Port Held Liable in Copper Pollution

In an unprecedented move, local water quality officials ruled Monday that the San Diego Unified Port District is just as responsible for a celebrated case of copper pollution in San Diego Bay as the company that handled the metal concentrate. Members of the state Regional Water Quality Control Board voted unanimously to name the port district a primary contributor to the bay pollution, along with Paco Terminals Inc., the firm that leased port property at the 24th Street Marine Terminal for copper loading in National City. The action now puts the port on the same legal hook as its former tenant for the costly copper cleanup--a job that one estimate puts at $180 million.