San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt Division

San Francisco Baykeeper and Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge (collectively “Baykeeper”) filed this citizen suit under the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., (“CWA” or “the Act”) against Cargill Salt Division and Cargill, Incorporated (collectively “Cargill”). Bay-keeper alleged that Cargill discharged pollutants into “waters of the United States” without a permit. The body of water into which Cargill allegedly discharged waste is a non-navigable, intrastate pond (“the Pond”), not determined to be a “wetland,” that collects polluted runoff within Car-gill’s waste containment facility located near the southeastern edge of San Francisco Bay. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Baykeeper after determining that the Pond qualifies as a “water[ ] of the United States” because it is adjacent to a protected water of the United States (Mowry Slough). Cargill then brought this appeal. Because we conclude that mere adjacency provides a basis for CWA coverage only when the relevant waterbody is a “wetland,” and no other reason for CWA coverage of Car-gill’s Pond is supported by evidence or is properly before us, we reverse the district court’s summary…