In November 1960 San Diego voters approved a $42.5 million bond measure to build a regional Metropolitan Sewerage System. Until then waste water had gone into the San Diego Bay after undergoing treatment at the sewage facility at 32nd Street and Harbor Drive. As a result the bay became dangerously polluted and the city faced potential legal action by the state Water Pollution Control Board to force emergency upgrades to the sewage system. The city made several studies of waste water disposal in the 1950s and received competing recommendations to construct a new sewage plant in the South Bay, Point Loma or both. The plan adopted by the city and approved by voters -- produced by the firm Holmes & Narver with consulting engineer James M. Montogomery in 1958 -- provided for a sewage treatment plant and ocean outfall on Point Loma. The sewer project suffered a number of setbacks before construction would begin, including challenges from citizens and a near inability to sell revenue bonds due to grossly underestimated construction costs in the Holmes & Narver - Mongomery plan. As the city was breaking ground on the initial stages of the project in 1961 it encountered opposition from residents of Point Loma. The City-Wide Committee Against the Point Loma Sewer Outfall, a group of citizens led by Point Loma psychologist Dr. Richard E. Worthington, ran ads opposing the location of the plant on Point Loma, gathered letters of protest, and voiced opposition at city council meetings. On May 25, after a city council meeting at which citizens and experts made arguments for and against the Point Loma outfall, the council voted to go ahead with the project as planned. In July the cost estimate error was discovered when bids on the first stages of the project were much higher than expected. To make up the cost difference the system was redesigned, portions of the project were postponed, and a deal was struck with the City Employees Retirement Board to allow it to purchase land downtown and then lease it to the city, providing immediate funds for the sewer project. Citizens for Water Reclamation, the successor to the City-Wide committee, continued to oppose the Point Loma project and urged the city to investigate an alternative water reclamation system. Worthington forced the issue in August when he filed a taxpayer's suit against the city to stop the sale of revenue bonds. After a week of negotiations, the two sides came to a compromise and Worthington withdrew his suit. In exchange, the city provided answers to 20 questions put by Worthington pertaining to the economic soundness of the revised Point Loma plan and agreed to form a citizens' commission to study the possibility of water reclamation for San Diego. The Water Reclamation Commission was officialy formed in September with Reuben H. Fleet serving as chairman and Worthington as vice chairman. The commission contracted Boyle Engineering to conduct a study of a water reclamation and irrigation system for Balboa Park and Mission Bay Park which was delivered to the city in 1963. The Metropolitan Sewerage System went into operation in 1963, serving the city of San Diego and participating cities and water districts in the greater San Diego region.