Produced water discharge into Galveston Bay deemed pollutant under Clean Water Act. Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter v. Cedar Point Oil Co., Inc., 73 F.3d 546 (5th Cir. 1996)

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that 'produced water' discharged by a coastal oil drilling company falls within the definition of a pollutant under the Clean Water Act (CWA) as 'chemical wastes' or 'industrial waste.' Cedar Point Oil Company, a Mississippi corporation, operates a well in coastal Texas. It began producing oil and gas from the well in September of 1991. From that date until May 1994, Cedar Point discharged produced water from their waste treatment facility directly into Galveston Bay without a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit