CITIZEN GROUP THREATENS SUIT AGAINST COAST GUARD LIVE-FIRE

Citizens for Environmental Enforcement
P.O. Box 3080; Duluth, Minnesota 55803-3080

CITIZEN GROUP THREATENS SUIT AGAINST COAST GUARD LIVE-FIRE

Contacts: Curt Leitz, Executive Director, 218-728-9447
Marc D. Fink, Attorney, 218-525-3884

Duluth, Minnesota, October 19, 2006 - Citizens for Environmental Enforcement today
notified the United States Coast Guard of its intent to file a Clean Water Act citizen suit
over the live-fire machine-gun training exercises on the Great Lakes, including Lake
Superior. The Coast Guard began weapons training exercises on the Great Lakes in
January, 2006, and has conducted 24 live-fire exercises this year.

In September, the Coast Guard fired thousands of bullets from machine guns into Lake
Superior, approximately 8 miles offshore from Two Harbors, Minnesota. The Coast
Guard now wants to establish permanent “safety zones” across the Great Lakes to
continue its weapons training.

The bullets used by the Coast Guard are comprised of lead, copper, and zinc, and the
weapons training would discharge as much as 6,900 pounds of lead each year into the
Great Lakes, including Lake Superior.

“At a time when so much money and resources are being devoted to cleaning up the
Great Lakes, we now have the Coast Guard firing substantial amounts of toxic metals
into the Lakes,” stated Curt Leitz, the Executive Director of Citizens for Environmental
Enforcement, a non-profit organization based in Duluth.

The toxic effects of lead on human health are well established, and lead has long been
prohibited from gasoline and paint. Lead has also been banned in shotgun shell pellets
for waterfowl hunting due to adverse affects to waterfowl, and a number of states have
banned small lead tackle as result of the lead poisoning of loons.

The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants into lakes without a permit
issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Coast Guard does not have a
permit for its live-fire weapons training. “We recognize that the Coast Guard needs to be
prepared,” said Marc Fink, attorney for the citizens’ group, “but the Coast Guard is not
above the law.”

The Coast Guard held a public hearing regarding its proposed permanent training zones
on Monday, October 16, 2006, in Duluth, and citizens expressed concerns over public
safety and the potential threat of the toxic metals to fish, wildlife, and public health.
The sixty-day notice letter sent today to the Coast Guard is required prior to filing suit
under the Clean Water Act. The letter warns the Coast Guard that if it does not take
corrective steps, the citizens’ group intends to file suit in federal court.