Earthrise Sues Cooke Aquaculture on behalf of Wild Fish Conservancy
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On behalf of Wild Fish Conservancy, Earthrise Law Center at Lewis & Clark Law School, filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Washington against Cooke Aquaculture for Clean Water Act violations related to the near-complete structural failure of its Atlantic salmon farming facility in Deepwater Bay off of Cypress Island in late August. The incident released approximately 160,000 farmed Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound, among other pollutants. The facility that collapsed is one of eight Atlantic salmon net pen facilities that Cooke owns and operates in Puget Sound.
According to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, escaped Atlantic salmon have been found from southern Puget Sound all the way up to northern Vancouver Island. In early October, Washington’s Department of Natural Resources inspected one of Cooke’s other Atlantic salmon facilities in Puget Sound, and concluded that Cooke was failing to maintain its facility in good working order and repair under the terms of its lease.
Earthrise Legal Fellow Doug DeRoy and Senior Attorney Kevin Cassidy are working on this case alongside co-counsel Brian Knutsen and Paul Kampmeier of Kampmeier & Knutsen, PLLC.
Click here to read the Complaint
Click here to read Wild Fish Conservancy’s Press Release
