Seattle Port’s Stormwater Discharge Violated Permit, Court Says

A Seattle-area port’s stormwater runoff violated the terms of its industrial discharge permits since regulation of the runoff encompasses the entire facility, not just where industrial activities occur, a federal appeals court said Monday.

The Port of Tacoma, SSA Terminals LLC, and its affiliated companies violated the terms its Industrial Stormwater General Permit issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology under the Clean Water Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in reversing a district court’s grant of partial summary judgment to the port and companies.

The port companies’ previous ISGP permits “plainly require that ...