From: chiye@cazuma.com
Subject: More SSO in Chimes Creek
Date: December 18, 2005 10:46:38 PM PST
To: MChee@waterboards.ca.gov, klichten@waterboards.ca.gov

Dear Keith and Michael,
This is what was happening at that manhole at 6120 Oakdale this morning. City of Oakland has known about this problem for a long long time. All they do is send some guys over after the gushing has subsided, and they replace the cover. They don't want to bolt down the cover because "it will cause a backup into homes." So this manhole continues to function as a relief valve for the system. The creek that's right next to the sewer is also backed up and flooding into this yard because the culvert leading under Seminary and then into the Mills College Campus cannot handle this amount of flow.

Is the Regional Board going to take action against the City? Isn't this a clear violation of the Clean Water Act?

Some additional pictures from this morning's storm - - I understand the detention pond was overwhelmed after 3 hours of downpour and was topping out. Even after the downpour ended, we continued to see thick chocolate water coming down the creek for hours. It appears that some of the erosion control blankets have slipped off the hillside. Apparently the City thinks that this is acceptable. Some of my neighbors are saying that they have never seen the creek rise so fast and so high.