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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

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DWP bulldozing of wetlands gets it a $5 million penalty

(Bryan Frank via Flickr Creative Commons)
(Bryan Frank via Flickr Creative Commons)
(
Bryan Frank/Flickr Creative Commons
)

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Listen 0:51
DWP bulldozing of wetlands gets it a $5 million penalty

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power got cited by the EPA a couple of years ago for bulldozing eight acres of wetlands the utility owns in Granada Hills. This week, DWP agreed to pay penalties of more than $5 million.

The wetlands were within the Van Norman Complex, on what was a DWP reservoir before the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. DWP bulldozers graded the area to unblock a drain.  But it’s a violation of the federal Clean Water Act to disturb wetlands whose waters drain into local creeks or the Los Angeles River.

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