Skip navigation
Prison Legal News
× You have 2 more free articles available this month. Subscribe today.

California Prison Fined $40,000 for (Another) Raw Sewage Spill

Loaded on May 15, 2009 published in Prison Legal News May, 2009, page 38
Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Conditions of Confinement, Environmental Law, Sewage, Water. Location: California.

California Prison Fined $40,000 for (Another) Raw Sewage Spill

California water officials fined the California Men’s Colony State Prison (CMC) in San Louis Obispo $40,000 for a 20,000 gallon raw sewage spill into Chorro Creek on January 27, 2008. This was just the latest such spill into Chorro Creek, which drains into environmentally sensitive Morro Bay.

The spill was traced to the failure of a backup power generator during a power outage. But CMC has “priors.” When its older sewage plant spilled 220,000 gallons of waste into Chorro Creek in 2004, and a records search revealed 450 documented spills in the previous five years, CMC was fined $600,000 [see: PLN, Nov. 20007, p.2]. Since then, a multi-million dollar plant upgrade has been completed.

In this latest episode, the toxicity of the pollution was mitigated by high winter creek flows. Nonetheless, concerned county officials closed Morro Bay, a state-designated marine protected area, for four days as to water-contact recreation and indefinitely as to sport shellfish harvesting. CMC could have been fined $200,000 under state law.

Source: www.sanluisobisbo.com

As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login

More from this issue:

  1. Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic, by Gary Hunter
  2. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  3. Billionaire-Funded California Voter Initiative Triples Lifer Parole Denial Intervals, Imposes Restrictions on Parole Violators
  4. Prisoner’s Death, Abusive and Incompetent Guards Give Black Eye to Maryland Prisons & Jails, by Gary Hunter
  5. Unlock the Box: Documenting the Struggle to Shut Down Prison Control Units, Reel Soldier Productions / MIM (www.abolishcontrolunits.org) 2008, 2:00 hours, by David Preston
  6. State Auditor: Texas Prisoners Face Retaliation for Airing Grievances, by Matthew Clarke
  7. Washington’s Top Prison Doctor Resigns Over Executions; Entire Execution Team Later Quits Following PLN Records Request, by Mark Wilson
  8. New York Prisoner Receives $3,732 for Medical Neglect/Lost Property Claim
  9. Caging Kids for Cash: Two Pennsylvania Judges Guilty of Selling Out Juvenile Justice System, by Matthew Clarke
  10. Wisconsin Prisoners Sexually Assaulted by 20 Staff Members Over Five Years, by Gary Hunter
  11. $1 Million Settlement Fund Established in New Mexico Jail Strip Search Settlement, by David Reutter
  12. TYC Leaders Straining Public Coffers; Agency Still Problematic, by Gary Hunter
  13. California County’s 2005 Purchase of Private Prison Still Clouded in Conflict of Interest Questions, by Marvin Mentor
  14. CA Jail Deputies Allegedly Provoke Murder of Misidentified Child Molester by Other Prisoners; Wrongful Death Suit Settled for $600,000
  15. Conditions in Maricopa County, Arizona Jails Still Unconstitutional, by Matthew Clarke
  16. Hawai’i Supreme Court Holds Takings Clause Requires Payment of Interest on Prisoner Trust Accounts, by David Reutter
  17. Study Shows Treating HCV in Prisons with Pegylated Interferon Is Cost-Effective, by Matthew Clarke
  18. Overdetained California Prisoner Wins $21,800 for False Imprisonment, by John Dannenberg
  19. Washington DOC Agrees to Pay $850,000 to Family of Victim Killed by Drunk Driver Under Community Supervision
  20. Private Prison Company Cleans Up Texas Creek, Finally Gets Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
  21. Criminal Defense Attorney Helps “Sting” His Own Clients, by Jimmy Franks
  22. Oregon Jail Oversight Committee Disbanded After Sheriff Resigns
  23. U.S. Military Uses Small Wooden Boxes for Segregation Cells of Iraqi Prisoners
  24. Prisoners Used for 2008 Voter Registration, Election Campaigning
  25. Double Standard of Punishment for Supervisors, Line Staff in Colorado DOC, by Gary Hunter
  26. Ex-Convict Demoted After Mismanaging Reentry Program
  27. Florida Prison Officials’ Failure to Timely Respond to Grievances Results in Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
  28. Mock Prison Disaster Program Discontinued; Mock Prison Riot Training Remains, by Gary Hunter
  29. Prisons and Jails Preparing for Switch to Digital TV Broadcasting ... or Not, by Matthew Clarke
  30. California Prison Fined $40,000 for (Another) Raw Sewage Spill
  31. Second Prisoner Unconditionally Released from Washington State Civil Commitment Center
  32. New Jersey Judge Denied Sex Offender a Fair Hearing, Appellate Court Finds
  33. $95,000 Awarded After NY Court Officers Fail to Transmit Protective Custody Order to DOC and Rape Occurs
  34. Eighth Circuit: Missouri Prisoner Has Right to Elective Abortion
  35. South Dakota Jail Prisoner Awarded $1.1 Million for Rape by Guard
  36. Los Angeles County Pays $850,000 for Police Misconduct Death and $595,000 in Jail Medical-Related Death
  37. Executioner Banned in Missouri but Available for Hire Elsewhere, by John Dannenberg
  38. Ninth Circuit: “Supervised Release” is Not “Imprisonment”
  39. California Prisoner-Pay Deductions for Aiding Crime Victims Distributed to Victim Organizations
  40. $75,000 Settlement in Utah Jail Prisoner’s Suicide
  41. Federal Supervised Release Must be Credited for Time Served on Prior Revocations
  42. Bivens Action Unavailable Against Federal Private Prison Employees
  43. Ninth Circuit Remands RLUIPA Claim for Group Religious Worship in Maximum Security Jail
  44. $7,025 Award in Slip and Fall From Ohio Prison Bunk
  45. Court Rejects Federal Prisoner Worker’s Claim of Copyright Infringement
  46. Ninth Circuit: Former Gang Member Entitled to Jury Trial in § 1983 Jail Guard Retaliation Suit
  47. Oregon Jail Suicide Nets $59,422
  48. Michigan Auditor General: DOC Overspends Millions on Overtime, by Matthew Clarke
  49. News in Brief:
  50. Four BOP Guards Sentenced To Prison For Beating, Cover-Up

More from these topics: