Regulating Spokane River Water Quality
2022 is the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. The road toward meeting its goals of swimmable, drinkable, fishable waters are as windy and challenging as ever. The Spokane River is no exception.
The Washington Department of Ecology is taking comments on draft NPDES permits that will regulate Kaiser Aluminum and the City of Spokane discharging pollutants into the Spokane River. Comments are due February 28th. In addition, public meetings are scheduled for February 1 at 1:30 p.m. and February 3 at 6:00 p.m. To learn more, click here.
A US District Court judge is taking into advisement consensus among litigants to enter into a consent decree that will see EPA issuing a PCB TMDL for segments of the Spokane River, Little Spokane River and Lake Spokane by September 30, 2024. The TMDL will create a pollution budget to assure PCB water quality standards are met. PCBs can cause skin rashes, reproductive disorders, and neurological and behavioral problems. They are also a probable human carcinogen.
On the Little Spokane River, efforts such as recent cleanup actions at the former Kaiser Smelter Site and proposed upgrades to the Spokane River Fish Hatchery also hold the promise of reducing PCBs and other pollutants into the Spokane River.
We could go on and on with water quality initiatives, projects and concerns being studied, debated and addressed for the Spokane River and its tributaries. The beat goes on with the Clean Water Act and citizen engagement being as important as ever.