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GREATEST ACHEIVEMENT THUS FAR:
Defend The Bay TMDL Consent Decree: Update In 1997, Defend The Bay sued the U.S. Environmental Protection agency for failing to adopt new pollution limits for Newport Bay, as required by the Clean Water act. EPA and Defend The Bay entered into a consent decree in which EPA agreed to adopt the new limits for toxic metals and pesticides, sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants degrading the Bay. These requirements are calculated to be strict enough to restore and protect the Bay. Defend The Bay has continued to monitor and enforce the Consent Decree in order to assure that adequate limits are adopted on schedule. Earlier this year, when Defend The Bay’s review of new water quality data showed that additional TMDLs were required to protect the Bay, Defend The Bay demanded that EPA complete these TMDLs. After months of negotiations involving Defend the Bay’s attorneys and scientists and EPA, EPA has now agreed to an expanded set of new limits. The Bay will be the winner when EPA releases the new limits later this year. Once adopted, the limits will control toxic metals and pesticides that accumulate in fish tissue and in the sediment. The new limits will be implemented through Clean Water Act permits. Monitoring will be conducted to assure that pollution is, in fact, easing and to investigate other potential problems. Defend The Bay’s TMDL Consent Decree was the first in Southern California. Defend The Bay continues to use its legal and scientific resources to assure that its terms are faithfully implemented so that the Bay’s water quality and marine resources are restored and protected. If
you would like a copy of the Court’s decision,
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