More than $2 million in fines threatened by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board have spurred the city of Ione to have all required late reports completed and mailed off.

The final three reports were sent to the appropriate authorities by Feb. 11.

The city of Ione is now up to date on the submittal of reports for its wastewater treatment facilities, according to City Manager Kim Kerr. The city also sent a letter of explanation to Steve Rosenbaum of the CVRWQCB, explaining the circumstances of Ione's late reports and outlining the remedial actions taken to prevent a repetition of such tardiness.

In the letter, Kerr informed Rosenbaum of the inconsistency in wastewater personnel over the past three years and of the city management's costly error in believing that the city's chief wastewater plant operator could both run the plant and produce the required reports. Ultimately, however, Kerr stated management's realization that "management failed to adequately oversee and ensure compliance."

Beginning in February 2008, the Ione City Council gave permission to city staff to contract out the quarterly reporting requirements, which was done and put in action by last autumn. By that time, however, many reports were far beyond their required completion dates, prompting the threat of massive fines totalling $2.5 million.

To prevent recurrence, the city has implemented a new system, whereby the city manager will review and sign off on all future monitoring reports, as well as implement performance standards for future report submittal. The city is also "soliciting proposals for wastewater operators who can manage and perform all required operational tasks," Kerr said.