Three years after a massive spill at a Los Angeles wastewater facility sent millions of gallons of sewage into Santa Monica Bay, the city has agreed to spend more than $20 million on improvements to remedy the environmental blunder, according to a settlement with federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. The agreement comes after an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and federal prosecutors into the 2021 spill at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey, the city’s largest wastewater treatment facility. Federal prosecutors allege that the sewage spill “resulted from the city of Los Angeles’ failure to adequately staff Hyperion, train its employees at Hyperion and/or maintain Hyperion’s equipment,” though the settlement notes that the city does not concede these points.

Related news release and article:

• ABC 7 Los Angeles: LA to pay $20.8 million for discharging untreated wastewater into Santa Monica Bay
• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California: News release: City of Los Angeles to pay $20.8 million for discharging more than 12 million gallons of untreated wastewater into Santa Monica Bay