An environmental group is suing the Port of Los Angeles, over allegations that the port has been "illegally polluting" the neighboring San Pedro Bay with wastewater for years.

The lawsuit, filed by Environment California on July 23, claims that a wastewater pump station for the port has illegally flooded the bay with fecal bacteria, copper and chemicals found in fuels such as diesel and gasoline. In total, the group alleges that the station violated Clean Water Act discharge limits on harmful materials more than 2,000 times in the last five years and that, in some instances, harmful wastewater was released without being treated at all. 

“Everyone in and around the Los Angeles Harbor knows that the water quality is terrible," Environment California state director Laura Deehan said in a news release. "If a well-funded city department pollutes in violation of its Clean Water Act permit limits, how can the city expect anyone else to comply?”

The treatment system is designed to keep the road dry at a railway underpass at the port's 53-acre Terminal Island, by collecting stormwater and groundwater, and directing it to a waste treatment facility. Environment California claims that the pump station moving that wastewater is "ineffective and grossly undersized," and that, rather than fix it, the port has opted for a "pay-to-pollute" strategy, where it pays a "slap-on-the-wrist penalty" to the state for each violation. 

In a written statement, the Port of Los Angeles said that it "is working to address the issue at the pump station," and that it has invested $2.5 million in improvements for the treatment system over the last decade, along with another $2.6 million planned over the next three years.