Oakland Officials Call for Probes of Sewage Leaks

[TexasTowelie]

Oakland Public Works Department officials say they plan to hire an outside consultant to conduct a "full review" of the city's broken sewer line problems, which have resulted in repeated sewage spills into Lake Temescal and other local bodies of water. In addition, Councilmember Dan Kalb, North Oakland, has requested a report from public works and an examination of evidence that the city submitted official reports to state and federal regulators that contained false information about sewage spills. State officials are already investigating Oakland's compliance with environmental laws.

The city's actions come in response to a Jan. 10 Express investigation that exposed serious shortcomings with Oakland's sanitary sewer system, including a history of city officials underreporting sewage spills, a repeated failure to alert the public about raw sewage flowing into Lake Temescal, and the city's continued reliance on a private contractor that Oakland workers said does shoddy work (see "Broken Pipes, Broken System&quot .

"It is a very serious issue that the city should not sweep under the rug," Kalb said in an interview. "It appears that there needs to be some type of investigation that brings everything to light and answers the questions — whatever those answers may be. I am not making any pre-judgment of something nefarious. But there are valid questions, and there needs to be a thorough set of answers, and we don't have that yet. I am hoping we get that eventually." Kalb was joined in his request for a probe of public works by Councilmembers Annie Campbell Washington and Abel Guillen.

However, it's not clear if Oakland Public Works will thoroughly investigate its problems. The department's director, Jason Mitchell, continues to downplay the city's serious sewer-line issues and maintains that his agency has done nothing wrong — even as more spills occur in the city. On Jan. 15, raw sewage started spewing into Lake Merritt for the second time in a month. Residents at 1200 Lakeshore Ave. on the eastern side of the lake said they could see and smell the untreated wastewater flow out of a manhole cover in front of the property and stream into the tidal lagoon and wildlife sanctuary.

Read more: https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/oakland-officials-call-for-probes-of-sewage-leaks/Content?oid=12743329