Coca-Cola Sued Over Alleged Pollution at Bellevue Bottling Facility

An environmental group has filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola over alleged pollution from its bottling facility in Bellevue, Washington. The Waste Action Project alleges that Swire Coca-Cola, USA and Western Washington Coca-Cola Bottling LLC repeatedly violated federal stormwater rules and polluted waterways that feed Lake Washington.

The complaint points to stormwater monitoring results submitted by Coca-Cola that exceeded permit benchmarks for zinc, turbidity, copper, pH, nitrate and nitrite nitrogen, and biochemical oxygen demand. In one sample from 2023, an oil sheen was observed.

The lawsuit claims Coca-Cola failed to adequately control pollution, collect and analyze required samples, submit reports on time, conduct required inspections, and take corrective action after pollution benchmarks were exceeded. The facility has triggered a level 3 corrective action due to sampling results from one of the outfalls throughout 2024.

Coca-Cola said it takes the concerns seriously and has a robust stormwater management program at the facility. However, the group is asking a judge to declare that Coca-Cola violated the Clean Water Act and its stormwater permit and to order changes intended to bring the Bellevue facility into compliance.