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WildEarth Guardians Files Suit for Clean Water in Denver

Date
April 23, 2014
Contact
Jen Pelz 303-884-2702
In This Release
Rivers  
#EcosystemRestoration
DENVER–WildEarth Guardians today filed suit in federal court to put an end to the illegal discharge of pollutants into the South Platte River from the former General Chemical industrial site that is now owned by the City and County of Denver. The suit targets IRG Bayaud, LLC’s failed clean up effort and seeks to remedy years of continuous violations of the Clean Water Act.

“This illegal pollution threatens the health and vitality of Denver’s signature river,” said Jen Pelz, Wild River Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. “It’s unconscionable that IRG has and continues to allow pollutants to flow off the site it is responsible for cleaning up.”

The suit comes as warmer weather is drawing kayakers, fishermen, kids,families and dogs to the South Platte River to play. The site is located on the western bank of the river, four miles upstream of Confluence Park in the heart of Denver.

In 2008, IRG committed to remediate the 37-acre site and implement a plan to clean up the soil and groundwater contamination from a century of mining,chemical manufacturing, mine tailings and slag disposal and, most recently,aluminum sulfate manufacturing. Instead, the site continues to discharge acidic wastewater and arsenic into the South Platte River in violation of its permit under the Clean Water Act.

Even more troubling still, IRG recently notified the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment that it does not intend to perform any of its obligations under its NPDES permit going forward. Such obligations include complying with the permit limitations, reporting violations of the permit to the Division and completing quarterly testing to measure the aggregate toxicity of the water on aquatic organisms.

Today’s suit targets IRG’s refusal to comply with its clean water permit. Simultaneously, Guardians is notifying the City and County of Denver that it also faces potential legal action if it does not help clean up the site.

“A community cannot thrive if dangerous pollutants threaten the health of the public and the river ecosystem,” added Pelz. “We intend to enforce the law and ensure the waterways that inspire people to gather remain clean, fishable and swimmable.”

WildEarth Guardians filed this lawsuit as a part of its broader campaign to protect and restore clean and healthy waterways throughout the front range of Colorado.

 

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“This illegal pollution threatens the health and vitality of Denver’s signature river,” said Jen Pelz, Wild River Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. “It’s unconscionable that IRG has and continues to allow pollutants to flow off the site it is responsible for cleaning up.”