EPA Uses Volunteer-Collected Data, IDs Polluted Rivers

Water Quality Volunteer, Susan sampling Indian Creek.

EPA Lists Oregon’s Polluted Rivers After State Fails, Uses Riverkeeper Volunteer Data

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new listings for Oregon’s polluted streams reads like a laundry list of environmental worst actors: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), Arsenic, Chlordane, Chlorpyrifos, Dieldrin, Heptachlor epoxide, and Malathion.

After Oregon failed to get the job done, the EPA stepped in. EPA reviewed reams of data ignored by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and found over 1,000 examples of DEQ ignoring pollution data. This is big deal: Once EPA lists a river as “impaired,” the state must develop a water quality cleanup plan. EPA used data collected by Columbia Riverkeeper’s Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program to identify polluted rivers. We thank our incredible team of volunteers for getting wet and dirty to help protect our rivers!

Why EPA’s Action Matters

The Clean Water Act requires DEQ to assess water quality and prepare a report every two years identifying waterbodies that violate state standards designed to protect drinking water, swimming, salmon, and other uses. DEQ must consider all readily available data and develop a list of waters that violate state standards. This list, known as the “303(d)” list, identifies waterbodies that are unsafe for aquatic life or human use. Once a water body is listed, DEQ is must develop a plan to fix the problem. However, DEQ’s most recent analysis adopted the “watershed approach,” limiting the statewide assessment to two small sub-basins, the Umatilla and Willamette. By adopting this approach, DEQ ignored reams of data and submitted an inadequate report that violated the Clean Water Act.

EPA stepped in to do the state’s job. EPA conducted their own analysis and proposed an additional 1,055 new listings that the state ignored. The new report, released in December 2016, includes listings for highly-toxic legacy pollutants such as the now-banned pesticide DDT and its by-products; current use pesticides; heavy metals; and other toxic pollutants that are damaging to our rivers and fish. The 303(d) listings trigger DEQ’s duty to develop pollution reduction plans.

Volunteer Data Prompts Pollution Listings

In the new assessment, EPA evaluated all readily available data, including data collected by Riverkeeper volunteers. Riverkeeper’s data led to new listings on Chenoweth Creek, the Hood River, and the Multnomah Channel. In fact, 15-percent of EPA’s newly proposed listings came from volunteer-collected data. “The EPA decision highlights the fact that our rivers are polluted, and the state is simply not doing enough to protect and clean up our rivers,” states Lorri Epstein Water Quality Director for Columbia Riverkeeper.

Riverkeeper is part of DEQ’s Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program. Volunteers undertake a thorough training, follow a strict protocol, and maintain detailed documentation of DEQ-approved quality control procedures. Riverkeeper’s data regularly receives the highest available quality rating from DEQ, and DEQ has recognized that citizen volunteer programs like Riverkeeper’s provide the state with more high-quality data than the agency could collect on its own, with minimal cost.

“Our team of volunteers are committed to the river and to collecting valuable water quality data. This kind of on-going monitoring is critical to understanding the health of the river and to spring into action when problems arise,” explains Epstein. “We will continue to hold the state accountable and demand that our rivers are safe for swimming and fishing.”