Today’s court decision completely vindicates the effort NWEA started nearly 17 years ago, to regulate ship discharge of ballast water laden with invasive species under the Clean Water Act. In this, our fourth lawsuit on ballast water, the Second Circuit has issued a sweeping decision saying that EPA got nearly every aspect of the Vessel General Permit wrong. This is a major victory that should result in EPA’s doing the work that the Clean Water Act requires. Nina Bell, Executive Director of NWEA said, “The court understood the real world implications of EPA’s failure, the incredible economic and environmental expense of invasive species that this EPA permit allows the shipping industry to release into the waters of the United States”
Read NWEA’s News Release here and read the complete court decision here.