SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Council to Proceed With Sewage Study

The City Council has voted to proceed with a joint study of a proposed $30-million sewage treatment plant--and to pay all of the Capistrano Beach Sanitary District’s costs for that study until Dec. 31.

Sanitary district officials had asked that their joint effort be dropped because they couldn’t afford their share of the cost, $2,400 a month. Officials also said they feared that San Juan Capistrano eventually would scrap plans for the sewage treatment plant.

San Juan Capistrano has, in fact, been studying a cheaper solution: having more of the city’s sewage treated at a Dana Point plant. The City Council also voted this week to pursue that option, with a decision to be made by Dec. 31.

That second plan is estimated to cost $8 million for the same capacity that would be provided by a new plant, city Public Works Director William D. Murphy he said. It also would enable the city to help treat wastes from the 31-year-old Capistrano Beach Sanitary District plant, which is operating at its maximum capacity, Councilman Lawrence F. Buchheim said.