Small Sewage Leak Causes Concern

A small sewage leak on Scenic Avenue in San Anselmo last night raised concerns after residents couldn't reach the Ross Valley Sanitary District to notify them of the problem.

Sanitary District General Manager Brett Richards said the phones at the district office went out sometime over the weekend, so calls to the 24/7 emergency line didn't go through.

"The problem is you don't know it's out, because you're not getting calls," he said.

The phone switchboard was replaced by 9:30 a.m. this morning, he said.

San Anselmo Town Manager Debbie Stutsman said the police department received a call at 8:05 p.m. Sunday night about a small sewage leak at 460 Scenic Ave. Officials responded and attempted to reach the 24/7 sanitary district emergency line. Additional calls were made to sanitary district officials on their cell phones and someone was reached by 8:47 p.m., said Stutsman, and the district responded by 9:49 p.m.

According to Richards, the leak itself was very small. Approximately 500 gallons of sewage leaked into the area, which is categorized as a Category 2 spill. Category 2 spills only have to be reported to regional agencies within 30 days. There are no requirements to notify residents or homeowners.

Initial response suggested, Richards said, that the leak occurred because of a . The town recently approved a plan to shore up that hill and put in a retaining wall -- after an earlier  -- because of excessive damage that was caused by the heavy rains. That work is believed to have caused the sewage leak.

Following the nearly , the sanitary district has adopted a policy of notifying town managers and mayors of spills that occur in their area. However, that notification would only be for large Category 1 spills, which are over 5,000 gallons and which require that regional agencies be notified within two hours of the spill.

The first time the district attempted to notify local town officials was . However, confusion at that time hindered the notification process.

Initial reports to the sanitary district suggested there was a large spill at a school on Bolinas Avenue. Both San Anselmo and Ross town managers were notified of the report and that sanitary district officials were responding. A San Anselmo town notification process was then initiated to send out an alert of the possible spill on Bolinas Avenue.

When district employees responded though, said Richards, they found that spill was a watermain break, not a sewage spill. As they drove around the town, the district employees discovered a different spill of approximately 9,000 gallons at the other end of downtown San Anselmo, near San Rafael Avenue, and responded to that situation

But, it took approximately six hours before town officials were aware of the different location and were able to notify residents.

Stutsman said that Assistant Public Works Director Sean Condry felt that the small leak that occurred yesterday evening was resolved in a timely manner and that he is establishing a good rapport with his counterparts at the sanitary district.

"He hopes the notification system will work better in the future," said Stutsman