Point Source Discharges From Lumbering Operation Requires Permit: Environmental Protection Information Center v. Pacific Lumber Company et al., No. C01-2821 MHP (N.D. Cal. Jan. 23, 2004).

Pacific Lumber Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Scotia Pacific Lumber Company, own approximately ninety-five percent of the land that encompasses the Bear Creek watershed in Humboldt County, California. This lawsuit alleges that Pacific Lumber neither holds nor has applied for the relevant National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The lumber company argued that its activities were exempt from the permit requirements of the CWA and filed a motion to dismiss. The complaint thus states a claim for which relief may be granted. Thus, the court denied the motion to dismiss.