Because of strong pressure from Spokane Riverkeeper, our partners across the state, and the best available science, the EPA recently announced the final promulgation of a strong and protective Water Quality Standard (WQS) for toxic PCB pollution in Washington State. This announcement further puts pressure on local and regional polluters to remove PCBs that leave their pipes and enter your Spokane River. See the press release here
A Water Quality Standard is a legal standard by which we measure whether water is legally polluted or not. In Washington the has been a long-running battle over the WQS for toxic chemicals called PCBs. There are two components to a standard. The Water Quality Criteria - the amount of pollutants in the water column and the Human Health Criteria - the amount of pollutants that accumulate in edible fish.
If the WQS are looser or less protective of water quality, then industry and other municipal wastewater dischargers can legally dump more pollution into your River with less legal liability. The standard gives them legal cover that protects their ability to dump pollutants at certain levels into your River and into your fish. The river does not have a right to clean water and you do not have a right to clean water or fish. The “use” of dumping pollution into your waterways is protected under the Clean Water Act.
This issue has profound environmental justice implications as toxics like PCBs collect in fish tissue making them inedible and dangerous over certain amounts. See the Spokane River Advisories here. This disproportionately affects communities that eat fish from our public waters.
In 2015, The State of Washington put a very weak standard into place. The State was listening carefully to large polluters like Boeing who profit from dumping PCBs into our waterways. A collective of organizations including the Spokane Riverkeeper litigated and forced the EPA to promulgate a strong standard in 2016. This standard was designed to protect water, fish, and the public from toxic pollution.
When the Trump administration took office it pursued, in concert with local and national pollution dischargers, a petition to roll back the protective standards that the EPA developed and imposed on Washington State.
Companies like Inland Empire Paper and associations like Greater Spokane Incorporated were parties who pressed to petition the federal government (EPA) to roll back the WQS under a Trump administration. They were successful under an EPA led by officials recruited from the industrial sector. This cynical maneuver had the ripple effect of destroying collaborations such as the Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force (SRRTTF). Spokane Riverkeeper was once a member of this body that was ostensibly about working together to solve the crisis of toxics in our River. When it became clear that several of the polluters that sat on the SRRTF, were actually petitioning for looser pollution standards, we made a tough decision and resigned. In public records requests, we received emails that supported the nagging feeling that in fact, even parties not on the petition, such as the City of Spokane under a Condon Administration – were aiding and abetting the effort to loosen (WQS) standards for toxics. These efforts were supported by Representative McMorris Rodgers.
Under a Biden Administration in 2020, the EPA revisited this petition and began rulemaking to re-establish the strong WQS for PCB toxics. Today’s announcement by the EPA keeps the pressure on industrial dischargers like Kaiser Aluminum LLC, and Inland Empire Paper as well as municipal dischargers and the Washington State Department of Ecology to work toward higher standards and to remove PCBs from the wastewater that they discharge into the Spokane River, accumulate in the fish, and that is eaten by the public.
Sadly, the hazard to the public is that other end-runs and off-ramps will be used to get around the standards. For example, there are five Discharger Variances for PCBs is in their application form ready to be activated. There are applications for all five of the major dischargers. Variances will allow the dischargers a 20-year free pass on dumping PCB pollution into your River and then pave the way to permanently give up on tight WQS standards. This would have the effect of permanently establishing industry-friendly pollution standards for PCBs.
For now, this EPA rule is a step forward, but please stay tuned as we the public will have to advocate for our River, its fish, and the community in the coming years. We will need to make sure that the standards are protective, and that variances are not used to let polluters off the hook.