LAKEPORT >> Test results for water-borne heavy metals were as high as public frustration during the Lake County Board of Supervisors’ update and discussion of Hoberg’s Resort on Tuesday.
According to Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski, the test was based on Cobb Area Water District’s (CAWD) samples collected on March 11. Rain water that overflowed from the famous resort’s broken septic systems and onto land owned by the utility.
“The water was cascading through the entire property,” CAWD general manager Robert Stark said. “What [the results] are is proof that are appearing from the debris flow.”
Of the 10 metals found in the analysis, Aluminum and Iron were the most concentrated. Also found were Manganese, Barium, Nickel and Calcium. Amounts were still being measured against federal standards.
Even before the release of these results, the threat of contamination from this waste water treatment system created a problem that forced the county to give the owners, Lake County Partners LLC, a 48-hour abatement. The company failed to comply by deadline and the government was forced to clean the critically damaged system of pipes and a lift station from the property.
Company representative Dave Svec claimed that his team didn’t have time to find a contractor, but according to District 4 Supervisor Rob Brown, the county’s contractor, Gifford’s Backhoe Service was hired early Friday morning and completed the job before additional rains hit Sunday.
“When we got the abatement notice, we couldn’t find people,” Svec said, adding that the company is dealing with insurance issues. “It wasn’t that we didn’t want to do that.”
Despite this being the second abatement notice the county has given to the property, Cobb residents who commented at the meeting weren’t satisfied at all with the cleanup’s progress. In fact, many demanded urgent action and questioned the board’s response to the issue heavily; some even argued that people won’t come back because of the mess at the resort.
“We’re having a hard time getting people to come back to Cobb and the publicity is not helping us,” resident Barbara Flynn said.
Another citizen, Jessyca Lyttle, grilled each supervisor individually
“If [the cleanup] is not done, you will have issues legally,” Lyttle, who asked for further transparency, said.
And she wasn’t the only one; complaints, questions, and discussion extended the time spent on the issue to nearly two hours.
Yet, the board was patient and answered many questions while politely defending their actions.
“There has been no time that we haven’t supported a move forward in the most expeditious way,” District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele said.
Additionally, Brown stood up for the rest of his board against accusations that the representatives outside the district weren’t that involved.
“To suggest that we are now waking up, is not based in reality,” he said. “It was been a priority of us.”
