SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE CASE 1

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Notice of Violation wid tidcnt'ro Fac suit August 11, 19941 Psge 2 the United States Geological Survey, in its National Water Quality Assessment, has concluded that the San Joaquin Delta is one of the most degraded and polluted basins in the entire country. One significant cause of this decline in water quality is the unlawful discharge of storm water associated with industrial activities. The general consensus among regulatory agencies and water quality specialists is that storm water pollution amounts to more than half of the total pollution entering the marine environment each year. With every rainfall event, enormous quantities of polluted rainwater originating from industrial facilities pour into the waters of the Delta and ultimately into the San Francisco Bay. In most areas of San Joaquin County, storm water drains completely untreated through the storm drain system directly to water's of the Delta and other receiving waters. The State of California's General Permit for industrial storm water discharges, established pursuant to the Clean Water.Act, requires dischargers to address these issues However, as cif the date of this letter, more than seven years after the passage of these regulations, only 78 of the more than 320 industrial facilities in this area that are required to file a Notice of Intent to Comply with the General Permit have done so. With this 24°o compliance rate, it is little wonder that water quality continues to decline. DeltaKeeper is a proiect of San Francisco 13ayKeeper, a non-profit 501(c)(3)corporation dedicated to protecting the health of ecosysterns and communities of the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta F teary. Through the valuable assistance of a corps of trained volunteers. DeltaKeeper serves as the citizen "eyes and ears" on the Delta, assisting federal, state and Ideal agencies charged with protecting the Delta by detecting and reporting violations of environmental laws itnd regulations. However, these govertunental agencies often lack the resources to pursue even the most flagrant violations(I-or example, the City of Stockton, an arca of''_30,000 people, has only one t'.nviroilrtlental compliance officer to cover ,rorm water issues), In these instances, DeltaKeeper uses its ability to initiate citizen enforcement actions--a power fol 1001 provided for under the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws-- to bring about compliance swiftly and efficiently. For the past two wet seasons. DcltaKecper has collected water samples from a number of local waterways for the purposes of conducting bioassay studies at the University of California Davis Aquatic Toxicology i.aboratory. These studies confirm the fact that local waterways contain significantly elevated levels of highly toxic materials following each rain event. DcltaKecper has also conducted extensive investigations to document non-compliance with storm water regulations. Aftcr reviewing the results of these studies and. investigations, DeltaKeeper believes that the time has come for all members of the community -- citizens, regulated dischargers, elected officials, public agencies, and scientists alike -- to work together to resolve this serious water duality problem. DeltaKeeper would prefer to expend its own resources to act as an environmental monitor, and to supplement the work of public agencies to enforce these laws. however, until the time costes when these agencies expand their resources to address these problems adequately, DeltaKeeper will fake firm action to lilt the existing enforcement gap. art the coming months. DeltaKeeper will continue to monitor, study and investigate several hundred regulated 20 'd 6Lbb+Ze6+60Z N311f13 Wd Zs: TO e6-vi-on"