County of Imperial to aid Niland Sanitary District

The Niland Sanitary District is out of compliance and the community may lose assistance from the county if they don’t act soon.

We spoke county officials on what this means for the residents of Niland.

Residents have been facing this sanitation issue for quite some time and county officials tell us it is time for a solution to avoid bigger problems in the future.

The wastewater treatment primary system has been under a cease and desist order from The Regional Water Quality Board for a near 60 months since 2009 and is in need of improvements.

“To make those improvements an investment of new capital needs to be available,” said Supervisor Ryan E. Kelley, District 4.

A violation of the compliance continued through August 2016 and The Regional Water Quality Control Board was forced to issue a penalty costing over 4 and a half million dollars.

“One of the issues they have right now, for all the improvements they have incomplete, is they might get additional fines and it might lose the opportunity to secure six million dollars,” said Esperanza Colio Warren, Manager of the Community and Economic Development Department.

The sanitary district is in the process of securing funding in grant funds from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the North American Development Bank.

In order to obtain the funding needed, a resolution of all financial liabilities is required by USDA.

The county is providing workshops for residents to understand the rates to be implemented, but the increase in cost is what has left some people unhappy.

“The county of imperial is assisting them in trying to remedy the situation they currently find themselves in,” added Kelley.

We reached out to The Niland Sanitary District Board; they were not available for comment today but did say they would be getting back to us.

Another informational meeting is scheduled for February 9th.