Camarillo Municipal Code Ch. 9.14 Public Property—nuisance Abatement

Whenever a spill of any materials or substances, including, but not limited to, hazardous substances declared to be such by applicable state or federal laws or regulations ("spill"), occurs on any public property, including, but not limited to, public streets, alleys, rights-of-way, sewers and storm drains, the same shall be deemed to be a public nuisance. The person or persons who caused such spill shall be responsible to the city, as a civil debt, for all costs, direct and indirect, incurred by the city in the cleanup or elimination of such spill (collectively "cleanup") and for all damages proximately caused by such spill ("damages").

Where a spill occurs, the director of public services ("director") shall give notice to the person causing the spill that if the same is not remedied in a timely manner, that the cleanup will be done by city forces and a charge will be made therefor against the person or persons causing the spill. If the nature and extent of the spill permits, the director shall give a reasonable time to such person(s) to effect the cleanup. If the person(s) responsible for the spill does not respond in a timely manner to the director and commence the cleanup, or if the spill is such as to constitute an immediate threat to persons or to property in the vicinity and/or the nature of the spill is such that it must be subject to an immediate cleanup, the director shall cause the cleanup to be accomplished.

Upon completion of the necessary cleanup of the spill by the city, the city manager shall conduct a hearing in the time and manner set forth in Section 9.12.100 et seq., of this code and shall determine the cost to the city of the abatement of the nuisance, including, but not limited to, staff salaries, administrative costs, including overhead, and attorneys' fees, which amount, together with the amount of damages, if any, shall be deemed to be a civil debt to the city owed by the person or persons who caused this spill.

When the city manager has made a final determination on the amount of the civil debt, the city clerk shall give notice thereof to the person(s) who are liable to the city for the payment thereof. Such sum shall be due and payable immediately upon the giving of notice by the city clerk of the city manager's determination with respect to costs and damages. Interest shall be due upon the amount of the civil debt owed to the city and shall be paid to the city by the responsible person(s), from the date of the issuance of the order by the city manager to the date that the same is paid in full. The interest rate thereon shall be the interest rate which is applicable to judgments issued by court of record in the state of California.

The city manager may direct the filing of a civil action to recover a civil debt as described in this chapter. In the event that the court awards a judgment to the city as and for all or any part of such civil debt, the court shall also award reasonable attorneys' fees to the city necessarily incurred in collection of the said civil debt.

(Ord. 870 § 1, 1997.)