Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-03-11
The Outfall sewer


ton OF our people to the fact that, under |
the ordinance calling for vote to issue
bonds for the outfall sewer, tie work
will terminate when it reaches the Pa
cific ocean at Ballona beach. The State
act under which this election is author
lied expressly says that the ordinance
must set forth the purposes and Objects
OF the expenditure to be voted for. There
is nothing in the ordinance with refer
encs to carrying the sewer by steel or
other pipes two thousand feet into the
Pacific ocean. 1t states specifically that
the sewer shall go to the ocean at
Ballona beach. Of course if the
sewer ends at that point--for the money
raised on tie bonds cannot be legally
used to carry it further-then the sewage
of this cityis to he dumped into the surf
at the edge of the beach. The people of
Ballona or Santa Monica can undoubtedly
enjoin nuisance of this fragrant eharac.
ter, and will assuredly do so. The
courts will take their view of the
question, and then ogr 1896 600 will have
been spent for work that cannot be
utilized. We shall have an outfall sewer
in air, and as we shall depend
upon it to carry off our sewage,
all other channels having been closed,
the interior system, should it also be
carried, will be useless. What will fol-
low? We shall be compelled to vote
snotker round sum of money to carry
pipes into the ocean two thousand feet,
or be without any outlet whatever for
the sewage of this city.
We shall be told, as we were told be.
| fore, that the plans in the Engineers
Office provide for pipes to extend the
Sc wer into the ocean. But the plans in
the Engineers office are not the sanction
which it is necessary under the law to
have in the ordinance. The vote of the
people is upon the rdirance, not upon
the Engineers plans, which are not a
part of the ordinance. The preamble
mentions plans, but the body of the or
dinsnce makes no reference to them.
Why the ring omitted this important ele-
ment in the ordinance may not be appar-
ent at first sight, but a little reflection
will suggest that as the main object of
the ring is to get hold of the money and
hold on to it for usurious purposes, that
object would be best accomplished by
having the work tied up by injunction
before it had gone far. An election for
the extension of the sewer in pipes into
the ocean could then be STAYED off for q
long time, and in the meantime the nest
egg of over half million dollars would
be Matching out money for the ring.
Therefore it is our opinion that the
omission in the body of theordinancs of
the two Thousand feet of pipes that are
considered indispensable in the report of
Engineer Herring, was made purposely,
and is of piece with all the trickery
and bad faith that has been developed
in this whole business. 1t is akin to the
placing of the interceptor of the interior
system at the southwestern end of the
city, which is some thirty feet lower
than the southeastern end, where
the main body of the sewage
should have had it's outlet, and
which cannot bs reached if the interior
system is carried and the outfall to
Ballona is defeated, without very large
additional expenditure of money. These
unworthy tricks prove conclusively that
the present municipal authorities are not
fit to be trusted with any portion of the
vast amount of money they are asking
the people to vote into their hands for
the several sewer systems.