activists will have the chance to draft a new measure for the 2014 ballot.