Building materials company CEMEX USA and clean water advocacy groups Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Orange County Coastkeeper, and its chapter Inland Empire Waterkeeper, settled on a plan to improve stormwater management of three ready-mix concrete plants in Southern California. This comes after Orange County Coastkeeper and Los Angeles Waterkeeper filed a complaint early 2017 claiming stormwater from the three facilities raised pH and metal levels in nearby waterways, violating the Clean Water Act.
Though CEMEX refuted the claims, they worked out a compromise to resolve the dispute. The agreement will upgrade the Best Management Practices (BMPs) for stormwater at plants in Irvine (Orange County), Fontana (San Bernardino County), and Compton (Los Angeles County). CEMEX also agreed to enhance water-testing protocols beyond current testing requirements.
“We’re proud of CEMEX for its commitment to improving the waters that our families and wildlife depend on,” said Colin Kelly, senior staff attorney at Coastkeeper. “By capturing and reusing its stormwater, CEMEX will protect our swimmable waters while lowering its water use in the process.”
Following Coastkeeper’s legal work, CEMEX is one of four large ready-mix concrete companies that are updating their practices and infrastructure in the last two years to comply with clean water regulations. CEMEX estimates facility upgrades will be done by October 15.
