The Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant, also called the Oceanside Treatment Plant, is a

wastewater treatment plant Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environmen ...

operated by the

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is a public agency of the City and County of San Francisco that provides water, wastewater, and electric power services to the city and an additional 1.9 million customers within three San Franc ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The award-winning facility is noted for its mostly underground construction inside a hollowed-out hill. It is between Ocean Beach and

Lake Merced , image =Lake Merced at SFSU.jpg , caption = , location = San Francisco, California , coords = , type = Reservoir , inflow = Spring , outflow = , catchment = , basi ...

in the far-southwest corner of the city, near the

San Francisco Zoo The San Francisco Zoo is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The SF Zoo is a public institution, managed by the non-profit San Francisco Zoolo ...

and the

California National Guard The California National Guard is part of the National Guard of the United States, a dual federal-state military reserve force. The CA National Guard has three components: the CA Army National Guard, CA Air National Guard, and CA State Guard. ...

. Oceanside is a secondary treatment plant handling about 20% of the city's wastewater from one-third of the city's residents. Its maximum capacity is per day, with an average daily dry weather flow of . It discharges treated water about offshore into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. Construction on the , facility began in January 1990 and was completed in June 1994. 70% of the structure is underground, covered with of earth and landscaping.

Renaming proposal

In 2008, a voter group called the

Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco The Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco (Presidential Memorial Commission for short) was a voter group that sponsored a satirical but real 2008 ballot initiative to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant, a wastewater trea ...

proposed the facility be renamed the George W. Bush Sewage Plant in faux honor of the forty-third U.S. president,

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. By summer 2008, the effort had received a sustained burst of coverage from local and prominent national and international print and broadcast outlets. The proposal received 11,999 signatures, while only 7,168 were required for the measure. It appeared as Proposition R on the November 4, 2008 ballot, to become effective on 20 January 2009. Organizer Brian McConnell stated the reasons for the ballot proposal and renaming. :'' Fifty years from now in a

civics Civics is the study of the rights and obligations of citizens in society. The term derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". The term relates to behavior affecting other citizens, particularly in the context of ...

class, students will learn about the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...

, that other presidents are on

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore ( Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dako ...

– and George W. Bush got a sewage plant. It will prompt people to ask why, and they can discuss the

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, and everything that led to it. People want to forget the bad moments of history, and this is our way of making sure that doesn't happen.'' In response to a question on the White House reaction to the proposal,

Press Secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dut ...

Dana Perino Dana Marie Perino (born May 9, 1972) is an American political commentator and author who served as the 26th White House Press Secretary, under President George W. Bush from September 14, 2007, to January 20, 2009. She was the second female Whit ...

noted that it did not "

ignify Ignify was an ERP, CRM, POS and e-commerce software company headquartered in Long Beach, California with more than 500 employees in 8 countries. Ignify's tagline is "Igniting Ideas. Delivering Results." Ignify was founded by Sandeep Walia and Pa ...

a response." The official argument against Proposition R in the voter handbook had suggested that, given the total amount of the federal debt at the end of the Bush Administration, "Maybe it would be more appropriate to name the local bankruptcy court or a consumer credit counseling center after Bush?" The proposal failed by a wide margin with 70 percent voting no at the polls.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 37.727637, -122.504766, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Sewage treatment plants in California Government buildings in San Francisco Government of San Francisco Environment of the San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco Bay watershed Infrastructure completed in 1994 1994 establishments in California