Breaking News – Legal Victory: U.S. Supreme Court declines review of Port of Tacoma v. Puget Soundkeeper
Order rejecting review is a win for clean water, Puget Sound, and the rule of law.
June 30, 2025 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Seattle, WA. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Puget Soundkeeper in rejecting an appeal by the Port of Tacoma and their tenant, the multinational shipping corporation SSA Terminals. The Port and SSA asked the U.S. Supreme Court to find that citizen groups such as Puget Soundkeeper could not enforce the federal Clean Water Act as to the stormwater pollution discharged into Commencement Bay from their 12-acre over-water wharf in Tacoma.
The order ensures a 2024 decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Puget Soundkeeper will stand and that the polluters will be held accountable for their ongoing violations impacting Puget Sound water quality.
“Now that the U.S. Supreme Court denied review, the Port of Tacoma and SSA must focus on Clean Water Act compliance,” said Sean Dixon, Puget Soundkeeper’s Executive Director. “Years of litigation maneuvering by the Port and SSA have only succeeded in wasting resources and time that should have been spent complying with the law and mitigating the impacts on Puget Sound. The Port must now stop using public funds to evade responsibility for their – and SSA’s – pollution. We celebrate this victory only because it should finally close the door for further recalcitrance – it’s time to clean up this site.”
Originally filed in 2017, Puget Soundkeeper’s environmental enforcement action aimed to hold the defendants to the terms of their Clean Water Act stormwater discharge permit. Stormwater is the number one source of toxic materials to the Puget Sound, and this facility has a long and ongoing history of violations, discharging heavy metals like copper and zinc in amounts that are toxic to salmon.
Read more about this case’s long history here, about PSK’s initial victories for other parts of this facility here, and the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals victory in 2024 for Puget Soundkeeper here.
“We are pleased that the Port and SSA failed in their attempt to erode decades of important precedent allowing citizens to enforce all the conditions of Clean Water Act permits. This decision should end industry’s attempts to ignore stormwater pollution from their wharfs once and for all,” said Alyssa Koepfgen, partner at Smith & Lowney, PLLC, who represents Puget Soundkeeper in this matter.
The entities responsible for the industrial pollution at this site are the Port of Tacoma and SSA Terminals. SSA Terminals is owned by SSA Marine, which is in turn owned by Carrix – a global entity that describes itself as “one of the world’s largest privately held marine terminal and rail yard operators.” The Port of Tacoma is part of a formal alliance with the Port of Seattle, called the Northwest Seaport Alliance, and all decisions by the Ports are overseen by the elected Port Commissioners. To date, and to the extent discernible through publicly available information, the two Ports and their Alliance have spent at least $2 million in public funds on legal challenges related to this case and appeals of the underlying permits.
Puget Soundkeeper is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which has been working since 1984 to protect Puget Sound and has prevailed in hundreds of environmental enforcement actions. This case will now go back to the federal district court where PSK will continue to fight for the people, aquatic life, and water quality of Commencement Bay and the greater Puget Sound. Toxic stormwater pollution from this wharf will now be controlled and illegal discharges like those occurring at this site on the West Sitcum waterway will not be allowed to affect our Sound and our communities.
“The Port of Tacoma and SSA Terminals continue to violate their permits and threaten water quality,” said Kelsey Furman, Staff Attorney at Puget Soundkeeper. “With this win at our nation’s highest court, the end of this facility’s illegal water pollution is in sight.”
Since its establishment in 1984, Puget Soundkeeper has worked to protect and enhance the waters of Puget Sound for the health and restoration of aquatic ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. A founding member of the global Waterkeeper Alliance, Puget Soundkeeper has advocated for the public’s right to clean water for over 40 years.
Puget Soundkeeper is thankful for all the work and support from our volunteers, members, staff, board, and community, as well as our outside counsel Smith & Lowney PLLC and the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, in this environmental enforcement action.
