9th Circuit: Pipe Not Connected To Storage Pond Cannot Be CWA Point Source

(December 6, 2023, 4:10 PM EST) -- SEATTLE — A trial court did not err in finding that an underground drainage pipe that allegedly carries polluted water from three storage ponds at a mountain resort to the Gallatin River was not a point source for pollution under the Clean Water Act (CWA) because the pipe does not connect two distinct bodies of water, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the trial court’s decision to deny an environmental group’s motion for summary judgment....