"Moscow City still waiting for EPA decision"

If Moscow, which is upstream from Pullman, is not required to implement the Phase II stormwater regulations when Pullman has already been forced to do so, it will prove the whole process is just a sham and a farce.

From yesterday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

The city of Moscow should hear from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding its Stormwater Phase II status in the next four to six weeks, EPA officials say.

The City Council sent the EPA a letter in August asking not to be subject to Phase II stormwater regulations. It anticipated receiving a reply in the fall.

"They (the EPA) just haven't made their decision yet," Moscow Public Works Director Les MacDonald said.

If Moscow is listed as a regulated small municipal separate storm system under Phase II, it will be required to develop a comprehensive stormwater management program and obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, according to a letter sent by an EPA Region 10 official in June.

The regulations are designed to manage the quality and quantity of runoff from development and to control stormwater discharge. The requirements are intended to reduce downstream pollution and contamination.

The council members who voted to send the August letter said Moscow should be self-guided as it improves stormwater management.

EPA spokesman Jeff Philip said the EPA has delayed its decision because it still is looking at the data.

"It's taking a while to go through the data and really make a solid determination on whether (Moscow) should be included or not," Philip said.

Philip said there is no firm deadline for the decision, "but we want to get it done as soon as possible so they're not waiting and we're not waiting."

Mixed Econuts: Unfunded Mandates

Get ready to reach into your wallets to protect the non-existent Palouse River salmon. Dino Rossi needs to clean house at the Department of Ecology after he is elected. From last Wednesday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Pullman accepts state money for stormwater work

Pullman City Councilman Keith Bloom doesn't mind being a rebel.

Bloom cast the lone opposing vote Tuesday as the council voted to accept $50,000 in state funding to help the city institute elements of statewide municipal stormwater permits issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology in February 2007.

The permits have been viewed locally as a heavy-handed way to manage runoff from development and control stormwater discharges into sewer systems, with a goal of reducing pollution and contamination of downstream waters. Permits also require municipalities to manage construction stormwater, detect and eliminate illegal discharges, create good housekeeping practices for existing systems and educate the public.

The council and city staff have protested the permits because of the city's unique topography and because Pullman already has many protective measures in place.

The cost to implement the five-year permit is expected to exceed $4 million. The city was given a $75,000 grant from the state in 2007, and the council has discussed creating a stormwater utility district to help pay for the permit costs.

The city is appealing the permits along with several other members of the Washington Association of Cities.

Bloom said his opposing vote was meant to be symbolic.

"A vote 'yes' means we begin the process to raise taxes. It's blood money," he said. "It's giving us $50,000 so we can turn around and pay them $500,000 (in fees). ... I'm not going to march lock step with the DOE on this."

Public Works Director Mark Workman said the money likely will be spent to organize a fee schedule for the proposed utility district. Representatives from the city's stormwater consultant, Otak, Inc., soon will begin to evaluate the impervious surfaces on about 200 residential properties throughout Pullman. The numbers will be averaged and used to generate an Equivalent Residential Unit - a fee structure for the stormwater utility customers. Fees for industrial and commercial businesses will be tabulated individually.

The council also voted in favor of upping the city's contribution to appeal the permit to $33,333.33.

Pullman joined forces with 32 other Washington cities last year to appeal the permit, arguing it is too restrictive and goes beyond what is required by the Clean Water Act and the Ecology Construction Stormwater Permit. The city originally pledged to chip in $8,333.33 for the appeal.

Workman said the increased amount is needed for the cities to battle a cross-appeal filed by the Puget Sound Alliance, which claims the stormwater permits are not restrictive enough.

Department of Ecological Fallacies

I have been astonished (sarcasm intended) that none of the important developments concerning water in the corridor have been covered by the Daily News. Yes, I know the Moscow shooting coverage has dominated the news, but there have been stories this week about the Deary fire hall and the Garfield-Palouse prom.

I have stated before that we don't need Moscow trying to stop development in the corridor, our own state's idiot bureaucracy is doing a great job on that front already. Last Friday, KMAX reported that the Whitman County Water Conservancy Board meeting scheduled for two weeks ago Monday was canceled because it had been determined that the Hawkins Companies stormwater plan might reduce the flow of Paradise Creek below Department of Ecology limits. Hawkins' plan was to have no runoff by catching all the stormwater in a large basin. I guess DOE's concern is that whatever rain that falls in that field currently won't make it into the creek. Talk about damned if you and damned if you don't. On the one hand, DOE says Paradise Creek has too much turbidity from runoff. So when Hawkins mitigates that, now DOE says there won't be enough runoff. There will not be another Water Conservancy Board meeting until Hawkins revises its plan.

In another major development, KQQQ reported that DOE is recommending that the South Fork of the Palouse River in Whitman County be removed from "impaired river" status and DOE is taking comments on the decision until June 22. Unfortunately the city of Pullman will still be required to comply with the much stricter stormwater licensing requirements.

This decision ceomes out of the ongoing TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) study. DOE has found certain persistent chemicals are showing lower levels over the past decades. However, water temperature and fecal coliform continues to be an issue that DOE will require Whitman County to manage.

State Environmental Policy Act requirements are not expected to change significantly due to this particular report. And water availability issues will continue to be a more restrictive element to development in the corridor than water quality issues.

A quick analysis of the 117 page report brings up some screwy things:

The fish fauna in the Palouse River is limited with respect to species generally considered desirable as food. The predominant species of catchable size are large-scale suckers, northern pike minnow, smallmouth bass, and chiselmouth.

However, the Washington Department of Fish and Game PAYS people to fish for and kill the Northern Pikeminnow because they eat salmon eggs and young salmon!

We are cleaning up our river at great cost as directed by DOE to improve habitat for a fish that destroys salmon runs, which is supposedly DOE's biggest priority. Insanity.

Fish tissue concentrations of dieldrin and PCBs have decreased by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude over the past 10 to 20 years and will continue to decrease without further action being taken. However the actions outlined in the previous section will assure that the levels of these pollutants continue to decline and may even accelerate the timeframe when the Palouse River will reach water quality standards for dieldrin and PCBs.

So, we can do NOTHING and we will still achieve approximately the same results as with the restrictions and costly measures.

Flushing Away Another Editorial

This editorial from Doug Bauer appeared in yesterday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

OUR VIEW: Quality of water just as important as quantity

Most everyone by now knows not to dump oil, antifreeze and other toxic substances down city storm drains.

Flushing expired pills down the toilet is no better.

Scientists performing tests on streambeds around Portland have discovered traces of a variety of commonly used drugs, prescription and otherwise. The list of chemical compounds includes those found in Prozac, Tagamet, Benadryl, Micatin and caffeine.

Unless the fish that live in those streambeds are depressed or stricken by acid reflux, the findings constitute a serious problem.

The most troubling revelation to date centers around endocrine-disrupting compounds found in drugs and other chemicals. Scientists have discovered that young male and female salmon from the Willamette River around Portland hold traces of an egg yolk protein usually found only in adult female fish beginning to develop eggs.

The artificial endocrine disrupters are among the suspected culprits.

"They're being exposed to something, we just don't know what it is," said Lyndal Johnson, head of reproductive toxicology at the federal Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. "It's quite interesting, and a little disturbing."

To say the least.

Pacific Northwest salmon face an arduous journey as it is, what with all the dams to navigate and the seals, seagulls and killer whales to avoid once they reach the ocean.

Such threats could pale in comparison to those posed by improperly disposed pharmaceuticals, which have the potential to cause long-term and potentially irreversible damage to salmon and aquatic life in general.

Conserving water has become a hot topic over the last several years, one Palouse residents are well aware of.

If the recent streambed studies prove anything, it's that conservation practices shouldn't be limited to use alone. Preserving the integrity of our waterways is equally important.

Wow, Bauer just blew the lid off the whole "Portland Prescription Pills in the Potty Pecadillo" 400 miles away (sadly, with no mention of all the illegal drugs flushed away to avoid police searches), but how is that relevant to the Palouse? A much more timely and RELEVANT editorial on water pollution would have been one that took the City of Moscow to task for its 950 violations of the federal Clean Water Act. We're still waiting for that one. And we'll keep on waiting. The Daily News can leave the toilet seat up, but they're not about to rock the boat.

The EPA Wants Your Comments on Moscow's Water Pollution

As we in Pullman and Whitman County live downstream from all of Moscow's numerous water pollution violations, I think we all should file a comment with the Environmental Protection Agency, especially since the City of Moscow and Mark Solomon have filed complaints against water rights transfers for the Hawkins Companies development in Whitman County.

The full EPA notice follows:

EPA proposes Penalty Against City of Moscow, Idaho for Clean Water Act Violations

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION 10 (ORC-158)
1200 SIXTH AVENUE
SEATTLE, WA 98101

Date of Notice: April 30, 2007

Comment Period Open Until: May 30, 2007

Action: Proposed Penalty Assessment under the Clean Water Act

Description of Violation and Relief Sought: Pursuant to Section 309(g)(4) of the Clean Water Act (“Act”), the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 (“EPA”) is providing public notice of the proposed penalty described below. In order to provide opportunity for public comment, EPA will not take final action in this proceeding prior to 40 days after publication of this notice.

EPA proposes to commence an administrative penalty action against the City of Moscow, Idaho (“Respondent”) for violation of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). EPA alleges that the Respondent is in violation of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) individual permit authorized under Section 402 of CWA. Violations include: Phosphorus, Dissolved Oxygen (“DO”), Total Residual Chlorine (“TRC”) and Fecal Coliform Bacteria. EPA proposes to assess a penalty in the amount of $134,000.

Persons wishing to comment on EPA’s proposed action or to become participants in this action may do so by submitting their address and telephone number, along with written comments, to the Regional Hearing Clerk at the address above within 30 days of the date of this notice. This is a Class II administrative penalty proceeding, governed by Section 309(g)(2)(B) of the CWA and the procedural rules found at 40 C.F.R. Part 22. The requirements that apply to public comment and participation are set forth in 40 C.F.R. § 22.45.

Name of Case: City of Moscow Wastewater Treatment Facility

Docket Number of the Complaint: CWA-10-2007-0114

Name and address of Complainant:
Michael A. Bussell, Director
Office of Compliance and Enforcement
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 10 (OCE-164)
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101

Name and address of Respondent:
City of Moscow
P.O. Box 9203
Moscow, Idaho 83843

Name, address, and telephone number of Regional Hearing Clerk:
Carol Kennedy, Regional Hearing Clerk
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 10 (ORC-158)
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 553-0242

Location of Facility: Moscow, Idaho

Applicable Permit No.: ID-002149-1

Business/activity of Respondents: wastewater treatment facility

Comments Accepted: In accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 22.45, any person wishing to comment on or participate in this proceeding must notify the Regional Hearing Clerk within 30 days of this notice. The person must provide a name, complete mailing address, and any comments the person has on this action.

A copy of the administrative complaint is available for review and copying between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at EPA’s Seattle Office (see address listed above).

For any additional information on this action, please contact Jamie Sikorski at (206) 553-5153.