[CPEO-MEF] Funding brings Camp Pendleton pipe dream nearer reality

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California
NORTH COUNTY TIMES
By: Darrin Mortenson
Funding brings Camp Pendleton pipe dream nearer reality
Last modified Sunday, December 7, 2003 10:34 PM PST

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Camp Pendleton's 50-year-old wastewater system has
been spewing raw sewage into the Santa Margarita River Basin at alarming
rates for years, violating the top federal clean water laws without
penalty.

But new federal funding and a tighter grip on the management of the
system may stem the foul flow and put an end to the toxic spills over
the next seven years.

Hidden within the $401 billion defense authorization act recently signed
by President Bush was a tiny provision approving $25 million for the
first phase of construction of a tertiary sewage plant planned for the
southwestern corner of the 125,000-acre Marine Corps base.

Having a tertiary plant means the wastewater, or effluent, will be
treated to a level of purity that means it can be reused throughout the
base to water lawns, wash cars and irrigate the golf course.

The one tertiary plant will replace the existing four outdated and
faulty secondary plants that only remove the bulk of the solids from the
waste and continue to pump treated water into the river basin that does
not comply with federal Clean Water Act standards.

"It's a good thing for the base and it's a good thing for the
environment," said Steve Wolfe, deputy public works officer for Camp
Pendleton. "The results will be so much better than what we have now."

The first $25 million on the Pentagon budget this year is only starters.

Another $25 million will have to be approved on next year's defense
spending legislation, as will an additional $50 million over the next
six years for pipes and pumping stations. Planners estimate the system
will cost about $100 million by the time it's finished in 2010.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/12/08/news/top_stories/12_7_0322_17_48.txt

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