CSPA has settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Big Creek Lumber Company for violations of the California General Industrial Stormwater Permit. Big Creek Lumber operates a thirty-acre sawmill and planing mill facility outside Davenport, California. The lawsuit alleged that the facility discharged polluted stormwater into Arroyo Las Trancas Stream and an unnamed creek, which flow into the Pacific Ocean.
The settlement agreement obligates Big Creek Lumber to comply fully with the Clean Water Act, develop and implement a suite of Best Management Practices and structural improvements, conduct more frequent and comprehensive monitoring and prepare an adequate Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. The agreement incorporates provisions that allow CSPA to return to court for enforcement if pollutant benchmarks continue to be exceeded.
As mitigation for past violations, Big Creek Lumber agreed to send $33,000 to the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment to fund environmental projects to improve water quality. They also agreed to reimburse CSPA’s costs of bringing suit. The Law Offices of Andrew Packard represented CSPA in this matter.