EPA orders Forest Service to clean up 'cesspools' in Los Padres, other areas

Los Padres National Forest has to clean up a dozen campground toilets that federal officials say are cesspools and banned under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The Forest Service has until December 2020 to close and clean up the outdoor toilets, according to an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Los Padres, which includes part of Ventura County, has 15 of the cesspools on the EPA's list. In all, the U.S. Forest Service has to close and remove 62 from campgrounds throughout the state.

"We've been aware of this and are taking steps," said Andrew Madsen, a spokesman with the Los Padres National Forest.

A lot of the campgrounds were built by the conservation corps back in the 1930s and 1940s and need refurbishing and upgrades, he said. But funding can be an issue and removing and replacing the older toilets can be expensive.

"It's nothing that we weren't planning to do," Madsen said. "We're just doing it a little quicker than we otherwise would."

What is a cesspool?

Pit toilets, like those in the campgrounds, are allowed in some cases. But the EPA determined that these were large-capacity cesspools based on the number of people who could be using them.

Banned in 2005, the large-capacity cesspools collect and discharge pollutants like untreated raw sewage into the ground, according to the EPA. If that seeps into nearby streams or groundwater, safety could become an issue.

Madsen said Los Padres has had "no reports of outbreaks or anything of that nature" related to the toilets.

The agreement with the EPA lays out a schedule and requires the Forest Service to submit a plan and updates. If the work isn't completed, the agency could face financial penalties.

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What campgrounds are affected?

In Los Padres, many of the toilets haven't been used for nearly two years. They were padlocked in late 2016 or early 2017.

All but one of the 15 on the EPA's list are in the Mount Pinos district of the forest, which falls along the Ventura and Kern county line.

Of those, a dozen were listed as inaccessible because of the padlocks. But when the locks went up, another issue started.

"That's when people started pooping at the front door," Madsen said. 

At one site called Campo Alto, portable toilets were brought in. But that hasn't happened at all the sites.

Madsen described Campo Alto as a high-priority site, one that used to require visitors to buy an Adventure Pass because of its amenities. Los Padres now has a private company manage the spot.

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How much will it cost?

Pit toilets at two other spots, both in the Caballo campground, were left open.

But the number of camping spots had been reduced there, so the toilets would be used by fewer people, according to the EPA list.

Madsen said Los Padres has started replacing the toilets at some sites.

Plans call for removing all the old toilets and replacing them with new ones. The Forest Service estimated costs to do so at all 62 sites would total $1.1 million. 

Typically, Los Padres might have enough money to replace one or two of the old toilets a year, Madsen said. 

But close to $1 million was made available for forests to fix this problem, he said, and that will help speed up the process.

Below is the EPA's list of cesspools and their closure status: