Rep. Bob Filner said he is optimistic that the California Coastal Commission’s (CCC) Aug. 13 decision to deny the city a secondary-treatment waiver for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant will be overturned within two months. Filner said he is optimistic even though he has yet to receive a response to his letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asking the governor to overturn the commission’s decision. “If we don’t hear from the governor, I’ll follow up on it and we’ll introduce legislation and try to pass that within a few weeks,” Filner said. “We expect within a month we should be able to get back on track on this stuff.” Filner said that in addition to his own letter to the governor, the city is simultaneously appealing the decision to the U.S. Department of Commerce. If neither of those pursuits work, Filner said he will craft the legislation. “We’re going along those three tracks and we’re working on all of them right now,” Filner said. “I think at one of those three levels we’ll be able to reverse the decision.” Filner said he believes the governor can act immediately, while the Department of Commerce can act within a few weeks after the city’s official appeal. The legislative route would take between four to six weeks, he said. “I authored [previous] legislation which gave the last two waivers. Nothing has changed and I figure we can do it again if we have to,” Filner said. Filner said he supports the waiver because he thinks the cost of secondary treatment does not offset the current effect the plant has on the ocean. He has worked on this issue for 22 years in multiple levels of government. “If I felt we were doing environmental damage, I’d be the first to yell for new treatment processes,” Filner said. “We’re doing very infinitesimal environmental damage and having to waste $1.5 billion to go to a law that does not recognize the conditions that we have here.” On Aug. 13, commissioners from the state Coastal Commission unexpectedly voted 8-1 to deny the waiver. The waiver would have allowed the plant to operate below the minimum federal environmental standards for pollution. A waiver was previously granted in 1995 and 2002. The Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant has been open since 1963 and is located at 1902 Gatchell Road. According to the city, the facility treats about 175 million gallons of wastewater per day. The outfall pipe extends 4.5 miles into the ocean. District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer declined to comment on the issue, and inquiries made to the office of Mayor Jerry Sanders were not returned.