November 15, 2017 — A Washington state conservation group is suing the owners of an Atlantic fish farm that failed over the summer.
Wild Fish Conservancy says the company negligently allowed the salmon escape to happen, which would be a Clean Water Act violation.
More than 100,000 non-native Atlantic salmon escaped into Puget Sound when Cooke Aquaculture’s pens near Cypress Island collapsed.
Aside from the spill, the Wild Fish Conservancy also contends Cooke violated its Clean Water Act responsibilities over the past five years. Attorney Brian Knutsen is representing the conservancy.
Knutsen: “Permits require that Cooke Aquaculture implement pollution prevention plans at all eight of its facilities. Cooke Aquaculture has over the last five years failed to implement these plans in a manner that’s required by its clean water act permits.”
He said the lawsuit seeks to hold Cooke responsible for the fish escape in August and for allegedly failing to follow its pollution plan.