Cargill Salt, a private company based in Minnesota, announced its decision this week, ending a nearly 12-year federal dispute.
Pamela Cruz. Pen sula 360 Press [P360P].
After a series of court battles, various environmental groups that have sought to protect the Redwood City salt ponds can finally declare victory, as the company Cargill Salt announced that it will not appeal a judge's decision, which prohibited it from building a giant real estate development in the area, which, since March, has been subject to the federal Clean Water Act.
The Minnesota-based private company announced its decision this week, ending a nearly 12-year federal dispute.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew in March of this year an appeal made during the Donald Trump administration for the possible expansion and development of the Cargill property, which would have meant a business worth billions of dollars, at the cost of ecological loss on site.
The land, because it is subject to the Clean Water Act of 1972, dramatically limits what can be built on it, a ruling widely applauded by environmentalists who ruled that the land, which sits at sea level and was once part of San Francisco Bay before it was leveed in 1902, must be restored as tidal wetlands for fish, wildlife and recreation.
At the time, the groups also argued that any attempt to develop the land facing the bay is impractical because of rising sea levels.