The region’s biggest source of copper and zinc pollution operates entirely beyond the reach of enforceable clean-water mandates
June 1, 2026 (Ontario, Calif.) — Today, California Coastkeeper Alliance, Inland Empire Waterkeeper, and Orange County Coastkeeper filed a petition with the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board to reduce stormwater pollution from privately-owned commercial, industrial, and institutional sites that generate runoff into the Chino Creek watershed in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
Under the federal Clean Water Act, private organizations like Waterkeeper can petition regulators to address regulatory gaps that lead to water pollution. Hundreds of privately-owned properties throughout the Inland Empire — including massive logistics and warehousing campuses, retail centers, and industrial facilities — are not being held accountable for their disproportionate contributions to toxic metal pollution in Chino Creek and its tributaries…