EPA drops challenge of Redwood City salt ponds’ protection

The Redwood City salt ponds are a 1,365-acre area adjacent to the San Francisco Bay filled with tidal pools, marshland, and commercial salt mining operations.

The EPA’s determination was significant because “waters of the United States” are subject to the Clean Water Act which, among other things, requires developers to obtain permits before dredging or filling.

An affiliate of Cargill, a large privately held multi-national food corporation, owns the salt ponds and proposed to develop the property. The EPA’s change of direction appears to be another instance of the Biden administration’s different stance on environmental issues than that of the Trump administration.

In his October, 2020 opinion, U.S. District Judge William Alsup determined that the EPA ignored its own interpretative regulations and misinterpreted relevant case law. The judge vacated the determination and sent the case back to EPA to reconsider under the correct standards.

The EPA and Cargill appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The EPA’s 2019 determination was challenged by Xavier Becerra, attorney general of California, and group of environmental organizations including Save the Bay and San Francisco Baykeeper.

“We’re thrilled,” said David Lewis, executive director for the nonprofit Save the Bay. “I think it’s the Biden administration agreeing to uphold the law and protect wetlands in San Francisco Bay.”

“The letters from elected officials last week showed that there’s broad agreement that this is not a place for development,” said Lewis. “I’m optimistic that this is an early indication of what a difference a new president can make for the environment locally and for the planet.”

The Redwood City salt ponds are filled with levees and dikes constructed for use in salt mining operations. Salinized water fills a series of evaporation pools that result in salt deposits that can ultimately scraped out and sold commercially.

The dispute turned on whether the fact that the salt ponds were set off from the Bay itself by the development of a system of levees and dikes made them no longer part of the navigable waters of the Bay.

“The salt ponds here have not been dry and have had continuing connections to the Bay,” Judge Alsup wrote. Based on that, the EPA was wrong to have determined they were not part of the navigable waters of the Bay.

EPA’s withdrawal of the appeal may not resolve the matter; Cargill’s counsel said Friday in a statement “we do not intend to withdraw our Notice of Appeal.”