More than 30 years after Malibu residents formed a city, mainly to stop sewer and rampant development, leaders of coastal communities are talking about building sewer systems.

Malibu City Council has requested a preliminary assessment of how to build and fund sewer lines on the Pacific Coast Highway and serve nearly four miles of the coast, with 327 homes burning in January wildfires.

While Malibu’s leaders and citizens remain firmly supportive of controlling growth, they believe there may be a way to build a sewer that won’t open the way for large-scale development, while also making human waste more likely to flow from houses into the ocean.

Water quality officials have long complained that Malibu’s septic tank system does not adequately control sewage, pathogens seep into groundwater and then into local creeks and Santa Monica Bay.

All the houses destroyed on the coastal highway operate on an outdated septic tank system, which would replace the sewer system if the city decides to build one.

A safe sewer that primarily transports human waste to treatment plants will reduce the threat from septic tanks and leaching sites, an upgrade that Malibu City Council members say they hope to complete.

However, most of the council make it clear that they would not approve the sewer if they thought it would slow down the reconstruction of PCH’s houses along PCH, or open hotels, apartments and “Miami Beach”-style developments.

This is just the case when the city's supporters successfully ran for Malibu Incorp in 1990. Since then, most Malibu leaders have allowed little to no buildings, which is inconsistent with the semi-burning roots of the community.

But the January fire has reconsidered many themes. Council members voluntarily consider the sewer degree invisible in the city’s 34-year history.

"I think we should do everything we can to put the sewers in () and figure out how to pay," Councilman Steve Uhring said in a recent public hearing. "That's what Malibu means. We should protect the environment. This is the best way to do it."

Uhring and his council members made it clear that they intend to serve only current homes and businesses along the Bourne district - approximately from Topanga Canyon Boulevard to Carbon Canyon Road.

"There has been concerns that (sewers) will open up a path even in limited areas, thus becoming bigger than expected," said Bruce Silverstein, a councilman, in an interview.

Councilman Doug Stewart suggested by limiting the capacity of sewers: "We can make sure there are no high-density apartment buildings or hotels in the coastal areas. It will be putting people back into previous homes."

"We have to be careful not to destroy the environment by trying to protect it," Stewart added.

Mayor Marianne Riggins and Congresswoman Haylynn Conrad also agreed that the city should look at the possibility that Conrad calls it in the newspaper column "S-word".

But there are still many questions: Where will the wastewater from the PCH sewer be disposed of? Who will pay for this job? How to deal with waste in coastal homes within five years or more of the project?

Malibu Public Works Director Rob Duboux recently introduced four sewer treatment alternatives and a fifth option to the city council, which will allow homeowners to retain and upgrade their on-site waste treatment systems.

Councillors said they tend to be the fastest and least expensive plan for Dubux. The option will allow the city to pave the sewer line under the PCH to the city of Los Angeles sewer, which leads along the highway to the near Coastline Avenue, more than a mile from Malibu’s eastern border.

The sewer eventually connects to the Hyperion treatment plant in El Segundo, where the waste is treated "full sub-college" to ensure safe release through about five miles of offshore pipeline.

Preliminary calculations show that the work will cost $124 million and will take five years and five months to complete, Dubx said, although he acknowledged that more detailed plans and forecasts must be completed.

Malibu will apply for grants and loans to reduce the cost of the project.

Some property owners who lost their homes in the January fire believe that sewers may be a cheaper option than repairing their septic tank systems. Regional water quality officials have made it clear that they expect these systems to modernize and fully protect the ocean, with little sand buffer in the waves on a highway.

The estimated cost of the new septic tank system and protective seawall has spiraled to $500,000, and more, the homeowner said.

Additionally, if New York City has established an evaluation area and bound to the system for the Hyperion, the system will be $269,000 per property. "This is…the best and easiest solution," Dubx said in a public hearing.

Silverstein warns that public works projects usually end up costing “the expenses that 150% to 200% of people think they will spend” and that sticking to septic tank systems is still the most likely outcome.

Malibu has previously built a sewer, but only in regional water quality officials prohibit the long-term use of septic tank systems in vast areas centered on the civic center. Banned areas, including the exclusive Malibu colony and the verdant Serra Retreat community.

The order of no doubt follows the determination of the water officials that a single underground treatment system leaks waste into the groundwater and leaks in Malibu Creek in the Malibu Lagoon. This pollution sometimes makes the famous Surfrider beach unsafe for swimmers and surfers.

The city then approved a sewer to serve the city center. Workers completed the first phase of the Civic Center sewer in 2018. The second phase of the second serving the Malibu colonies and Malibu Road has been postponed and a branch of the system has been postponed indefinitely after the discovery of indigenous artifacts.

Waste from the sewer of the Citizen Center is disposed of in a small factory near the foot of Malibu Canyon Road.

In theory, the new PCH sewers could be integrated into the civic center system. But Duboux expects the cost of the Hyperion Connection to be $64 million higher. Council members noted that the Civic Center Treatment Plant’s capacity is unable to accommodate waste from homes in Bourne District and communities that are already expected to be connected to the system.

Another option is to connect with the new PCH sewer line to the Malibu Canyon high LAS Virgenes-Tapia water back facility. Dubux estimates that the option requires twice the pipeline, which costs more than twice the cost of Hyperion connections.

Although Council members have no interest in Las Virgenes’ connections, environmental scientist Mark Gold said in an interview that all programs deserve more research. The National Defense Commission’s gold notes that water generated by the Las Vegas sewage treatment plant can be returned to Malibu for irrigation and fire prevention.

In another case, Malibu will build a new treatment plant somewhere near the coast. Council members expressed doubts about finding the appropriate location. They are also concerned about the estimated timeline of the work for the nearly seven years.

Although Malibu leaders think about the future, the status of most septic tank systems along the PCH coast remains a mystery. Fire debris still piled up on many underground tanks as army engineers and private contractors cleared the rubble.

No one completed the check to determine if the septic tank system remained functional before clearing the batch.

Even before the fire, there were few septic tanks and leaching sites that might have met current standards, which required a significant increase in pathogen removal. Another lasting challenge: sea level rises from climate change and greater storms erode most of the beaches that once separated the waste system from the ocean.

Malibu officials suggested they would weigh: If they agree to build a sewer, residents along the PCH should be able to keep the septic tank system in place until the sewer can be completed.

This will depend on the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to determine whether the short-term hazards of increased pollution are worth absorbing to obtain the long-term improvements provided by the sewer. The agency said in a statement that it "looks forward to working with the city of Malibu to explore viable solutions".

Tonya Shelton, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Health Department, said the potential links between Malibu and coastal sewers and Hyperion plants “requires more research,” although “a rough review suggests that this may be feasible.”

Gold stressed that the city should complete marine testing as soon as possible to determine whether the septic tank system leaked human waste to Santa Monica Bay. "It is the city's responsibility to make sure that this happens," Gold said.

The crisis caused by the fire also brings opportunities, scientists say.

“You can build facilities in ways that don’t induce growth,” Gold said. “And you can also enhance water supply and resilience.”