The Center for Food Safety (CFS), along with a local Washington organization opposing aquaculture development, have asked a U.S. district court to shut down nine shellfish operations in the state of Washington, alleging that the federal government did not properly vet the environmental effects of those operations.
"We're calling on the court to do what the [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] failed to: protect our iconic marine ecosystems from being overwhelmed by plastic, pesticides, and profit-driven development,” CFS Staff Attorney Kristina Sinclair said in a statement.
CFS and local partner Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat claim the Army Corps of Engineers has been using letters of permission (LOPs) to circumnavigate a 2019 court order requiring the government to fully analyze the environmental impacts of shellfish aquaculture applications.
"The Army Corps' permits for these nine polluting operations, which were granted with no environmental review or public notice, fail to acknowledge the impacts we see on the beach and in the water daily. This isn't sustainable aquaculture; it’s factory farming. Today's filing is a crucial step in protecting our vulnerable coastline and oceans," Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat Director Laura Hendricks said in a statement.
The two groups have asked a court to set aside the Army Corps of Engineers’ LOPs for nine Washington aquaculture operations, effectively shutting them down.
"The Corps cannot be allowed to misuse the LOP permitting process to evade environmental review and public notice-and-comment for large-scale industrial shellfish operations with significant adverse effects on the environment," Sinclair said.
The challenged aquaculture sites are Chelsea Farms’ sites in Eid Inlet and Totten Inlet; Seattle Shellfish’s sites in Case Inlet, Nisqually Reach, and Pickering Passage; J & G Gunstone Clams’ sites in Hood Canal and Discovery Bay; Station House Oyster Company’s site in Willapa Bay; and Heckes Clams’ site in Willapa Bay.
According to CFS, 38,700 to 50,000 acres of the state’s tidelands are used for commercial aquaculture.
This isn’t the first time CFS and Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat have challenged Washington’s aquaculture industry.
In 2021, the pair sued the Army Corps of Engineers over Nationwide Permit 48, a general permit for industrial shellfish operations in Washington. In 2023, the Corps agreed to revoke the permit, but the government has used LOPs to allow Washington shellfish farming to continue.
"We're not opposing shellfish farming; we’re opposing the Corps' continued failure to properly evaluate the risks associated with large-scale industrial shellfish operations," Sinclair said. "Industrial aquaculture must be accountable to science, law, and the communities whose lives and cultures are tied to these waters."
