Category Archives: Background Information

Ecology News: The Water Quality Financial Assistance 2015-2017 Biennium Outcomes Report

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The Water Quality Financial Assistance 2015-2017 Biennium Outcomes Report is now available!

You can find it on fortress and there is a link on our grant and loan general resources web page, under the heading for Reports and Surveys.

Please share the link with anyone you think might be interested.

About the outcomes reports

The biennial outcomes reports provide an overview of our grant and loan programs, and summarizes two-years of closed projects. It includes a breakdown of how our funding is helping improve water quality, with specific focus on wastewater, stormwater, nonpoint source, on-site sewage systems and aquatic invasive species and algae control. It features many photos, highlighting the great work accomplished by our funding recipients, many of whom are also permittees. If you’re curious, the previous report is also available: 2013-2015 Biennium Outcomes Report.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Best Regards,

Eliza Keeley-Arnold
Clean Water Needs and Outcomes Coordinator
Water Quality – Financial Management
WA Department of Ecology
Ph: (360) 407-7489 Em: eliza.keeley-arnold@ecy.wa.gov

Compiled TCP Information

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On August 3, 2016, the Technical Track Work group discussed data from the background wells on the Kaiser site. LimnoTech has determined that there may be evidence from a comparison of background well data and that from Kaiser site, along with synoptic river data, of an unknown groundwater source up-gradient of this site, but there is more information needed. Coordinating with the Toxics Cleanup Program in the future may help in the task. However, given the legal restrictions that MTCA/TCP has to work within (for existing and closed cleanup sites, and identification of new sites) this may be a difficult task.

For now, we have compiled list of documents provided to the Task Force regarding Toxics Cleanup Program (TCP) that may be of use in charting a path forward to identify this groundwater source, and how TCP can help to complement this work. If you have additional information that would be useful, please send them to Kara Whitman (kmwhitman@wsu.edu) for posting on this page. Note: these are also posted on the Department of Ecology Publications Page.

– Approach for TCP sites – (From Adriane Borgias (Feb 2016)
– PCB TCP Sites 4-17-15 (TCP site presentation April 2015)
– Appendix A-TCP Sites (June 2015)
– Appendix B-Spokane Wells (June 2015)
– Standard Operating Procedure for Purging and Sampling Monitoring Wells plus Guidance on Collecting Samples for Volatiles and other Organic Compounds 
– Tech Memo – PCBs in Spokane Valley GW – Marti – 9-16-15 FINAL  (September 2015)

Ecology Resources: Searchable map database of TCP Sites

TCP memos regarding analytical data: Information regarding policy decision by TCP to use 1668 

 

 

Ecology’s Spokane River Toxics Monitoring FY2013

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Click on the links below to access the Quality Assurance Project Plans for the FY2013 Spokane River Toxics Monitoring Activities.

Comments are requested on the DRAFT QAPP only by November 21, 2012. Submit comments to Brandee Era-Miller: BERA461@ECY.WA.GOV

DRAFT 10-28-2012 Quality Assurance Project Plan: Spokane River Toxics Fish Tissue and Preliminary Monitoring in Fiscal Year 2013 – In Support of the Long-term Toxics Monitoring Strategy. [Note: The Quality Assurance Project Plan was finalized January, 2013 and can be viewed at: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1303103.html. To access the draft document as posted on 11/8/2012, contact us.]

The following QAPP was prepared and approved in 2002 and provided for reference. No comments requested on this document.

Quality Assurance Project Plan: Washington State Toxics Monitoring Program, Exploratory Monitoring of Toxic Contaminants in Edible Fish Tissue and Freshwater Environments of Washington State

Notice Regarding Statements of Qualifications and Proposals

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The Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force (SRRTTF) is soliciting Statements of Qualifications and Proposals from qualified technical consultants to assist the Task Force as an independent community technical advisor.  The goal of the Task Force is to develop a comprehensive plan to bring the Spokane River into compliance with applicable water quality standards for PCBs and Dioxins.  This is a multi-phased, multi-year program.

Click Here to download the Request for Qualifications and Proposal packet.

Relevant data and references for this project can be found at the Spokane Regional Toxics Task Force website, see the “References and Information” tab. 

Questions regarding the RFP process will be accepted until November 20, 2012 by Adriane Borgias at ABOR461@ecy.wa.gov. Questions regarding Department of Ecology public information should be directed to KAJO461@ecy.wa.gov.

Submittals are due by 4:00 p.m. November 27, 2012 to the Washington Department of Ecology, Eastern Regional Office, 4601 North Monroe Street, Spokane Washington, 99205

SRRTTF Request for Qualifications and Proposal Packet

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1. RFQ Transmittal Memo
2. Request for Qualifications and Proposals
3. Attachment A to the RFQ
4. SRRTTF First Draft Work Plan, Adopted 10-24-2012
5. SRRTTF Work Plan Milestone Schedule 10-24-2012

Click Here for additional background information and data.

Questions regarding the RFP process will be accepted until November 20, 2012 by Adriane Borgias at ABOR461@ecy.wa.gov. Questions regarding Department of Ecology public information should be directed to KAJO461@ecy.wa.gov.

Submittals are due by 4:00 p.m. November 27, 2012 to the Washington Department of Ecology, Eastern Regional Office, 4601 North Monroe Street, Spokane Washington, 99205

ECOS Resolution Update

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On August 28th, during their annual conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), which is the national non-profit, non-partisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders, passed a resolution addressed to the EPA that laid out several points about how to best address levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in wastewater discharges to our nation’s waterbodies.

The ECOS resolution is the most recent step in a process that began two years ago when SRRTTF members Inland Empire Paper Company along with Spokane Riverkeeper and The Lands Council wrote a letter to the EPA alerting them of the the regulatory loophole that allows PCBs to continue to be released to the environment.  

“The passage of the resolution was really a significant event,” said Ted Sturdevant the director of the Washington State Department of Ecology. “State environmental regulators heard the exact same message from industry, academia and the environmental community — we need to turn off the faucet that is allowing this pollution stream to continue. That allowed a very diverse gathering of states to agree to a strong statement calling for a national solution. The states are fed up with trying to solve pollution problems at the end of the pipe, when the solutions are best found through prevention at the national level. It’s why ECOS has called for comprehensive reform of the federal law governing toxic substances, and why we’ll keep pushing at the national level, and within our own states, until we get there.”  Ted Sturdevant, Director, Washington State

On September 7, 2012 the Waterkeeper organizations sent EPA a letter in support of the ECOS resolution. EPA sent this response on October 5, 2012.

Read the Huffington Post Article, “State Environmental Heads Pass Resolution about PCBs” by Bart Mihailovich.

Cleanup work to begin on three Spokane River beaches

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Washington Department of Ecology news
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Aug. 27, 2012
12-281
Cleanup work to begin on three Spokane River beaches    
SPOKANE- For the remainder of the summer, residents walking along the Centennial Trail in the Spokane Valley, may encounter equipment such as loaders and dump wagons that may close the trail for a few minutes at a time. 

Construction begins this week to make sure people and wildlife aren’t exposed to heavy metals that settled on some of the Spokane River’s shorelines as a result of old mining practices in the Silver Valley, Idaho.  

According to the Department of Ecology, the closures won’t be for long durations, and the result will be that beach areas will be cleaner and safer for you and your family to use. Flaggers will be available and signs will be posted to let people know these access areas are closed.

Contractors will remove contaminated soil while water levels are low at three Spokane River beaches: the Barker Road North beach on the north side of the Spokane River, east of the Barker Road Bridge — plus the Islands Lagoon and Myrtle Point beaches on the south side of the Spokane River. Workers will install a protective cap over the remaining soil to reduce the possibility of exposure.  

Similar work was done at the Flora Road beach in 2009. However, heavy spring runoff in 2011 damaged portions of the protective cover or cap. This year a new cap will be installed, designed to minimize future erosion. 

Ecology and local river groups will plant native vegetation on the shoreline to help stabilize the banks at Barker Road North and Myrtle Point. Work will continue through September.

The beach work is part of the Eastern Washington Clean Sites Initiative, an effort that involves communities and other partners in shaping cleanup projects that improve local residents’ quality of life. Cleanup funds come from the state’s voter-approved tax on hazardous substances.

Historic mining practices in the Coeur d’Alene Basin resulted in contaminants known as heavy metals washing downstream from Idaho. The metals include lead, arsenic, zinc and cadmium. They settled in soil and sediments at certain shoreline areas along the Spokane River.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began studying mining contaminants in the Coeur d’Alene Basin in 1983. Additional studies began in 1998 that included evaluation of mining-related impacts to the Spokane River in Washington. As part of that study, the EPA identified nine beaches affected by metals.

EPA and Ecology cleaned up the Starr Road beach in 2006. Ecology cleaned up Island Complex and Murray Road beaches in 2007, Harvard Road North in 2008 and Flora Road in 2009.

      ###

Media Contact: Jani Gilbert, Communications, 509-329-3495; e-mail jani.gilbert@ecy.wa.gov. 

For more information: Spokane River Metals website https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/gsp/Sitepage.aspx?csid=442 
 
Ecology’s website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov
 
Ecology’s social media: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/about/newmedia.html

PCB Regulatory Information

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This page contains information about the regulation of PCB’s (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)

Toxic Substances Control Act

EPA’s PCB Use Reassessment 08-24-12-2012

ECOS Presentations: August 28, 2012

Inadvertant PCB Production and Its Impact on Water Quality

Spokane Riverkeeper

Inland Empire Paper Company

Inland Empire Paper Company Talking Points

Signatories to the Memorandum of Agreement

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Voting Members

Spokane County MOA/Spokane County SRRTTF Resolution 12-0145

Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District MOA

Inland Empire Paper Company MOA

Kaiser Aluminum MOA

City of Spokane MOA/City of Spokane OPR 2012-0059

Spokane Regional Health District MOA

Washington State Department of Health MOA

Lake Spokane Association MOA

The Lands Council MOA

Spokane Riverkeeper MOA

City of Coeur d’Alene MOA

Kootenai Environmental Alliance

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Advisory

Avista Letter of Support

 

Sovereigns

Washington State, Represented by the Department of Ecology

Washington State Department of Ecology MOA

United States, Represented by the Environmental Protection Agency

EPA-Letter-of-Support

 

 

Ecology to Host Fish Consumption Workshops August 28, 2012

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Subject: Department of Ecology hosts workshop Aug. 28 on revised approach for Reducing Toxics In Fish, Shellfish, Sediment, and Water

On July 16, 2012, Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant announced a revised approach for updating the state’s fish consumption rates for water quality and cleaning up contaminated sediments.  View Director Sturdevant’s letter and a timeline for Ecology’s work here: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/toxics/docs/20120716_FCR_SturdevantLetter.pdf.

Ecology invites interested parties to attend a video conference workshop from 1 – 5 p.m., on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, at Ecology’s regional offices in Lacey,  Bellevue, Yakima and Spokane.  The workshop will provide an in-depth explanation of Ecology’s current approach.

 Workshop topics include updates on:

  • Ecology’s toxic reduction strategy.
  • Toxic Cleanup Program’s sediment management standards rule making.
  • Ecology’s fish consumption rate technical document.
  • Water Quality Program’s water quality standards rule makings.

As part of this revised approach, Ecology’s Water Quality Program intends to move forward with adopting new human health criteria for surface water quality.   An informational session on human health criteria will be included in the workshop.

Seating is limited.  Please RSVP at swqs@ecy.wa.gov. 

Learn about future public involvement opportunities and read more about the process ahead at:

Reducing Toxics in Fish, Sediments and Water: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/toxics/fish.html

Workshop Information:
Date: August 28, 2012
Time: 1 -5 p.m.

Eastern Regional Office
Room: 1-NW-18
N. 4601 Monroe
Spokane, WA 99205-1295

(Directions)

Headquarters Office
Room: R0A-32/34/36
300 Desmond Drive SE
Lacey, WA 98503

(Directions)

Central Regional Office
Room: 204 A
15 W. Yakima Ave., Ste 200
Yakima, WA  98902

(Directions)                                              
Northwest Regional Office
Room: 2A&B
3190 – 160th Ave. SE
Bellevue, WA 98008-5452

(Directions)

Sandy Howard
Communications – Washington Department of Ecology
Water Quality Program – Environmental Assessment Program
360-407-6408 (desk) ~ 360-791-3177 (cell)