Members of the Task Force have drafted a response letter to the HR 2576, TSCA Modernization Act of 2015,concerning PCBS. Task Force members are asked to review the draft and provide big picture comments, additions, and/or edits. The Task Force will make a decision at the April 27th Task Force meeting on whether to send the letter as a full Task Force on Task Force letterhead.
Please send high level comments/edits to Kara Whitman (kmwhitman@wsu.edu) no later than C.O.B on Monday April 25th.
Task Force members are asked to review the memo and provide feedback to LimnoTech . Please note if there is site-specific data that can be used to replace the literature values, and/or better alternatives to the (many) assumptions that are currently in the memo. Please send all comments/edits to Dave Dilks at ddilks@limno.com by April 27th.
LimnoTech is still waiting for data from some Task Force members. Please provide information to LimnoTech on the following:
Little Spokane River PCBs: Screening Survey of Water, Sediment, and Fish Tissue
“The lower section of the Little Spokane River is in Category 5 of the 303(d) list for PCBs in fish tissue. This study evaluated current PCB levels in fish to validate the 303(d) listing. Sediment and water were also analyzed”.
Final Report can be found at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1603001.html
Quality Assurance Project Plan: Spokane and Troutlodge Fish Hatchery PCB Evaluation is now at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1603104.html
The Spokane River Toxics Task Force has been identifying sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to the Spokane River with the goal of reducing PCB inputs to the Spokane River. Previous studies have identified PCB contamination in fish raised in hatcheries. Several studies have correlated PCB concentrations in fish tissue to concentrations in hatchery feed.
This proposed study will investigate PCB concentrations in hatchery fish from Troutlodge, a facility in Soap Lake, WA, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) Spokane Fish Hatchery, located on the Little Spokane River. In addition, effluent from the Spokane Fish Hatchery will be evaluated for PCBs. PCB concentrations will also be measured in settleable solids and fish food from the Spokane Fish Hatchery. A PCB annual load contribution estimate from hatchery fish from both hatcheries and effluent from the Spokane hatchery to the Spokane River will be calculated.
In order to determine concentrations of PCBs in hatchery fish being removed from the river, two composites of fish collected from the Spokane River will be analyzed for PCBs. An attempt will be made to collect fish during the fall from the same age class as those collected in the spring from the hatcheries.
If you have questions, please contact Siana Wong at swon461@ecy.wa.govor at 360-407-6432. Or you may contact Brandee Era-Miller atbera461@ecy.wa.gov or at 360-407-6771.
The Department of Ecology has prepared a draft Quality Assurance Project Plan for the “Spokane River Atmospheric Deposition Study for PCBs” project.
Please provide comments to Brandee Era-Miller, Department of Ecology Environmental Assessment Program no later than April 13, 2016.
Contact information:
Brandee Era-Miller
Washington State Department of Ecology
Environmental Assessment Program
Email: BERA461@ecy.wa.gov
Phone: (360) 407-6771”
The next meeting of the SRRTTF Technical Track Work group is:
Date: Wednesday April 6, 2016
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Washington Department of Ecology
N. 4601 Monroe St.
Spokane, WA 99205
Click here for a map.
Call In Number: 800-704-9804 Participant Code: 34863442#
Meeting Documents:
– TTWG 4.6.16 Meeting Summary DRAFT
– Tech Track WG agn 04-06-16 revised
– Overview for TTWG_PCB Data Analysis Approaches for SRRTTF+related Data Sets
– SRRTTF_MagnitudeSourcesPathways_2016_0401_draft-1
– SRRTTF_TTWG_LimnoTech_04_06_2016
– SRRTTF_HighLevelScoping_2015_06_03_see slides 4-8 (presentation by Dave Dilks and Joyce Duncan at the June 3, 2015 TTWG Meeting)
– 2016 River Map Fish PCB 8X11_revised 3-23-2016
– Groundwater-Presentation-04-22-2015-SRRTTF
– 
There will be an un-official Task Force meeting held on March 22nd, from 2 pm to 5 pm at the Coeur d’Alene Lake Our Gem Symposium held at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. This meeting will provide the opportunity for the Task Force to have an informal discussion of technical topics concerning data gathered to data.
This is not an official Task Force meeting, and therefore there will be no decisions made. Takeaways from the meeting will be compiled and provided to the Task Force at the April 27th Task Force meeting.
To call into the meeting:
Call In Number: 800-704-9804
Participant Code: 34863442#
Meeting documents:
– Spokane River Forum Discussion
– 2016WorkshopRiverMapCONC25x35_5
– 2016WorkshopRiverMapLOAD25x35_5 (2)
The Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force will hold a meeting by conference call on Monday March 28th, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. to consider the approval of Task Force response letter to the draft EPA Draft NPDES General Permit for Federal Aquaculture Facilities & Aquaculture Facilities Located in Indian Country Within the boundaries of the State of Washington.
Voting members of the Task Force are asked to call in, as we will need a quorum to make the formal approval. Other Task Force participants are welcome to call in with additional input or to listen and contribute to the call.
Please carefully read the attached response letter prior to the meeting. The letter is organized by a Background that explains the SRRTTF efforts, the request for a Toxics Management Plan, recommended BMPs, recommended reporting requirements, and the encouragement for tribal participation in the SRRTTF.
Topics to be addressed at the meeting, in order, include:
Washington Department of Ecology – NEWS
March. 15, 2016
Contacts: Brook Beeler, communications, 509-329-3478, @ecyspokane
Spokane River task force advances fight on toxics
New report shows progress toward reducing PCBs in river
SPOKANE – A Spokane River group leading efforts to find and eliminate toxic chemicals has prevented 283 pounds of cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from entering the river.
A 2007 study estimated that in order to meet water quality standards for the Spokane River, 1.68 pounds of PCBs would need to be prevented from entering the river each year.
Since the study, the Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force has removed 265 pounds of PCBs from soil, wastewater and stormwater, and eliminated the potential for another 18 pounds from reaching the river.
PCBs remain in the environment and build up over time in fish, animals and people. That’s why finding even tiny amounts of these chemicals in the Spokane River requires action.
A new report from the Washington Department of Ecology shows that the task force has made measurable progress toward identifying, reducing and controlling PCBs and related toxic chemicals in the Spokane River.
“The task force’s ultimate goal is to help the Spokane River meet strict water quality standards that protect people and the environment,” said Water Quality section manager Jim Bellatty. “Without the group’s collective problem solving and ability to work together, we wouldn’t have made such significant progress in tackling PCBs for the health of our river and community.”
The group, facilitated by the William D. Ruckelshaus Center, has been working since 2012 on a comprehensive approach to simultaneously identify and reduce all sources of PCBs in the Spokane River Basin. Ecology’s role in the task force is to provide resources and ensure accountability of its members, including evaluation of the group’s activities.
Task force members have completed a variety of projects including preventing PCBs from potentially entering the river by removing sediment from stormwater catchments, replacing light ballasts and electrical transformers and improving wastewater treatment.
The report also highlights several studies completed by the task force or its members. Two studies pinpoint sources of PCBs in general consumer products and common municipal products. These studies and the task force’s leadership has resulted in state and local governments establishing purchasing policies that will provide preference for products that don’t contain PCBs.
More projects are currently underway to identify additional sources of PCBs to the river including a study of fish hatcheries, air deposition and groundwater. The task force also is developing a suite of best practices that can be used to reduce PCBs and bring the Spokane River into compliance with water quality standards.
PCBs are a group of chemicals once commonly used in caulks, paints and electrical transformers. Although PCBs were banned in 1979, they continue to leak out of old materials today and cause environmental harm. New PCBs are also created as byproducts in manufacturing and can be found in dyes and pigments.
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Date: March 16, 2016
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Spokane County Water Resource Center
1004 N. Freya Street
Spokane, WA 99202
Click here for a map
Call In Number: 800-704-9804
Participant Code: 34863442#
Meeting Documents:
– SRRTTF 3 16 16 ummary Notes_Final DRAFT
Agenda:
– SRRTTF Mar 16 2016 Agenda_revised2
Previous Meeting Summaries:
– SRRTTF 2 24 16 TF summary notes DRAFT
– SRRTTF TTWG 3.2.16 Meeting Summary Draft
– DATA MANAGEMENT WORKGROUP 03092016 NOTES with comments
Decision and/or Discussion Documents:
– Final executed SRRTTF MOA (WDFW – “Additional Agency” member?)
– RC Scope/Budget: 2016-17 SRRTTF Proposal SOW_draft
– SRRTTF_SourcesPathways_2016_0309_draft
– Draft-Comments-FHP-NPDES 3.7.16 J. White
– Spokane County edits to draft Federal Hatchery Permit letter 160308
Presentations:
– SRRTTF_LimnoTech_03_16_2016 (Dave Dilks Presentation)
– Measurable Progress SRRTTF 031616
Spokane River Forum:
Updated Poster panel 3 for Spokane River Forum: Panel 3_spokane river forum_revised 2 (3.15.16)
SRRTTF Fact Sheet: SRRTTF Fact Sheet for SRF Conf March 2016
Task Force members are asked to review the memo and provide feedback to LimnoTech no later than March 23rd, 2016. Please send all comments/edits to Dave Dilks at ddilks@limno.com
Task Force members are also asked to provide information to LimnoTech on the following:
DRAFT Memo: Inventory of Best Management Practices to Be Evaluated for the Spokane River”
Comments Received:
– BMP Memo_comments_Lands Council
– BMP Memo_comments_ City of Post Falls
– DRAFT_Inventory_of_BMPs_2016_02_19_IEP Comments
– Limnotech Memo re PCB BMPs _City of Spokane 02-19-16
– List of BMPs and control actions apb