Environmentalists are suing the Environmental Protection Agency because of the Agency’s failure to uphold its obligations under the Clean Water Act to keep aquatic invasive species out of the nation’s waters, according to the groups who filed suit in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The three groups suing are asserting that the EPA has been too lenient with foreign cargo ships that have been responsible for releasing – in their ballast water -some of the most notorious invasive species. The resulting destruction to the ecosystem is an ongoing problem that is reaching a crisis point with a new creature making our lakes its home every seven months. Invasives have entered the Great Lakes in the ballast water from Salties – or ocean going ships.

The three groups suing say that the EPA’s permit requirements are too weak to meet Clean Water Act standards. The groups want the EPA to require ships to have onboard ballast water treatment.

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• House Invasive Species Legislation a Step in the Right Direction, But Could Do More