U.S. Water News Online
SAN DIEGO -- An environmental group has sued the U.S. Navy, alleging that the military is polluting San Diego Bay by discharging storm water loaded with toxins.
The suit, filed in federal court in San Diego by Coastkeeper, claims the Navy and the Department of Defense have allowed zinc, copper and other contaminants to enter the bay at nearly 400 times the legal limit.
Coastkeeper asked the court to stop polluting and force the Navy to restore the bay, which could cost tens of millions of dollars.
Coastkeeper's lawsuit is based on about four years of water-monitoring data that Navy officials submitted to pollution regulators.
"By the Navy's own admission, they are violating their ... discharge limits pretty severely," said Bruce Reznik, Coastkeeper executive director.
At least 59 stormwater outfalls drain into San Diego Bay from the San Diego Naval Base and the Navy's Broadway Complex, according to the lawsuit.
"We work very hard to safeguard the natural resources that the taxpayers have entrusted to us," said Walter Ham, a Navy spokesman.
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