San Diego Coastkeeper

San Diego Coastkeeper Files Stormwater Lawsuit Against Navy

June 26, 2007 - Today San Diego Coastkeeper filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Diego against the Department of Defense, the Navy, and a dozen other federal officials and agencies to put an end to years of toxic discharges into San Diego Bay. The suit alleges that the defendants are violating the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, by discharging industrial stormwater that contains toxic pollutants above the limits established in the defendants' discharge permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Coastkeeper is asking the court for an injunction prohibiting the defendants from further discharging toxic pollutants and for an order requiring the defendants to remediate the damage caused by the toxic discharges.

According to Coastkeeper's attorney, Cory Briggs, "the Navy has been dumping toxic chemicals into San Diego Bay for years, but the Regional Board, despite knowing how dangerous those chemicals are, refuses to put a stop to it." The Regional Board has described the Navy's discharges as posing the highest possible threat to the Bay's health.

"Coastkeeper's primary responsibility is protecting the health of the San Diego region's aquatic resources, and the Navy must abide by the same standards that apply to everyone else," said Coastkeeper Executive Director Bruce Reznik. He added: "We cannot sacrifice clean water in the name of national security. National security includes protecting our nation's waters from toxic pollutants."

The suit accuses the defendants of a variety of Clean Water Act violations, including discharging heavy metals like copper in concentrations nearly 400 times higher than the law allows and zinc in concentrations nearly 100 times above the permissible level. The suit also alleges that the Navy has been discharging more than a dozen other toxic pollutants without first obtaining Regional Board approval. The suit is expected to go to trial in the summer of 2008.

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Founded in 1995, San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. The group balances community outreach, education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem.