This is just one post in the Delta Issues Category

Coalition is planning a lawsuit against power plants & Army Corps on behalf of the endangered Delta smelt

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 28, 2007 at 12:33 pm

From the San Francisco Chronicle, more coverage on the new lawsuit being prepared on behalf of the endangered Delta smelt, this time against power companies operating in the Delta, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers (the agency who has granted them permits to operate):

Angered by a decision to cut water allocations to save the delta smelt, a group of officials representing agricultural water agencies announced plans Thursday to sue the government, a power generation plant and maybe others they contend are responsible for the demise of the fish.

The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta filed a notice of intent to sue Mirant Delta LLC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for violating the Endangered Species Act.

The coalition claims Mirant’s Contra Costa and Pittsburg gas-fired electric power generation plants suck billions of gallons of water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, harming the ecosystem and killing tens of thousands of smelt and other endangered and threatened species. The Corps of Engineers was named because it is the federal agency that issued the permits to take water out of the delta.

“Until we improve the delta smelt situation, we are going to continue to see cutbacks in the state and federal pumping operations,” said Michael Boccadoro, the coalition’s spokesman. “We don’t think that will solve the problem, because we don’t think the pumping operations are the primary cause.”

To read the full text of the story from the San Francisco Chronicle, click here.

September 28, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues