The cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale each owe $1,178,400 in civil penalties following multiple violations of the national Clean Water Act.
The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, regulates water quality and makes pollutant discharge illegal in U.S. waters. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this law also includes the discharge of oil or other hazardous substances, as well as failure to report said discharge.
In February 2020, the San Francisco Baykeeper, a nonprofit organization supporting environmental advocacy, filed a lawsuit against Sunnyvale and Mountain View for unsafe bacterial discharges into stormwater systems…