Mountain Watch to Sue Colma Dump

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 13, 2004

CONTACTS: Philip Batchelder & David Schooley 415.467.6631, Chris
Sproul 415.533.3376

Mountain Watch Files Notice of Intent to Sue Colma Dump
for Polluting Bay-Bound Water

COLMA, CALIFORNIA -- Alleging major violations of the Federal Clean
Water Act, San Bruno Mountain Watch (Mountain Watch) has announced its
intent to sue the Cypress Amloc Land Company (Amloc) whose refuse dump
is located in Colma on the western slope of San Bruno Mountain. A
review of the company’s filings with the Regional Water Quality Control
Board revealed excessive discharges of a variety of contaminants
through the company’s stormwater and non-stormwater system, thus
impairing Colma Creek and San Francisco Bay.

In addition, Amloc has violated the Clean Water Act’s requirement to
develop and implement an adequate Storm Water Pollution Prevention
Plan, which minimizes pollutants through Best Available Technology.

As these violations have come to light, Amloc has applied to the City
of Colma for permits allowing substantial changes in their industrial
activities, including changes the company has already made. The changes
involve, among others, the unpermitted grinding and hauling of
demolition waste and construction debris, illegal dumping on a parcel
supposed to be closed, and expansion beyond the allowed limits of
Amloc's 'footprint' and elevation. Amloc also seeks to scrap a
promised plan that would have provided a small park and mountain
trailhead once the dump reached capacity and ceased operations. The
City has declared its intent to file a “Negative Declaration,” claiming
that the proposals pose no significant environmental impact.

Said Mountain Watch’s Lewis Buchner: “Amloc has been operating here
since the 1950's. They’ve accepted hundreds of thousands of tons of
garbage and are supposed to be carefully regulated to protect water
quality. By their own numbers, though, we can see they’re unable to
contain the pollution that all that garbage is generating. This has to
stop.”

Mountain Watch is a non-profit conservation organization that has
worked for over thirty years to protect and restore San Bruno
Mountain’s irreplaceable resources. As an island in a sea of urbanity,
the mountain remains the last large remnant of the Franciscan bioregion
and a sanctuary for numerous rare and endangered species; it is also
critical open space for recreation, education, and ecological research,
especially serving local communities in Brisbane, South San Francisco,
Daly City, and Colma. The mountain’s broad social and ecological
values face ongoing threats from housing development and industry,
including the Amloc dump which illegally bulldozed 19 acres of San
Bruno Mountain County Park in 1985.

Mountain Watch is seeking injunctive relief to halt dump-generated
water pollution; if upheld in court, the group’s charges may also mean
substantial civil penalties.

Stressed the group’s founder, David Schooley: “We’re committed to
protecting San Bruno Mountain and all of its resources, including the
creeks that flow from it and including the people who live here and who
use and appreciate the creek waters. This lawsuit is about upholding
critically important regulations so that the dump is operated in the
safest way for everyone.”

Please call or email Mountain Watch to receive the complete “Notice of
Violations and Intent to File Suit Under the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act.”

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