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1140 South Coast Highway 101

Encinitas, CA 92024

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Summary of Substantial Evidence of Potentially Significant Water and Air Quality Impacts

from Fireworks Displays in the City of San Diego

Exhibit A San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (draft) Tentative OrderNo. R9-2011-0022, NPDES NO. CAG999002; General NPDES Permit forResidual Fireworks Pollutant Waste Discharges to Waters of the UnitedStates in the San Diego Region form the Public Display of Fireworks.

Draft Clean Water Act (Federal and State) permit contains numerous findingssupporting contention that fireworks discharges over water have the potential tocause significant environmental harm. Relevant language includes, but is notlimited to, the following:

Public displays of fireworks (also referred to as a fireworks show or event) areconducted throughout the year at various locations within the San Diego Regionas part of national and community celebrations and other special events.

Typical firework constituents include, but are not limited to, aluminum,antimony, barium, carbon, calcium, chlorine, cesium, copper, iron, potassium,lithium, magnesium, oxidizers including nitrates, chlorates and perchlorates,phosphorus, sodium sulfur, strontium, titanium, and zinc. The chemicalconstituents burn at high temperatures when the firework is detonated whichpromotes incineration. The chemical constituents within the fireworks arescattered by the burst charge which separates them from the fireworks casing andinternal shell components. A firework combustion residue is produced in the formof smoke, airborne particulates, chemical pollutants, and debris including paper,cardboard, wires and fuses. This combustion residue can fall into surface waters.In addition un-ignited pyrotechnic material including duds and misfires can alsofall into surface waters. The receiving water fallout area affected by the fireworksresidue can vary depending on wind speed and direction, size of the shells, theangle of mortar placement, the type and height of firework explosions and otherenvironmental factors. Once the fireworks residue enters a water body it can betransported to waters and shorelines outside the fallout area due to wind shear andtidal effects.

...discharges from the public display of fireworks contain pollutants that have apotential to cause excursions of applicable water and sediment quality objectives.

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One of the main constituents of concern in firework discharges is perchlorate.The detonation of fireworks can result in the release of perchlorate into theenvironment and surface waters. Perchlorate is a chemical that is bothmanufactured and naturally-occurring. Most commonly found in the form ofperchloric acid and salts, perchlorate is highly soluble, mobile in groundwater andsurface water, and persistent in the environment. Most fireworks are believed tocontain potassium perchlorate, an inorganic salt that is a strong oxidizer. Themanufacturers of fireworks use potassium perchlorate in the compositions thatproduce colored smokes and bursts. Its presence in the environment has beenattributed to past waste handling practices at facilities that manufacture or useperchlorate and materials containing the chemical. It may also be present in theenvironment as a consequence of using perchlorate-containing products such assolid rocket propellant, flares, fireworks, pyrotechnic devices including fireworks,and explosives. Perchlorate can greatly impact human health by interfering withiodide uptake into the thyroid gland. In adults, the thyroid gland helps regulate themetabolism by releasing hormones, while in children, the thyroid helps in properdevelopment. Although research has found that perchlorate at high levels can limitthe uptake of iodide by the thyroid gland, studies have not directly measured theimpact of perchlorate on human metabolism and growth.

Perchlorate effects on the thyroid gland are the basis of the 6 ug/L public healthgoal (PHG) for drinking water established in 2004. A PHG is a level of acontaminant in drinking water that does not pose a significant short-term orlong-term health risk. A PHG is not a regulatory requirement. Instead, it is a goalfor drinking water that Californias public water suppliers and regulators shouldstrive to meet if it is feasible to do so. In January 2011, OEHHA released a drafttechnical support report document proposing the establishment of a 1 ug/L PHGfor perchlorate.

Monitoring by the California Department of Public Health and operators ofpublic water systems have shown perchlorate to be a wide spread drinking watercontaminant occurring in several hundred wells, mostly in Southern California.Perchlorate was also found in the Colorado River, an important source of waterfor drinking and irrigation, where its presence resulted from contamination fromammonium perchlorate manufacturing facilities in Nevada. Based on all of theseconsiderations the California Department of Public Health took action in October2007 to regulate perchlorate as a drinking water contaminant with a maximumcontaminant level (MCL) of 6 micrograms per liter. On the Federal level the USEPA issued a notice in the federal register on February 2, 2011 that it is initiatinga process to develop and establish a national primary drinking water regulation forperchlorate.

Regarding water quality monitoring after larger Sea World fireworks shows,Water chemistry sampling following these dates found receiving waters in thefireworks fallout area to exceed both water quality criteria and levels documented

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at the reference sites. Pollutants such as arsenic, copper, mercury, tin, zinc andphosphorous were detected at levels above water quality criteria or at elevatedlevels compared to the reference sites.

Regarding impacts to sediment quality following larger Sea World fireworksshows, SeaWorlds sediment monitoring in Mission Bay found enrichment of 11metals within the fireworks zone when compared to one reference site (barium,chromium, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, potassium, selenium, silver, thallium,titanium and vanadium) and 4 metals (barium, cobalt, copper, and vanadium)when compared to both reference sites. Alternatively, sediment grain size andconcentration analysis found correlations for barium, cobalt, chromium, copper,titanium and vanadium. The data provides an indication of an accumulation ofpollutants over time within the fireworks fallout area when compared to thereference sites.

SeaWorlds sediment monitoring in Mission Bay found enrichment of 11 metalswithin the fireworks zone when compared to one reference site (barium,chromium, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, potassium, selenium, silver, thallium,titanium and vanadium) and 4 metals (barium, cobalt, copper, and vanadium)when compared to both reference sites. Alternatively, sediment grain size andconcentration analysis found correlations for barium, cobalt, chromium, copper,titanium and vanadium. The data provides an indication of an accumulation ofpollutants over time within the fireworks fallout area when compared to thereference sites.

Thus, while sampling documented increased pollutant levels, the monitoringconducted to date is insufficient to discern if there are benthic impacts within thefireworks fallout area attributable solely to the discharge of residual fireworkspollutant waste. However, the increase in pollutant levels within the sediment inthe fireworks fallback area shows that the discharge of pollutants associated withlarger fireworks events has the reasonable potential to cause or contribute to anexceedance of the narrative sediment quality objectives stated in section VI.A.3.cof the Order.

- The language quoted herein is not credibly in dispute. While dischargers maydisagree with the policies to be enacted as a result of these facts, they arenonetheless the current state of scientific knowledge regarding large fireworksshows in the region. To the extent the City seeks to declare the individual 4 ofth

July shows it permits as smaller than the Sea World shows deemed to have thestated impacts, there is not substantial evidence to support such assertion. Pleasealso see CERFs comment letter regarding this draft permit for additionalarguments in this regard.

The draft permit will be considered for adoption on May 11, 2011. Thus, it ishighly likely the final document, with the language quoted above left intact, willqualify for augmentation to the administrative record for any lawsuit brought to

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challenge the proposed City action. At the very least, the City is on notice thatthere is a substantial likelihood that larger fireworks shows have the potential tocause significant environmental effects. Please also note, the exemption proposedin the Special Events Ordinance does not indicate any limit in size or scope ofexempted show. Therefore, the City must be able to state with certainty thatsignificant effects could not be possible even if all other shows were increased induration and fireworks type to equal or even exceed the largest of Sea Worldsshows. This cannot be done without substantially more environmental review thanconducted by the City thus far.

Exhibit A-1 CERFs April 20, 2011 Comment Letter to San Diego Regional WaterQuality Control Board Regarding Tentative Order No. R9-2011-0022.

Letter provides arguments and data to suggest the Regional Board arbitrarilyestablished a difference between the size of Sea Worlds largest fireworks showsand those conducted elsewhere in the City of San Diego (esp. La Jolla) on the 4th

of July.

- To the extent any evidence provided by the City relies upon the draft permitpurportedly to establish with certainty the unlikelihood of significantenvironmental impacts from smaller fireworks