ONTARIO, Calif., May 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The City of Ontario (City) rejects the misleading and inflammatory accusations issued by the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) in its recent public letter, received Friday, May 9, 2025. IEUA’s talk of collaboration is a smokescreen, but its actions have been defined by public attacks, factual distortions, and repeated failures in fulfilling its regional responsibilities.
“Ontario remains committed to protecting public health, providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective water and wastewater services to our residents and businesses,” said Ontario Mayor Paul Leon. “What the public deserves is transparency and accountability from all agencies. Unfortunately, IEUA’s latest communication does not reflect either.”
Below each FALSE claim made by IEUA is addressed with the additional context IEUA has failed to publicly provide.
IEUA FALSE Claim #1: The City is allowing PFAS to infiltrate the regional collection system, necessitating costly treatment to protect public health.
IEUA’s accusation is baseless fearmongering and an attempt to deflect from its own lack of transparency on PFAS in the regional recycled water supply. The City has never refused to test for PFAS and, in fact, consistently meets or exceeds all state and federal water and sewer safety standards. IEUA has never made a formal request identifying specific testing sites, and when the City proactively asked for the regulatory basis for such testing, IEUA responded that participation was voluntary.
If IEUA believes PFAS monitoring is a regional concern, it should raise the issue through its Technical and Policy Committees, where collaboration, not press releases, drives solutions. Meanwhile, we call on IEUA to be transparent about PFAS levels in its own wastewater effluent and recycled water, data it has yet to share with the member agencies or the communities they serve.
IEUA FALSE Claim #2: The City is allowing a local business to release hazardous materials into the regional collection system.
IEUA’s claim misrepresents a clear regulatory success. Rather than neglecting enforcement, the City took decisive action, working closely with the business to bring it into full compliance with environmental standards. The result was a significant investment in on-site treatment systems, ensuring long-term water quality protections.
This outcome reflects responsible governance and a collaborative approach to compliance, not the negligence IEUA falsely suggests. That IEUA would distort this as a failure only raises further questions about its motives and credibility.
IEUA FALSE Claim #3: The City has restricted access for IEUA to monitor possible illegal discharging into the IEUA system.
IEUA’s concerns over Significant Industrial User (SIU) permitting are disingenuous. Of all SIUs in the City’s system, only one is managed by the City, and that permit was co-signed by IEUA. The City proposed deferring SIU transfers until the regional contract dispute was resolved, a position shared in a documented exchange with IEUA leadership. Since then, IEUA has remained silent, continuing a pattern of disengagement and failed regional leadership.
IEUA FALSE Claim #4: The City is illegally discharging, jeopardizing public health and putting the Sports Complex Project at risk.
IEUA’s claim is misleading and reckless. The City is not illegally discharging wastewater, it is using the Eastern Trunk Sewer (ETS), a shared facility operated under a long-standing agreement between both agencies. IEUA’s recent attempt to reframe this decades-old, cooperative use as unauthorized is a baseless distortion. Since 2011, the City and IEUA have been actively working together to amend and modernize the ETS Agreement. IEUA’s effort to twist this process into a violation reflects a troubling pattern of misrepresentation.
What truly jeopardizes public interest is IEUA’s obstruction of progress. To support the April 2026 opening of the Ontario Sports Empire and the Dodgers’ Opening Day, the City is building permanent sewer infrastructure. As a backup, the City requested a temporary connection in October 2024. Rather than collaborate, IEUA demanded $25 million, monthly fees, and unrelated political concessions. Denying interim service the agency is fully capable of providing is not responsible governance, it’s bureaucratic ransom that puts regional benefits at risk.
IEUA FALSE Claim #5: IEUA critical infrastructure projects protecting public health impacted by delays by the City.
This accusation is another example of IEUA deflecting blame for its own delays. IEUA must meet standard City requirements to safely build in public rights-of-way, just like any other agency or developer. The City has responded to all submittals related to the force main project and even entered into a memorandum of understanding to support IEUA’s success.
The truth is, IEUA has yet to submit final plans required for permit approval and has repeatedly changed the scope of its project, forcing the City to revise surrounding infrastructure designs. Despite these shifting demands, the City continues to work in good faith to keep the project moving. IEUA’s inability to coordinate and follow through is the real cause of delay, not the City’s process.
IEUA’s troubling pattern of unilateral decisions, non-responsiveness, and public misrepresentation undermines regional water reliability and community trust. The time has come to re-evaluate how our region governs shared resources.
The City Of Ontario remains open to a productive and transparent meeting with IEUA leadership. But we urge the agency to stop using misinformation and fear tactics, and instead return to the table with facts, solutions, and respect for all partner agencies.
The entire response from the City can be found at www.ontarioca.gov/OMUC/Utilities
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ontario-to-ieua-stop-the-blame-game-start-the-conversation-302457299.html
SOURCE City of Ontario
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