The California Gold Rush left us a tragic legacy. We appreciate state parks' willingness to take action to end Empire's toxic legacy of contaminating our watershed.

This is how the delta works now. What we care about is that it's done in an environmentally sensitive manner.

The board has now set a terrible precedent telling polluters it is cheaper to pollute and ignore the Clean Water Act. Hilmar should be held to the same environmental standard as everyone else in the State of California.