SeaWorld seeks permit, halts fireworks show

San Diego Union Tribune

August 27, 2006

SeaWorld has suspended indefinitely its nightly fireworks show over Mission Bay and will apply for a potentially precedent-setting permit that would regulate pyrotechnics as a water pollutant.

SeaWorld has stopped the shows since Aug. 20 to avoid a lawsuit from San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental group that contends that the chemical and paper residue falling into Mission Bay from spent fireworks constitutes a discharge of pollutants under the federal Clean Water Act.

“There are pollutants being discharged, and the law says you need a permit,” said Marco Gonzalez, an attorney for Coastkeeper.

If water-quality regulators approve SeaWorld's application for a discharge permit, they could require others who display fireworks over bodies of water to apply for similar permits. Coastal cities that shoot pyrotechnics from piers, the San Diego Unified Port District, the fairgrounds in Del Mar and a host of other places could be affected.

San Diego and the state Coastal Commission let SeaWorld have as many as 150 fireworks shows annually. The marine-themed park typically conducts 120 to 125 shows per year, SeaWorld spokesman Dave Koontz said. Most of its pyrotechnic displays occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

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