California Ex Rel. California Regional Water Quality Control Board v. Department of the Navy

ORDER

This matter is before the court on plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment on affirmative defenses two through seven of defendants’ second amended answer. This dispute arises out of an oil spill in San Francisco Bay. On March 12, 1972, approximately 3,000 gallons of oil gushed into the Bay from the USS Midway, berthed at the Alameda Naval Air Station. The clean-up was performed exclusively by the Navy, at an announced cost of $77,000. The cause of the spill is in dispute; the Navy maintains that sabotage was responsible.

Having notified the interested parties, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region, held a hearing on May 23, 1972, to determine whether the discharge occurred in violation of Water Code Section 13350(a)(3).

The Board found that Captain William Harris, Commanding Officer of the Midway, and the Honorable John H. Chaffee, Secretary of the Navy, were the persons responsible for the deposit. It then requested the State Attorney General to petition the Superior Court to impose, assess, and recover from the U. S. Navy a sum not to exceed $6,000 for each day on which the deposit occurred. The Attorney General thereupon…