Stevenson Ranch Residents Fight Deep-Well Injection Sewage Plan

STEVENSON RANCH (CBSLA.com) — Local water experts have a plan to address chloride discharge from sewage plants in Stevenson Ranch, involving a deep-well injection system.

However, many residents say they want nothing to do with it.

The facility would settle just west of the I-5 on the Old Road in Santa Clarita, and residents against the plan say it may result in more danger than benefit.

These residents met with members of the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District on Wednesday to voice their opposition.

"It's like putting a dump underneath our community," one resident said.

The well would dispose of 500,000 gallons of waste per day. Sanitation officials say the practice is both common and safe, and suggest that it would reduce discharge from treatment plants into the Santa Clara River.

"There are 47,000 deep well injection sites in California, and it's a way that you can dispose of water into a geological strata that is confined from drinking water," Sanitation District member Paul Prestia said.

Residents, however, say their concern also lay in the drilling, triggering potential seismic activity, and the impact this may have on home value.

"They're turning our planet into a dump," resident Michael Patti said. "For $30 million more, they can run this stuff out to the ocean."

The Sanitation District must be compliant by July of 2019, or face fines.