Cargill Salt court win confirms limits of Clean Water Act
On March 8, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling in San Francisco Baykeeper v Cargill Salt Division, ruling that solar salt ponds are not subject to federal environmental regulation under the Clean Water Act. The trial court had ruled that the ponds were subject to the Act because they were adjacent to a wetlands.
The court win for Cargill was applauded by the National Association of Homebuilders which had filled an amicus brief in the case.
The Salt Institute noted that the decision halts the steady jurisdictional expansion of "navigable waters" that has been applied to roadside ditches.
