SSA Terminals will pay $215,000 dollars for violations of the Clean Water Act at its Harbor Island facility in Seattle.
After several years of litigation, brought by the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, the company has agreed to reduce their pollution discharges into Elliott Bay. The settlement was announced in a consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Tuesday.
“Polluted stormwater runoff is the number-one source of toxic pollution to Puget Sound,” said Puget Soundkeeper Executive Director Chris Wilke. “SSA Terminals has one of the largest facilities discharging to the Duwamish River and Elliott Bay, and its legal agreement to install stormwater treatment systems is a significant step in reducing contamination to these important and threatened waterways.”
SSA Terminals will install stormwater treatment systems to filter polluted water from the 200-acre facility before it washes into Puget Sound.
SSA Terminals declined to comment specifically on the settlement, but emailed a statement, attributed to Bob Watters, SSA Terminals senior vice president and director of business development:
“We have been self-monitoring, taking preemptive steps at the terminal and proactively working with the Department of Ecology on an adaptive management program to minimize the potential for any negative effects since 2010."
SSA's Terminal 18 is the largest container terminal in the Pacific Northwest.
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A ship docked at SSA Terminal 18.
