Lawsuit: SeaWorld Denies Its Fireworks Pollute Mission Bay

By Lori Weisberg / San Diego Union-Tribune / July 23, 2025

SeaWorld, which has been sued over its nightly summer fireworks shows, filed a formal response this week generally denying allegations that its pyrotechnic displays are polluting Mission Bay.

The park’s legal brief was filed in federal court Monday in response to a March lawsuit in which two environmental groups — San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF) — accuse the Mission Bay park of violating the federal Clean Water Act and the park’s own permit that allows it to conduct up to 150 fireworks shows a year.

The park’s court filing, though, doesn’t offer much insight into its legal strategy as it consists mostly of boilerplate language that simply denies the multiple alleged violations or asserts that the environmental groups have failed to “set forth facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action” against SeaWorld.

“SeaWorld acted with due care, complied with all statutory and regulatory requirements and industry standards, including with respect to its obligations under the Fireworks Permit and Wastewater Discharge Permit, endeavored to comply with the Clean Water Act, took all required or appropriate precautions and otherwise conducted themselves reasonably under the circumstances, and SeaWorld, therefore, cannot be held responsible for the harm alleged in the Complaint,” reads the park’s brief.

While the two environmental groups would, ideally, like to see a dramatic reduction in the number of fireworks shows during the summer, 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 adquately addressing the pollution and debris caused by the fireworks shows.

“We have been in settlement discussions with February,” said Coastkeeper attorney Patrick McDonough. “However, we haven’t made much substantive progress over the last several months, and meanwhile, SeaWorld has been launching fireworks nightly since June. We’re still hopeful that we can come to an agreement without prolonged litigation. Coastkeeper focuses on solutions and protecting water quality so we don’t want to waste our resources litigating things but if we have to, so be it.”

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.

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.

While SeaWorld’s permit technically allows the park to launch the shows and effectively discharge some debris and pollutants into the bay, that permit also requires the park to properly clean up afterward, McDonough explained.

“Debris gets everywhere, and you’re not going to prevent every molecule of heavy metals getting into the bay, but there are limits on those pollutants,” he said. “So SeaWorld has to go out and conduct a shoreline cleanup after every show, and they also have to have a boat with a skimmer that goes out after the shows. We have folks regularly in Mission Bay, and we’re still finding extensive fireworks debris along the Fiesta Island shoreline.”

The next step for the fireworks lawsuit is a case management conference and “early neutral evaluation” discussion scheduled for Oct. 30. The latter is designed to be an informal discussion between the parties’ attorneys and the settlement judge of all aspects of the lawsuit in hopes of reaching an early resolution of the case.