Judge approves settlement for Clean Water Act lawsuit over Port of Los Angeles pollution
U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall on June 10, 2025, approved the settlement of the lawsuit between Environment California against the City of Los Angeles for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act at the Port of Los Angeles. The suit alleged that since at least 2019, the Port has repeatedly discharged untreated wastewater with illegal levels of toxic copper and fecal bacteria into the Los Angeles Harbor within San Pedro Bay.
“Californians count on having a clean, vibrant coastline, but that’s not compatible with contaminated effluent that can lap up on our world-renowned shores,” said Laura Deehan, Environment California’s state director, in a press release. “This settlement is a great step toward a cleaner, safer San Pedro Bay, and it demonstrates the vital role that citizen lawsuits play in the enforcement of our federal environmental laws.”
The Port of Los Angeles, also known as the Los Angeles Harbor Department, is a department of the City of Los Angeles. Environment California’s lawsuit, filed on July 23, 2024, in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleged more than 2,000 illegal discharges of pollution by the Port within just the previous five years. That pollution stems from bacteria-laden stormwater and contaminated groundwater that accumulates in a 53-acre area of the port and is discharged into the harbor.
The settlement requires the Port to significantly improve its management of stormwater and groundwater. The city will need to treat stormwater to ensure that fecal bacteria stay out of the harbor, and redirect groundwater contaminated with toxic pollutants to the Terminal Island Water Reclamation Plant, to treat the water so it can be beneficially reused.
The settlement includes specific metrics to measure the Port’s performance. Failure to comply will trigger automatic monetary penalties.
“This settlement promises to finally put an end to the Port’s long-standing violations that have plagued the harbor for years,” said NELC Staff Attorney Lewis DeHope, counsel for Environment California, in a press release. “Bacteria and copper are out; effective treatment is in.”
Under the settlement, the Port is required to pay $1,300,000 to the Rose Foundation For Communities & The Environment for projects to restore the Los Angeles Harbor and San Pedro Bay, with the majority of funds earmarked for a multi-year project to remove tons of trash from San Pedro Bay. The Port will also pay a $130,000 civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury.
“This settlement has a double benefit for the harbor,” Deehan said in a press release. “In addition to ending the Port’s discharge violations, the settlement funds will remove trash and go a long way toward ensuring cleaner, better days in the harbor’s future.”