The Ninth Circuit affirmed PEAC’s arguments on behalf of Northwest Environmental Advocates, The Ocean Conservancy, and Sanfrancisco Baykeeper, upholding a district court order that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repeal its 1973 ballast water exemption under the Clean Water Act.
Ballast water, discharged by ships for stabilization, is a major source of invasive species and other pollutants in waters of the United States. As recognized by the Ninth Circuit, invasive species harm native threatened and endangered species and cost our economy $137 billion per year, more than double the annual economic damage of all natural disasters in the U.S.
Nine years after a PEAC student drafted and organized the first petition to the EPA, the Ninth Circuit has affirmed that ships arriving in all United States ports will need to obtain discharge permits before dumping their ballast water or be in violation of the law, placing 21 billion gallons, for the first time, under regulation.
Melissa Powers argued the case while a staff attorney at PEAC, co-counseling with Deborah Sivas, now at the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic.
Read more about the case, see the press release, or click here for court filings and oral arguments.
