On September 18, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2006 decision from a lower court that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must set standards to prevent construction site pollution from contaminating storm water. Siding with NRDC and Waterkeeper Alliance, the court affirmed that pollution from strip malls, subdivisions and other new development should controlled, not released freely into rivers and streams. Unchecked construction runoff has far-reaching consequences, including beach closings, waterborne diseases, fish kills and contaminated drinking water. NRDC staff attorney Melanie Shepherdson was actively involved in the case. Read the court’s decision.