This morning Bloomberg reports on the filing in the Ninth Circuit of another NGO complaint alleging another violation of the Federal Clean Water Act. This complaint, filed in Oregon, alleges the discharge of pollutants in stormwater from a construction site in Portland. The NGOs concede that the developer sought coverage of its construction activities under the State's General Permit for such activities but allege that coverage was not effective owing to requests for additional information from the City that had not been timely or sufficiently addressed. According to the Bloomberg story, the developer thinks it matters now that there is no evidence that stormwater from its project contained pollutants or reached a Water of the United States. That may matter down the litigation road but in the meantime, as the Supreme Court hoped in Maui, significant litigation costs will be incurred that cannot be recovered.
“Furthermore, Riverkeepers have not identified any evidence that any stormwater from the property was contaminated with a pollutant, actually left the property, and then reached the Willamette River or any other waterway,” the company said.
