The city of Los Angeles, CA, has long had a problem with clogged sewer pipes that can cause sewage spills, sometimes into the Pacific Ocean. Now the city is aiming to stop the culprit for about half of those blockages.
An ordinance that went into effect in August requires more than 10,000 restaurants located in Los Angeles to collect and recycle used oil, instead of pouring it down the drain, and keep leftovers in the trash and out of the sewer system. A study by the Department of Public Works cites grease buildup as the cause for about half of the sewer blockages. Public works officials have been studying the problem since 1997 and consulted with local and state restaurant associations in designing the plan.
“The goal of the program is to help reduce the urgent environmental impact of fats, oils, and grease on the sewer system,” City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas is quoted in an Associated Press news story. The ordinance was drafted late last year.
Currently under the California Water Code, Los Angeles can receive a maximum fine by the Regional Water Quality Control Board of $10,000 per spill and $10 per spilled gallon. According to the city, with the current amount of fats, oil, and grease related spills, Los Angeles could potentially incur a maximum of $6.5 million in fines.
Under the new ordinance, all food service establishments (FSEs) that have equipment on site that generates fats, oil, and grease are required to obtain a wastewater discharge permit. Once permitted, each establishment has one year to comply with the ordinance, which includes instituting and using the best management practices set forth by the bureau. Those FSEs that hold permits are subject to yearly inspections.
Establishments that are known to cause grease-related sewer spills will be required to install grease-removal equipment such as grease interceptors or traps. If the food establishment cannot install a grease interceptor due to space constraints or lack of engineering feasibility, an alternative pretreatment method may be allowed.
All new FSEs and existing FSEs planning a remodel valued at $100,000 or more will be required to install a grease interceptor.
According to Loudmilla Vertanessian, an associate sanitary engineer for the city’s Industrial Waste Management Division, 86 establishments had been inspected in the first month of the ordinance. Plans are to inspect all 10,000 FSEs within the next two-and-a-half years.
“What we noticed, being out in the field, is that many establishments were already recycling their grease,” said Vertanessian. She added that an educational video about the recycling of grease was being produced by the bureau and would be distributed to the FSEs for training purposes.
In addition to the ordinance targeting restaurants, the city’s Bureau of Sanitation has developed an educational outreach program that teaches residents how to eliminate or minimize the amount of fats, oil, and grease they discharge into the system.
At this time, Los Angeles-based renderers have seen an increase in trap pumping but not in grease collection.
Another City’s Plan
Several other cities in California, such as San Diego and Oxnard, already require restaurants to treat their cooking grease but do not in all cases mandate the installation of interceptors. That changed in August when the Laguna Beach City Council voted unanimously to require 75 already established restaurants to install grease interceptors within the next 18 months. That may be difficult for some of the facilities in this coastal community, as space for the large interceptors is something they don’t have.
“The problem here is restaurants were built in a time when nobody thought about this and they are configured in such a way that there isn’t much room in the facility,” Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth Frank is quoted in a Los Angeles Times article. “And in some cases, there isn’t much room in the street. We have a difficult situation.”
Cost is another factor, as installation for systems range from $15,000 to $20,000, not including costs of reconfiguring plumbing and remodeling to accommodate the system. Laguna Beach officials are examining whether state funds are available to assist in the installation costs and had scheduled a meeting in late September to address some of the space problems.
Newsline - October 2001 Render