Improve Water Quality
It is unconscionable that General Manager Peter Grenell and Harbormaster Scott Grindy hid the leaky sewage pipe after is was first reported in 2012. Each time another leak occurred, raw sewage spilled into the harbor before the pipe could be patched. Grenell and Grindy ordered Harbor Patrol staff to repeatedly patch the pipe for over a year before doing a proper repair.
Read the outrageous Johnson Pier sewage leak coverup emails. Checkout the Half Moon Bay Review article, "Harbor plans sewer fixes following failure: Leaked emails discuss pipe breach."
A pump out program with BayGreen was finally approved in May 2014 after year of public pressure to improve water quality at Pillar Point Harbor.
Clean Marinas certification is greenwashing, the program needs significant improvements
Commissioner Sabrina Brennan criticized Scott Grindy and other top harbor staff for not reporting the leak to board members. She said she learned about the problem only because an anonymous emailer sent her messages between harbor staff about the December leak.
In those emails, Assistant Harbormaster John Draper warned Grindy and General Manager Peter Grenell that a segment of pipe was rotten and leaking. He recommended the entire line should be replaced. Grenell agreed, and he recommended staff should contact Valentine Corporation, an engineering firm in San Rafael.
Brennan was outraged that she was learning about the leak 11 months later.
“Our own Harbor Patrol made clear that pipe had to be removed, and it shouldn’t have taken this long to do it,” Brennan said. “We have a Clean Water Act, and it’s critical that it’s enforced, and we’re not doing our due diligence.”
Mark Nowack, Nov. 14, 2013