CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The City of San Diego has been ordered to pay big-time for last February's sewage spill in Tecolote Canyon.

The Regional Water Quality Board voted Wednesday afternoon to fine the city nearly $1.6 million, 10News reported.

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Councilman Peters And Environmentalists Discuss Fine

Rags, rocks, and twigs blocked the untreated sewage, sending millions of gallons of raw sewage into the canyon and on Mission Bay. The spill was left undetected for nine days.

The city became aware of the spill Feb. 28, but a Regional Water Quality Control Board member reported leaving a message about it more than a week earlier on Feb. 19. That message was accidentally deleted without being heard.

When the call reporting the spill came in on the Feb. 19 Presidents' Day holiday, city phones were misprogrammed so that the call did not reach the city's emergency dispatch center as it should have. Instead, the call was routed to a message line.

Two days later, employees listened to some of the messages, and then deleted the rest without listening to them because they assumed they were redundant.

Now, the city might will have to pay for their mistake.

According to 10News, the water board has not yet decided how the money will be apportioned.

Some of the money is mandated by law to go to Sacramento, while some can stay in San Diego to be used for environmental improvements and prevention projects.

The environmental community suggested sending half a million to Sacramento and leaving the rest in San Diego.

According to one meeting attendee, the board "seemed amenable to the suggestion by the environmental community," 10News reported.

The decision will be made at the next water board meeting.