A coalition of nine national and local environmental groups is asking EPA's Environmental Appeals Board to require the agency to revise a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for an offshore fish farm, arguing the permit violates the CWA and three other environmental laws. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NDPES) permit, issued by EPA Region 4, authorizes Ocean Era, Inc., "to operate the only industrial ocean finfish farm in U.S. federal waters - in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 45 miles from the coast of Sarasota, FL - and to discharge untreated, industrial wastewater from the facility directly into the surrounding ocean," the Oct. 30 petition says. The groups seeking the permit change include Center for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth, Center for Biological Diversity, and Food & Water Watch, along with Recirculating Farms, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Suncoast Waterkeeper, Healthy Gulf, and Sierra Club Florida. The petition outlines a number of alleged illegalities, including that the permit violates the CWA's Ocean Discharge Criteria (ODC) by failing to assess numerous pollutants under mandatory criteria and failing to assess relevant factors. "The permit issuance thus cannot guarantee that the facility will not result in 'unreasonable degradation of the marine environment,' in violation of federal law," the petition says.
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