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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (September 12, 2022) – In a special city council meeting held on September 8, 2022 via zoom, El Segundo City Council unanimously declared a local state of emergency due to the emission of noxious gases and foul odors from the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant that have been plaguing the residents and business of El Segundo since July 11, 2021, when the plant experienced a major sewage spill and flooding. In a closed session held earlier that day, El Segundo City Council also authorized the filing of a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles which operates the Hyperion Plant, for their persistent failure to mitigate the Hyperion Plant’s infestation of gases and foul odors.
Declaring a local state of emergency gives the City Manager, Darrell George, authority to take certain actions under the emergency order and potential access to state and federal funds to address this situation, which the City of Los Angeles has failed to resolve.
“It has been over a year since the initial sewer spill at the Hyperion Plant. There have been 1,100 odor-related complaints from community members who report suffering from headaches and nausea from the smell. The California State Water Resources Control Board has issued a notice of violation, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) has issued 13 notices of violation and three abatement orders, and still the odor problem persists. Residents, businesses, and City Council are fed up with the failure of the City of Los Angeles to resolve this issue. We declared a state of emergency to emphasize the urgency of this health crisis, draw attention and resources to this catastrophe and protect the safety and health of our people,” said El Segundo City Mayor Drew Boyles.
Things came to a head last week when AQMD, that has jurisdiction over the Hyperion Plant, held a public hearing on September 6th that lasted over seven hours and carried over into the next day. A recent AQMD order of abatement issued to the Hyperion Plant was discussed and AQMD’s inspector presented his findings in an impassioned testimony identifying the Hyperion Plant as the source of an “odor crisis” that “needs to be corrected immediately.” That night, residents of El Segundo packed the City Council meeting and angrily expressed their concerns over the continued inaction of the Hyperion Plant to address the rancid smell that has permeated their lives for over 14 months.
During public communications, Dr. Cyrus Rangan, MD, a medical toxicologist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health spoke about the department’s dismay at Hyperion Plant’s slow response to the troubling number of odor-related health effects that nearby residents have experienced due to the plant’s emissions. Dr. Rangan talked about the countless letters they have sent the City of Los Angeles Sanitation regarding this issue and strongly urged Hyperion Plant to expedite implementation of all improvements that have been recommended and to immediately take interim measures for more long-term projects.
The foul odors being emitted from the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant have been an ongoing issue since July 11, 2021, when a blockage in Hyperion Plant’s filter system caused “nearly catastrophic flooding” of raw sewage in the plant, damaging numerous pumps and other equipment, which caused the release of noxious gases and odors affecting the well-being and quality of life of the residents of El Segundo who border the massive Hyperion Plant.
In the weeks following this sewage spill, the Los Angeles Board of Public Works formed a Hyperion Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee made up of advisors and experts in the field - including the City of El Segundo’s Director of Public Works - to independently assess what caused this major sewage spill and to make recommendations on how to respond to this event and restore the public confidence in its operations. The committee made 33 recommendations in February of 2022, of which, only a few have been enacted.
The City of El Segundo has dedicated over 1,000 hours working with the Los Angeles City Sanitation Bureau, AQMD, the California State Water Resources Control Board, California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA), the Supervisor’s Office, District 11 Council Office and various others to resolve this serious health issue affecting its residents.
The Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant treats the wastewater of approximately 4 million people in the Los Angeles region, is managed by the Los Angeles City Sanitation Bureau, and borders the City of El Segundo, where more than 17,000 residents live directly east or southeast of the facility. For more information about this issue, go to www.elsegundo.org/hyperion.
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Media Contact:
Diane Chaaban can be reached at dchaaban@elsegundo.org or 310-524-2727
About the City of El Segundo
The City of El Segundo is a thriving coastal community in southwestern Los Angeles County. The city’s vibrant economy includes leaders in aerospace and defense, bioscience, information technology, energy, real estate, and creative media. The city has seen tremendous growth and evolution over the past several years and is home to the Los Angeles Lakers, the L.A. Kings, the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Air Force Base Space Systems Command, and soon the L.A. Chargers.
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