Oakland Coliseum has been pumping groundwater into the bay for years — without a permit

OAKLAND — For decades, the Oakland Coliseum has quietly discharged thousands of gallons of water into a slough that flows to San Leandro Bay without a permit, even though stadium officials said this week they “probably” needed one all along.

Now, with the land about to be privately sold, they are prepared to obtain one.

The whole process could cost taxpayers $659,000, between money spent on consultants, studies and a permitting process overseen by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The city- and Alameda County-run authority that makes decisions for the Coliseum will pick up the bill, though it may need to dip into budget reserves to do so.

In the backdrop, a group of developers — the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, doing business as the Oakland Acquisition Company — is in the midst of due diligence for a $250 million purchase of the 112-acre property, including the stadium, arena and parking lots surrounding them.

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It is another wrinkle in the long-sought redevelopment of the Coliseum, a valuable East Bay asset that has faced blight and decay in the years since the stadium was first constructed in the 1960s.

At that time, the Coliseum was not beholden to regulatory permits for what is known as “water discharge.” But with the ballpark field sitting nearly two dozen feet below a rising sea level, officials have pumped groundwater that seeps up around the stadium grounds, diverting it into Damon Slough.

An egret in Damon Slough, near Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Staff Archives)

Coliseum officials have known for years they might be out of compliance with regulatory agencies, but may avoid fines by self-reporting the issue to the water quality control board, Coliseum Authority Executive Director Henry Gardner said at a Friday board meeting.

“As government agencies, we should be doing the right thing,” Gardner said.

It is unknown how long the stadium grounds needed the permit, but the issue surfaced on the eve of a sale to the Oakland Acquisition Company. The buyers likely would not be the ones to incur the cost, though they could be on the hook for paying the annual fees.

Sea-level rise has long been a pesky issue at the Coliseum, presenting problems for the buyers’ goals of eventually transforming the property into a new hub of live sports, entertainment, restaurants, retail, hotels and new housing.

Despite its documented struggles, the Coliseum has seen its share of successes recently, with a run of major concerts at the arena, a second Oakland Roots soccer season planned at the stadium in 2026 and a sold-out Mexico-Japan soccer match that brought out 45,278 fans.

But the ground level faces severe flooding risks through a combination of rainstorms and earthquakes that bring soil water to the surface, per a study conducted in 2016 by the San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission.

“The site is going to have to be lifted in multiple areas,” Ray Bobbitt, a co-founder of African American Sports and Entertainment Group, said in an interview. “That’s always been part of the plan.”

Ray Bobbitt, Founder of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, is photographed at the BART bridge before the MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Bobbitt declined to comment Friday on the water issue, saying his firm preferred to let the joint authority handle any permit discussions.

Coliseum officials did weigh the possibility of sidestepping the permitting issue altogether — or at least letting the purchasers worry about it. But the commissioners appointed to oversee the Coliseum on behalf of the city and county appeared to lean away from that option during Friday’s discussion.

“The taxpayers and public expect us to adhere to standards,” said county Supervisor Nate Miley, who sits on the commission. “And if we aren’t, then taxpayers won’t trust government. We should take the initiative (and) deal with this.”

The slough, which can be seen from the BART pedestrian bridge that brings event attendees into the Coliseum grounds, also receives runoff from the Arroyo Viejo and Lion creeks, a pair of urban streams known for their pollution.

“The Damon Slough is a great example of a ‘trash highway,’” said Josh Quigley, a policy manager for the nonprofit Save the Bay, “because of the accumulated trash from the surrounding neighborhoods that gets swept into the storm drains during rainy season.”

“Some of the trash is from regular trash, some of it is from illegal dumping — but all of it has the potential to end up in the waterways,” Quigley added.

Coliseum officials expect to engineer a permanent groundwater treatment system by year’s end, with a permit process and full installation slated for completion by the end of March 2026.

The sale of the Coliseum itself, jointly pursued by the city and county, is currently projected to close by June 30, 2026, though it has encountered numerous delays along the way.

“It’s great we’re being responsible,” Supervisor David Haubert, another member of the commission, said Friday.

“But whoever buys the facility, the land — they’re going to inherit this,” he added. “They’re going to do due diligence and make sure they’re not subject to fines … so we have to solve this in partnership with the acquirer.”

Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at [email protected].