The Sewer Authority Mid-coastside lawsuit now involves over $6 million in disputed capital costs for the Intertie Pipeline System, plus an estimated $680,000 of Half Moon Bay legal fees, likely headed toward $3 million for all three agencies if it goes to trial, which is where it appears to be headed.
There are two key facts about this lawsuit many do not understand. First, the SAM system was designed to join together three separate areas, each of which previously had its own sewer treatment plant and collection systems. Second, Montara wanted no part of it, an opinion perhaps best explained by Robert Magnasco in a May 17, 1976, meeting of the old Montara Sanitary District. To wit: Mr. Robert Magnasco was appalled that a sewer plant functioning at 50 percent capacity would be abandoned and the raw sewage would be pumped nine miles for treatment.