An environmental watchdog intends to sue the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and The City for what the group alleges to be numerous violations of the Clean Water Act.
San Francisco Baykeeper issued its notice of intent against The City on March 6, meaning the organization can file suit no sooner than May 5.
In the filing, the group accused San Francisco of repeatedly discharging mixed sewage and “trash-filled” urban runoff into San Francisco Bay during heavy rains. They said this mix of sewage and runoff pollution cause dangerous levels of E. coli and other bacteria, which could pose a serious public-health risk. Baykeeper added that nearly all of SFPUC’s discharges go into Mission Creek Islais Creek, two waterways popular for fishing and recreation.
“The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission appears to be operating on the assumption that its sewage discharges receive treatment and don’t cause harm, but the evidence demonstrates that those assumptions are wrong,” Sejal Choksi-Chugh, Baykeeper’s executive director, said in a Thursday statement announcing the notice.
“There’s no excuse for polluting the Bay with sewage and trash, and those who pollute must be held accountable. Dumping millions of gallons of untreated sewage into Mission Creek and the Bay is unacceptable, avoidable, and illegal,” she added. “San Francisco Bay and the people of the Bay Area deserve better.”
According to documents that Baykeeper obtained through a public-records request, the SFPUC estimated that it discharges 1.2 billion gallons of combined stormwater runoff and sewage.
SFPUC officials told The Examiner that urban storm runoff picks up trash and other contaminants as it flows untreated into local bodies of water across the Bay Area. San Francisco, however, is served by a combined sewer system, which captures and treats most stormwater to the same standards that apply to wastewater from homes and businesses before releasing it into a body of water.
When asked for comment, the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office directed The Examiner to the SFPUC.
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“Cherry-picking select information without conveying the whole picture doesn’t benefit the environment, policy makers, or the public,” Nancy Crowley, an agency press secretary, said.
“We’re a public utility with a strong track record of environmental stewardship,” she added. “We’ve been keeping runoff pollutants from entering the bay for generations, and we’re leading the way on taking action to remove nutrients like nitrogen from discharges.”
The SFPUC said its system handles most rainstorms well, but some extreme storms can stress it, requiring partially treated discharge through designated outfalls. Crowley told The Examiner that when discharges do occur, they primarily consist of stormwater. Additionally, the outfalls, she said, are equipped with systems that catch floatable trash and other solids, which are then sent to treatment plants after stormwater flows subside.
SF Baykeeper said that in addition to creating public-health risks, the sewage pollution is responsible for high levels of nitrogen in the bay. Excessive levels of nitrogen, they said, lead to algae blooms, which have killed tens of thousands of fish in the bay over the past two summers.
In a statement, Baykeeper managing attorney Eric Buescher said ”San Francisco is dumping raw sewage and trash directly into the Bay at a magnitude that’s almost incomprehensible.”
“Sewage and stormwater pollution is, by volume, the single greatest source of pollution in the Bay, and San Francisco is likely the greatest source of that sewage pollution — which includes the pollution that causes fish-killing algae blooms,” he added.
Baykeeper staff added that their field investigators have visited Mission Creek after SFPUC’s combined sewer discharges and confirmed the presence of fecal matter in the water, as well as large volumes of urban trash. This included plastics, syringes and condoms.
