Hawai'i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
886 F.3d 737 (2018)
- Written by Alex Ruskell, JD
Facts
The County of Maui (county) (defendant) operated four wells that disposed of treated sewage and waste by injecting it into the local groundwater. Some of this treated effluent eventually reached the Pacific Ocean. The Hawai’i Wildlife Fund (fund) (plaintiff) sued the county, arguing that the wells required national pollutant discharge elimination system permits under the Clean Water Act because the injected effluent eventually reached navigable waters. The county did not have such permits for the wells. The district court ruled in favor of the fund, and the county appealed. The county argued that even though the permitting requirements of the act applied to point sources such as the county’s wells, it only applied to such point sources when pollutants were placed directly into navigable waters.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Nelson, J.)
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