California environmental group sues Port of Los Angeles for years of pollution

Environment California announced on July 23, 2024, that it has filed a federal lawsuit against the Port of Los Angeles for allegedly violating the federal Clean Water Act with over 2,000 illegal discharges of pollution over the last five years.

The group charges that the Port has routinely exceeded legal limits on fecal bacteria, copper, and several other harmful pollutants it discharges into San Pedro Bay.

Environment California also alleges that the Port’s stormwater treatment system is drastically undersized and that, as a result, untreated wastewater frequently bypasses the system entirely, in violation of federal law.

The Port of Los Angeles, also known as the Los Angeles Harbor Department, is a department of the City of Los Angeles. Because the Port generates its revenues from leasing and service fees charged to the largest shipping companies in the world, the city doesn’t need to support it with tax dollars.

Last month, the Port approved a $2.6 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year that projects $281 million in net revenues.

At issue is contaminated stormwater and groundwater conveyed from an approximately 53-acre portion of the Port, located about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.

An on-site treatment system is supposed to remove the grit, toxic metals and bacteria that accumulate on the property during dry weather and pollute the stormwater when it rains.

Environment California says that the Port’s treatment system is both ineffective and grossly undersized.

As a result, the Port has consistently violated the Clean Water Act for years by discharging excessive, illegal levels of copper and fecal bacteria.

Despite regularly paying a “mandatory minimum” state penalty of $3,000 per violation, the violations continue unabated.

Under the federal Clean Water Act’s “citizen suit” provision, private citizens affected by violations of the law are allowed to bring an enforcement action against the violator in federal court after providing 60 days’ notice of the violations to the violator and to state and federal environmental agencies.

Environment California sent its notice of intent on May 21, 2024.

Citizens can sue for civil penalties and a court order requiring the violator to comply with the law and remediate the harm caused by its violations.