It’s time to end the era of weak toxic pollution laws in Washington State
Washington State has a dirty little secret: The weakest toxic water pollution laws in the nation. This is shocking considering how many people rely on fish and shellfish to feed their families and for their livelihoods. Together, we can end this era of putting industry interests before public health. In March 2015, thousands of people joined Columbia Riverkeeper, tribes, businesses, and many others in calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) to stand up for public health.
The Facts
- People in Washington State—particularly Native Americans, immigrants, and sportfishers—eat a lot of fish. Yet the laws that are supposed to protect people from toxics in fish, known as water quality standards, assume that people only eat the equivalent of 6.5 grams of fish per day. This is less than a cracker-sized amount of fish. By comparison, the State of Oregon adopted a fish consumption rate of 175 grams per day in 2010.
- Study after study backs up what seems obvious to people who use our rivers: Washingtonians are eating significantly more fish than the state’s laws assume.
- Simply put, if a state has weak water quality standards for toxic pollution, polluters can discharge more toxic pollution, including cancer-causing toxic pollutants and pollutants that harm development in young children and fetuses.
- The proposal put forth by Governor Inslee and Ecology changes the fish consumption rate. But the proposal also raises the allowable cancer risk tenfold statewide, from one in one million to one in 100,000, so the end result remains largely the same. If this draft proposal is approved, it will leave Washington fish consumers without adequate protection and allow the continued discharge of many potent neurotoxins and cancer-causing pollutants, including mercury and PCBs.
Ecology’s proposed rules include pollution loopholes and ignore the best available science. Join Columbia Riverkeeper in sending a strong message to EPA and Ecology: EPA must step in and protect public health if Ecology fails to go back to the drawing board and develop water quality protection laws that protect public health.
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