According to the environmental group EcoRights, polluted industrial drainage water is entering into Elkhorn Slough from the Pick-n-Pull auto-wrecking yard in Moss Landing. In response, the group has initiated a petition calling on the County of Monterey to require a Environmental Impacts analysis, and to require the business to relocate if it cannot operate without polluting the Slough and harming resident species.

Among the rare, threatened, and endangered species the Slough calls home are the brown pelican, California least tern, Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, southern sea otter, American peregrine falcon, and California red-legged frog. According to EcoRights, the estuary and its wetlands are a stopping spot for more than 200 migrating bird species.

EcoRights writes: On March 11, 2015, over the objections of our legal representatives, the Monterey County Planning Commission extended Pick-n-Pull’s Coastal Development Permits for ten more years, without requiring a thorough analysis of the operation’s impact on the Slough and its resident species...EcoRights is appealing that decision to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, and if needed, we will appeal the decision to the California Coastal Commission. EcoRights has also notified the company that its discharges violate the Federal Clean Water Act and of our plans to enforce that law.

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