On Tuesday in the Northern District of California, California River Watch filed a complaint against three named individuals and additional unnamed individuals associated with agricultural operations near Moreda Lake. The plaintiff claimed that the individuals routinely drain water and accompanying pollutants from the lake to San Antonio Creek, which drains through the Petaluma River to San Francisco Bay without the proper permit.
The complaint cited that under the Clean Water Act (CWA) the individuals need to have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination (NPDES) permit to release the waters from the lake into the nearby rivers. The plaintiffs reportedly hold an ownership interest in the agricultural operations by Moreda Lake, are representatives of the operations, or are responsible for the maintenance, management, or insurance of the location.
California River Watch, a non-profit California corporation that focuses on protecting California’s groundwaters, said that it provided notice of the violations to the plaintiffs along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), its regional administrator, and the State Water Resources Control Board. The plaintiff explained that its members have interests in the waters in California and are negatively impacted by the discharges from Moreda Lake because they use the rivers and other water bodies for recreational activities.
Tuesday’s filing said that the defendants’ “ongoing violations of the CWA will cause irreparable harm to members of (California River Watch) for which they have no plain speedy, or adequate remedy.” The plaintiff explained that the CWA provides for private parties to enforce the NPDES permitting system through the citizen suit provision.
The plaintiff claimed that each discharge is a separate CWA violation, and that its observations show that the discharges are continuous and thus the CWA violations, starting in at least March 2015, are also continuous.
California River Watch, represented by the Law Office of Jack Silver and the Law Office of David Weinsoff, asked for the court to require the plaintiffs to comply with the CWA by “draining and dewatering” Moreda Lake and to pay penalties for each day the CWA was violated.
