Caltrans Loses Suit Over Bay Pollution : Courts: Judge rules that the agency violates clean water laws by allowing roadway runoff to drain into the ocean off Santa Monica. It is the first such decision in the nation.

Admonishing the state transportation agency for halfhearted efforts at protecting the ocean, a federal judge has ruled that Caltrans is violating the nation’s clean water law by failing to control pollution that flows into Santa Monica Bay from Los Angeles-area freeways.

U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie decided Friday that he will issue an injunction in three weeks forcing Caltrans to take steps to prevent runoff from its 1,200 miles of highways, 50 or so maintenance yards and numerous construction sites in Los Angeles County.

The ruling, a major victory for environmentalists, could have national ramifications because it is the first time a public agency has been forced to tackle the formidable problem of urban runoff as required under the 1987 Clean Water Act.

Millions of gallons of oil and grease, toxic chemicals, debris and metallic wastes wash from freeways and streets into the county’s vast network of storm drains every day, and the flow increases a thousandfold after storms, according to a UCLA study. The drains deposit the waste untreated into Santa Monica Bay.

Caltrans--believed to be the largest single source of bay contamination--argued in court that it did not have the resources for pollution prevention and would have to use funds earmarked for critical needs such as freeway maintenance. Rafeedie rejected that argument, saying Congress designated clean water as a top national priority and Caltrans must comply.

“This is a landmark decision,” said senior attorney Gail Feuer of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that filed the civil case in October, 1993. “Caltrans totally ignored the law and instead threw up their hands and said, ‘We don’t have the money.’ Now they have to start taking storm water pollution seriously.”

Caltrans officials declined to comment Monday.

The judge ruled that Caltrans failed to come up with a plan to prevent bay pollution or to train and supervise its employees at construction sites and maintenance yards. Criticizing the transportation agency for giving “lip service” to a state-issued water quality permit, Rafeedie ordered Caltrans to make pollution control a higher priority.

Rafeedie also warned Caltrans that he will impose fines if it does not comply, and, in an unusual move, approved the environmental group’s request for an independent expert to monitor the agency’s pollution control efforts.

Caltrans and the Natural Resources Defense Council have until Dec. 5 to work out terms of an injunction outlining how and when the agency must comply. If they fail to agree, Rafeedie said he will decide the terms himself Dec. 12.

One of the largest challenges facing Caltrans is to clean up high concentrations of lead, copper and oil-based pollutants that collect in catch basins along freeways.

After the suit was filed last year, Caltrans took some steps, including training its employees, but the judge called them “halfhearted efforts” to avoid liability in the case, the environmental attorneys said.

“Our victory in this case means better protection for our coastal waters from the largest state transportation agency in the country,” said National Resources Defense Council attorney Everett DeLano. The case was filed on behalf of the group and the Santa Monica Baykeeper, a citizens monitoring program.

The National Resources Defense Council recently settled similar suits against the cities of Beverly Hills, El Segundo and Hermosa Beach, and a case is pending against Los Angeles County.

Runoff is one of the largest and most intractable problems facing the bay because nearly everything that flows from yards, parking lots and streets in a 400-square-mile area winds up in its waters, which are used by millions of swimmers, boaters, anglers and surfers. A new Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan estimates that controlling runoff will cost $42 million--two thirds of the total amount needed to clean up the troubled bay.

Under the Clean Water Act, counties and cities were required to draft runoff management plans by 1991 and begin implementing them in 1992. Because of the scale of the task, violations are widespread nationally, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials.

The law requires local governments to use the “best available” methods, but Congress and the EPA did not set standards, so courts such as Rafeedie’s are left to interpret it. Congress has been debating amendments to the act.