Two weeks after North Marin Water District spilled one million gallons of treated sewage water into Walker Creek, state environmental health officials still have not allowed three oyster farms to resume harvesting.
Wednesday was the fourteenth day of the harvesting ban for Hog Island Oyster Company, Point Reyes Oyster Company, and Bay Bottom Beds. Sales losses are continuing to mount.
"I'm getting tired of telling people I can't sell them oysters," said John Finger, co-owner of Hog Island Oysters. "Sooner or later, I'll sell those oysters, but what I'm worried about is cashflow."
Finger said a decision was due Wednesday, but as of press time, he hadn't heard from state officials.
"I don't have the ability to go tell them to begin harvesting," said North Marin Water District Manager Chris DeGabriele. "I wish I did, but I don't."
DeGabriele said samples of oyster meat taken from the farms near the Walker Creek delta still show too much fecal coliform bacteria. "It was trending down," he said, "but it hadn't reached that threshold."
Added Finger, "So far, it looks like the trends are heading in the right direction. I just wish we could get the test results faster and do more samples."
Finger believes his company has lost more than $20,000 since the ban began on Oct. 10. Jorge Rebagliati of Bay Bottom Beds said last week that his company had lost $6,000 to $7,000, and that was before last weekend.
DeGabriele said the district will consult with somebody knowledgeable about the shellfish industry when it comes time to consider claims from the oyster growers. The district's insurance policy isn't triggered by claims under $1 million.
The district manager said he's not sure how the cost of those claims will be spread out among the 89 homes and businesses connected to the Tomales sewer.
In the past, he said, that cost would be passed on only to those using the Tomales sewer system. However, district directors will have to decide whether to have customers throughout the district help cover the costs.
He added that he has asked the Regional Water Quality Control Board to remember there are only 89 sewer customers when it considers levying fines for the spill, which violated the Clean Water Act.
The spill, which lasted from Oct. 1 to 9, went undetected so long because it resulted from an underground pipe bursting on a remote hillside. From there the sewage flowed into Walker Creek and was carried to Tomales Bay.