November 10 Public workshop and hearing on Spokane River water quality permits
November 9, 2010
River Forum Staff
Spokane River Water Quality Permit Workshop and Hearing
Date: November 10, 2010
Workshop Time: 6 – 7 p.m.
Hearing Time: 7 p.m.
Where: Spokane Regional Health District auditorium, 1101 W. College Ave.
The public is invited to ask questions and give feedback on draft permit updates designed to improve and protect the water quality of the Spokane River and Lake Spokane.
A public workshop will be followed by a formal public hearing. The purpose of the public hearing is for Ecology to accept formal testimony on the draft permits, which are now in a 45-day public comment period.
The final permits, called National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, will govern discharges from Spokane’s Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility, Inland Empire Paper, Kaiser Aluminum, and Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District. The permits will set limits on the amount of pollutants that can be discharged to the river.
Ecology states that “The discharge permits are designed to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the river and Lake Spokane so fish have enough oxygen to live. The permits will establish new limits for the three pollutants affecting dissolved oxygen: ammonia, total phosphorus, and a group of pollutants called carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand.”
Ecology also noted that “The limits imposed in these water quality permits require reducing the load of total phosphorus by more than 90 percent from all the dischargers during the critical period of March 1 – October 31. Phosphorus is a pollutant that feeds algae, which decompose and consume much of the water-borne oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive and thrive.”
The recently adopted dissolved oxygen (DO) TMDL, also known as a water clean up plan, provided modeling on which much of these permits are based. Development of the DO TMDL was a lengthy, often contentious process. Concerns from dischargers regarding the modeling effort, how it is used to establish permit limits, and potential cost of meeting permit requirements may be voiced at the hearing.
The Spokane Riverkeeper has encouraged the public to attend and join them in “… telling the Washington Department of Ecology that we want to see PCB limits in the final NPDES permits …” Sierra Club intends to ask questions regarding the analysis used to derive permit requirements, including allowances for “increasing volumes of discharges to the Spokane River.”
PCBs, although banned in 1976, are still in the environment. They are considered to be a probable human carcinogen and are associated with other serious health effects.
The deadline for submitting comments regarding the permits is 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010. Submit comments to the permit coordinator at stra461@ecy.wa.gov or by mail at 4601 N. Monroe St., Spokane, WA 99205.
Click here to view draft permits.