‘It’s unacceptable’: North Coast Water Board forwards Little River pollution case to attorney general’s office for review
A 16-year effort to hold a McKinleyville-area property owner accountable for polluting Little River hit a major turning point today [Aug. 6] after the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board unanimously voted to refer the case to the state Attorney General’s Office for review. Now the case will play out in the courts. Since December 2010, state agencies and environmental advocacy groups have sounded the alarm over allegations of unpermitted solid waste disposal and unauthorized grading at the 226-acre property, which is just upstream from Moonstone Beach. Water board staff assert that “poorly managed livestock grazing” and abandoned cow and horse carcasses have contaminated Little River with bacteria, specifically E. coli and fecal coliform, putting beachgoers and threatened salmonid species at risk.
Other pollution news:
- Los Angeles Times: Will it ever be safe to swim in the L.A. River?
