Two South Bay cities are facing more than $1 million in fines after sewage was found in some local creeks. A federal judge ruled both Mountain View and Sunnyvale violated the Clean Water Act by allowing raw sewage to seep into creeks through their stormwater systems. When San Francisco Baykeep er began testing water in Stevens Creek in Mountain View nearly nine years ago, the environmental watchdog group started sounding the alarm. “Based on sampling that Baykeeper took from 2017 to 2019, based on sampling that the cities each took in 2023 and 2024, there were persistent high levels of bacteria and human fecal matter in their stormwater discharges throughout the system,” San Francisco Baykeeper managing attorney Eric Buescher said. Baykeeper filed a lawsuit against Mountain View and Sunnyvale, alleging the cities’ stormwater systems, which are separate from the cities’ sewer pipes, were polluting both Stevens and Calabasas creeks. A federal judge agreed and fined both cities nearly $1.2 million for failing to comply with permit requirements mandated by the Clean Water Act. “The court found, in essence, that the cities’ stormwater systems, which are designed and required to have only stormwater in them, were discharging bacteria into Stevens Creek and Calabasas Creek at substantially higher levels than were allowed and that are considered safe for the public,” Buescher said. Baykeeper said in some cases the bacteria levels were up to 50 times above the legal limits. In a statement, Mountain View said, in part, “The City takes its environmental responsibilities seriously, has long invested in programs and infrastructure to protect its important local waterways and acts in good faith to comply with applicable regulatory requirements.” Sunnyvale also responded to the judge’s ruling, saying, “Protecting our storm water and public health is and always has been a high priority for us. The court’s initial ruling in the Baykeeper case acknowledges our good faith efforts and ongoing work to address water quality issues.” Both cities and San Francisco Baykeeper will present the judge with suggestions about how to fix the problem. The judge is expected to issue a decision on that some time this summer. ...read more read less