Environmental Groups Sue SeaWorld for Illegal Discharge of Pollutants into Mission Bay During Fireworks

By Lori Weisberg / The San Diego Union-Tribune / March 7, 2025

Two environmental groups sued SeaWorld last week accusing the San Diego marine park of illegally discharging pollutants into Mission Bay during the dozens of fireworks shows it puts on each year.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court by San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF), cites multiple violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the parks’ own permit that allows it to conduct up to 150 fireworks shows a year.

The 39-page complaint documents not only instances of paper, plastic and metal fireworks debris in the bay following SeaWorld shows, but it also claims to have found concentrations of metal pollutants such as aluminum, antimony and copper that far exceeded normal levels elsewhere in the bay.

“Approximately 15 million people use and enjoy Mission Bay in various capacities each year,” the lawsuit states. “This includes walking, beaching, swimming, boating, paddleboarding, fishing, viewing wildlife and scenery, and engaging in scientific studies. SeaWorld’s discharges negatively impact these recreational uses because members of the public … are less likely to engage in these activities when chemical-laden fireworks debris is in the water and washed ashore.”

The debris alone, the suit states, can entangle and threaten marine life and persist in the environment for years.

While the two environmental groups would, ideally, like to eventually see the fireworks shows permanently curtailed or halted, the lawsuit for now seeks a court order ruling that SeaWorld has violated the Clean Water Act and should be temporarily barred from continuing its fireworks shows until it can demonstrate that it is no longer discharging pollutants from the shows.

“They would have to demonstrate that they can, at a minimum, do these shows in a way that does not pollute the bay,” Phillip Musegaas, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper, said on Friday. “And that’s going to be hard for them, based on their history of not complying with this fireworks permit and just causing huge amounts of plastic pollution in the bay.

“So in essence the lawsuit is asking the court to halt the fireworks displays now, and SeaWorld is going to have to figure out if they can’t meet the terms of the permit, then they’re going to have to stop doing these displays.”

Shown here are exposed wires found on the sea floor near SeaWorld’s fireworks barge following an inspection conducted by a staff member with the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation. (Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation)
Representatives of SeaWorld declined Friday to talk about the lawsuit, saying it does not comment on active litigation.

SeaWorld’s fireworks shows are regulated by The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego region, under the authority of the federal Clean Water Act. Named in the lawsuit is SeaWorld San Diego’s parent company, now known as Universal Parks & Resorts.

The lawsuit alleges that SeaWorld has consistently violated the conditions of its fireworks permit by failing to regularly and properly remove the debris produced by the fireworks shows that largely take place during the summer months.

“For example, they have to send a boat out within 12 hours of a show,” Musegaas said. “And they have to walk the beach after the show and clean up any debris they find. And they’re supposed to send divers out periodically to clean up debris from the bottom of the bay.”

To bolster their claims, the two environmental groups cite in their lawsuit a dive inspection conducted in October by a CERF staff member who found the sea floor near the fireworks barge littered with fireworks debris, including “numerous” exposed wires, ignitors, and cross matches with sharp ends tangled in the seagrass.

“What we’re seeing is a lot of plastic debris mixed in with the seaweed that’s along the shoreline,” Musegaas said. “It’s kind of caught up in the seaweed and the algae, and as you walk along the edge of the beach on Fiesta Island, you’ll see it along the line of where the tide came in.”

The latest salvo in the on-again, off-again efforts to curb fireworks shows in San Diego comes as the California Coastal Commission is also looking to better regulate pyrotechnic displays. Last month, they advised San Diego port officials and the organizers of the July Fourth Big Bay Boom that they should start looking at ways to either downsize the scale of the show or transition to a drone light show as a way to to protect the San Diego Bay and nearby wildlife.

SeaWorld made plans to test a drone light show in February 2020, but ultimately stuck with its fireworks displays.