Water District Supports 2 Accused Managers

CAPISTRANO BEACH — Board members of the Capistrano Beach Water District on Friday chose not to take disciplinary action against the district’s general manager and a supervisor amid allegations that they played a role in the illegal dumping of sewage.

The board also decided to pay for legal representation for Steven Cory Sanchez, 39, a district supervisor, who allegedly instructed district employees to dump the sludge in San Juan Creek, and district general manager Dennis Emerson McClain, 62, who has authority over district operations.

The decision was announced by Steve DeBaun, legal counsel for the board, after a 2 1/2-hour closed session where board members conferred with DeBaun and Paul Meyer, a Costa Mesa criminal defense attorney who will represent the district.

The board’s decision comes two days after criminal charges were leveled against the water district and McClain and Sanchez for allegedly violating state law under the federal Water Pollution Control Act.

Sanchez was charged with 12 felony counts and eight misdemeanors by the Orange County district attorney’s office, which filed the same charges against the water agency. McClain was charged with eight misdemeanors, including negligence.

Before the meeting, acting board President Douglas A. Erdman expressed shock and disbelief at the severity of the criminal charges.

Erdman said the board intends to explain its actions in a statement being prepared for disclosure at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday. That meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the South East Regional Reclamation Authority facility, 25752 Del Obispo St., in Dana Point.

The board’s decision against disciplinary action and to provide legal representation for the two employees was defended in a brief statement by DeBaun.

“The board decided to retain Paul Meyer to represent the district,” DeBaun said. “It also authorized that it will be defending both Sanchez and McClain. . . . It was determined it was in the best interests of the district.”

DeBaun declined further comment.

Among the board’s options was to place the two employees on administrative leave or suspension, said one board member who did not wish to be identified. Also, the board could have decided to hire an outside management firm to run the district on a temporary basis.

The criminal charges concluded a yearlong probe by the Orange County district attorney’s office of the agency’s alleged illegal practices of unauthorized dumping of sewer sludge.

According to the complaint, district employees were accused of dumping sewage from the backs of tank trucks from April 29, 1994, through May 29, 1996.

It was a “practice that became a policy,” prosecutor Michelle Lyman said.

Samples of the dirt where the sludge was allegedly dumped revealed “extremely high fecal coliform levels” relating to human or animal waste, according to the district attorney’s office.

San Juan Creek empties off Doheny State Beach in Dana Point.