The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) pollutes San Francisco Bay with unlawfully high levels of metals and nitrogen compounds, according to environmentalists who have filed notice of their intention to sue.

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and the Strawberry Creek Stewardship Group have previously served notice on the Regents of the University of California, LBNL Director Steven Chu and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. The university and the Department of Defense operate the lab jointly.

Michael Lozeau will be the attorney representing both organizations filing suit; he said he has mailed the 16-page letter of intent to file suit in 60 days, per federal Clean Water Act notification requirements.

"They're failing to comply with the permit that applies to their storm water discharge," Lozeau said. "We have reviewed the last five years of data, and they have consistent excedances of the EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] levels of concern."

Lozeau said he has brought 50 to 60 similar actions in the Bay Area and California's Central Valley in the last three years, usually earning a favorable response before the cases even reach the courtroom. To "beef up their control measures" using innovative technologies, especially for pollutant control, is the lab's best solution, according to Lozeau.

Magnesium is LBNL's most prominent contaminant; the permissible federal level is 0.06 mg per liter or runoff, and the lab's runoff levels have measured up to 29 mg per liter, 456 times what the EPA considers controllable using the proper technology. Nitrates and nitrites, of great harm to fish popultions, measure as much as 13 mg per liter in LBNL runoff; the federal benchmark level is 0.68 mg per liter. Lozeau said these numbers may be ambiguous based on their collection method and added, "We allege their storm water pollution plan is not adequate because it is not knocking the numbers down."

Source: Berkeley Daily Planet