Waterkeeper’s Tireless
Enforcement of the
Clean Water Acts
An LA Waterkeeper Blog
In October 2014, LA Waterkeeper successfully settled a series of lawsuits against
Republic Services,the second largest waste
collection and management company in the
United States. Stormwater samples collected
by Republic Services and Los Angeles Waterkeeper’s team during the last five years
demonstrated that seven of the company’s
sites in Los Angeles County are discharging
heavy metals, including lead, zinc and copper, fecal bacteria and oil and grease many
times above legal limits. All of these polluted discharges resulted in further degradation of the already impaired Los Angeles
River, Dominguez Channel and Compton
Creek. Following months of negotiations,
the Republic Services agreed to implement
extensive improvements of the stormwater
and non-stormwater pollution control measures at its’ sites located from Sun Valley
to the north to Long Beach to the south.
Many of the measures include not only better training for employees and management
and increased sweeping and maintenance of
existing controls but also treatment of stormwater through mini rain gardens and infiltration to clean up the pollution and replenish groundwater basins to help conserve
precious water in the drought.