What are PCBs?

PCBs are man-made chemicals that bind to sediments where they are consumed by small organisms, moving up the food chain.  PCBs bioaccumulate in the fatty tissues of fish, wildlife, and people - and can can build to harmful levels.  (ATSDR) 

How serious are the health risks from PCB exposure?

Susceptible populations (certain ethnic groups, sport anglers, the elderly, pregnant women, children, and nursing infants) are exposed to PCBs via fish and wildlife consumption.  PCBs may (1) disrupt reproductive function; (2) cause neurobehavioral and developmental deficits in newborns and continue through school-aged children who had in utero exposure; 3) increased cancer risks, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  (ATSDR)

How polluted is the Spokane River with PCBs?

Exposure to PCBs through ingestion of Spokane River fish represents a public health hazard.  (Washington State Department of Health, ATSDR)   

In 2008 the Washington State Department of Health issued fish consumption advisories for eating fish from Lake Roosevelt and the Spokane River.  Click to view the Health Advisory for Spokane River Fish Consumption and the Spokane River Safe Fish Eating Guide.

How are the PCBs getting into the Spokane River?

What is the PCB standard for the Spokane River needed to protect human health?

The Spokane Tribe has set the human health PCB water quality standard at 3.37 picograms per liter (pg/l) based on fish consumption rates.   This standard applies to that part of the Spokane River flowing through the Tribe’s reservation (Spokane Arm and lower half of the Little Falls reservoir).  (Spokane Tribe of Indians.  Surface Water Quality Standards, 2010) 

Upstream of the Spokane Tribe, Washington State has set a standard that allows for much higher levels of PCBs: 170 pg/l   (PCB Source Assessment p 13) 

How can such seemingly small concentrations of PCBs transform the Spokane River into a “public health hazard”?

PCBs do not readily break down in the environment and thus may remain there for very long periods of time.  PCBs are taken up by small organisms and fish in water.  They are also taken up by other animals that eat these aquatic animals as food. PCBs accumulate in fish and marine mammals, reaching levels that may be many thousands of times higher than in water.  (ATDSR)

Doesn’t the federal Clean Water Act require that PCBs polluting the Spokane River be cleaned up to meet the standard for protecting human health?

The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) established a national goal that all waters of the U.S. should be fishable and swimmable and provides the basic structure for regulating the discharge of pollutants from point sources to waters of the United States.  (EPA)

The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained. EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls discharges.  An NPDES permit may include discharge limits based on federal or state/tribe water quality criteria or standards that were designed to protect designated uses of surface waters, such as supporting aquatic life or recreation.  (EPA)

Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act requires states to prepare a list every two years of waterbodies that do not meet water quality standards.  In Washington, the 303(d) list is compiled by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). 

The Clean Water Act requires that waterbodies on the 303(d) list be cleaned up by pollution-control programs or that a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) be developed for the pollutants of concern.  A TMDL determines the amount of pollutant that can be discharged to a waterbody and still meet standards (loading capacity) and allocates that load among the various sources.

Fifteen waterbody segments of the Spokane River and Lake Spokane (also known as Long Lake), and one segment of the Little Spokane River are on the 2008 303(d) list for not meeting (exceeding) Washington State’s human health water quality criterion for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in edible fish tissue.  (PCB Source Assessment p 11)

Is there a PCB cleanup plan – “TMDL” – for the Spokane River?

Neither the Washington Dept of Ecology (Ecology) nor EPA have completed a TMDL for the Spokane River’s PCB pollution.   For many years Ecology worked on a TMDL.  In 2006 Ecology published a draft TMDL for PCBs.   In 2011, Ecology published an updated draft TMDL called the “PCB Source Assessment Study”. 

Why didn’t Ecology complete the PCB TMDL?

The TMDL would have made clear that there is no additional capacity for adding a new source of PCBs to the Spokane River.   This would have blocked Ecology from issuing a new NPDES permit (and a new source of PCBs for the Spokane River) to Spokane County.  Although Spokane County knew that it was illegal to add a new pollution pipe to the River, the County gambled and built a new $170 million sewage treatment plant.  (The County also has a backup plan to land-apply the effluent at Saltese Flat that would cost an additional $20 million.)  Ecology jettisoned the PCB TMDL in order to issue a new NPDES permit to Spokane County -- and permit a new pollution source for the Spokane River.  

Sierra Club and the Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) appealed Ecology’s new NPDES permit for Spokane County.

Does the Clean Water Act allow Ecology to issue a new NPDES permit to Spokane County that will increase the load of PCBs to the Spokane River?

Federal regulations are clear that “No permit may be issued . . .  when the imposition of conditions cannot ensure compliance with the applicable water quality requirements of all affected States.”   40 C.F.R. Sec 122.4(d) In this instance, the Spokane Tribe of Indians is considered a State.  (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations) 

The new NPDES permit is illegal because it allows Spokane County to add more PCBs to an already impaired Spokane River, further poisoning the fisheries and risking human health.

What did EPA do?

The Clean Water Act allows U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to authorize the NPDES Permit Program to state governments, enabling states to perform many of the permitting, administrative, and enforcement aspects of the NPDES Program. In states that have been authorized to implement CWA programs, EPA still retains oversight responsibilities.  (EPA)

In 2011 when Ecology stopped the process to complete a PCB TMDL and made clear its intent to issue a new NPDES permit to Spokane County, the response from EPA was silence.  

When in July of 2011, Sierra Club and CELP filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue and compel EPA to require a TMDL for PCBs, the response from EPA was silence.  

In October 2011 Sierra Club and CELP filed a lawsuit against EPA in federal court to compel a PCB TMDL.  Again, the response from EPA was silence – allowing Ecology to proceed with issuing the new NPDES permit to Spokane County.

Is the Regional Toxics Task Force an alternative to a PCB TMDL?

Ecology has promoted a Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force as an alternative to a TMDL.  

On March 29, 2012, EPA sent a letter to Idaho dischargers stating that EPA did not have the authority to require the Idaho dischargers to participate in the Task Force (roughly 30% of all PCB loading in the Spokane River originates in Idaho).   (Letter from EPA to Spokane River Stewardship Partners, March 29, 2012)

The lack of legal authority, lack of funding, and the political pressures in favor of pollution prompted the Spokane Tribe of Indians to stop supporting the Regional Task Force and instead urge Ecology and EPA to develop a legally defensible PCB TMDL.   (Letter from Spokane Tribal Natural Resources to Washington Dept of Ecology, May 21, 2012).

On January 5, 2013, the Spokane Tribal Business Council voted 5-0 to intervene in support of Sierra Club and CELP vs. EPA.  (Spokane Tribal Resolution 2013-119)

Are there other pollutants that threaten the Spokane River?

PCPs are one of several pollutants in the Spokane River.   As noted by the PCB Source Assessment Study, “Spokane River fish also substantially exceeded statewide comparisons for concentrations of PBDEs, zinc, lead, and cadmium (whole fish samples only).” (p 33)   There is also a growing body of science regarding pharmaceuticals and their metabolites excreted in human urine and feces that contaminate river systems and harm fish and wildlife.

Why is the trial over Ecology’s new NPDES permit for Spokane County not being held in Spokane?

Spokane River advocates asked the state court hearing the case (the Pollution Control Hearing Board or “PCHB”) to hold the trial in Spokane since the Spokane River, community, and Spokane Tribe of Indians are here.   Ecology and Spokane County advocated holding the hearing in Tumwater.  The court ruled in favor of Ecology and Spokane County.