San Diego Coastkeeper
Law & Policy Clinic Campaigns
Camp Pendleton
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by dozens of invited guests, Marine Corps officials unveiled a new $40 million tertiary treatment plant that will service the southern portion of Camp Pendleton.
The facility was built in response to a 2003 legal settlement between the Department of Defense and several environmental groups: Coastkeeper, Divers’ Environmental Conservation Organization, The Surfrider Foundation and American Canoe Association. The groups initiated litigation in 2002 to address chronic sewage spills and permit violations.
The new plant, which replaces four wastewater treatment facilities built in the 1940’s and 50’s, is currently treating 800,000 gallons of sewage daily, and will eventually have the capacity to treat 5 million gallons per day of wastewater. When fully operational in 2007, the plant will be capable of reusing all the treated water on the base without discharging to receiving waters.
In addition to the new treatment facility, the Base is making tremendous strides in reducing the impact of sewage spills on local waters. Using a sewage spills scoring system that tracks the number and impact of sewage spills, Camp Pendleton has reduced its spill score by more than 50 percent since 2003, more than two years before it was required to reach such a benchmark under the consent decree entered into with the environmental groups.
History of Pendleton Litigation
Coastkeeper and a coalition of environmental groups brought suit in 2001 over 15,702 sewage permit violations at Camp Pendleton's five sewage treatment plants from 1996 to 2001. These violations included more than three million gallons of raw sewage discharged into the Santa Margarita River and Lagoon, which are designated by the State as “high priority” impaired water bodies. Upon filing of the suit, Alexis Strauss of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency commented in the San Diego-Union Tribune that, “I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner. Perhaps this is the leverage that is needed to solve this problem.”
After nearly 18 months of negotiations with Department of Defense and Department of Justice officials, an agreement was reached in May 2003 that requires Camp Pendleton to:
- Implement a strict prevention and response program for sewage spills; and
- Proceed as quickly as possible with the NEPA environmental review process to identify the appropriate technology for treating sewage at the facility.
Click here for Notice of Intent
Click here for Consent Decree