State water regulators determined Providence Mission Hospital Laguna Beach has sufficiently cleaned up a September diesel spill from its emergency power generator system that sent fuel onto Totuava Beach, according to public documents.
Hospital administrators and their clean-up contractor met with officials from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Board, California Coastal Commission, and state Dept. of Fish & Wildlife on Oct. 22 to provide an update on the spill response.
“In reviewing the draft remedial action workplan and the post sampling event I believe that our concerns have been met,” Brian McDaniel, an engineering geologist with the California Environmental Protection Agency, wrote in meeting minutes.
Water samples collected from Totuava Beach as recently as Oct. 19 showed pollutant levels below what was measured in previous screenings. Lanette Faulkner, director of facilities for Mission Hospital, told water officials she believed no more than 50 gallons of diesel was released from a storm drain outlet onto the sand.
Ancon Services crews have scooped up 51 cubic yards of diesel-contaminated sand plus removed vegetation into 72 Super Sack bags, which remained on the beach on Tuesday. Due to the lack of vehicle access from the streets above, the material will be moved by landing craft but the vessels have been unavailable in recent weeks, according to public documents.
Hospital administrators expect sand removal to start on Nov. 4 or sooner.
Officials discussed using a helicopter to remove the bags of contaminated sand but Laguna Beach wouldn’t allow the operation due to concerns relating to noise. Additionally, the cost of using a helicopter is excessive, said Don Couch, chief compliance officer at Ancon Services.
Ancon will also deliver 60 cubic yards of clean sand by landing craft to replace the contaminated sand removed from Totuava Beach.
This latest incident is the second diesel spill involving the hospital’s emergency generator in just over a year.
On May 7, 2020, a diesel spill ultimately totaling 2,100 gallons forced the closure of Totuava and Thousand Steps beaches. As part of its normal operations, Mission Hospital regularly checks that its emergency electricity generator correctly functions, Laguna Beach officials said. During these tests, the generator’s fuel tank is depleted and needs to be refilled by a second storage tank on site. That system failed at some point sending fuel into the storm drain.
Mission Hospital Chief Executive Seth Teigen is scheduled to provide an update on the clean-up to the Laguna Beach City Council at its 5 p.m. meeting on Tuesday.
