By Sharon Michael, The Chronicle , January 16, 1998
OLYMPIA - Settlement has been reached in a 1991 lawsuit filed by two Northwest environmental groups seeking to force the state to step up evaluation of Washington waters and implement restrictions on polluted waterways.
The 1972 Clean Water Act requires states to identify sources of pollution in waters that don't meet water quality standards, and set acceptable pollution levels ? total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) ? that will make water safe for drinking and swimming.
Northwest Environmental Advocates and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center sued the state Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force them to comply with the Clean Water Act's TMDL requirements.
The settlement establishes a 15-year TMDL schedule for 666 waterways that fall below, or are expected to fall below, water-quality standards.
DOE reports it has completed 200 TMDL studies in the last six years. The settlement agreement will require the department to complete an estimated 1,700 TMDLs by 2013.
Separate TMDLs are required for each different type of pollutant found in waters. "Many water bodies have multiple problems," explained Megan White, DOE water quality manager.
NWEA director Nina Bell said the lawsuit was filed to make sure TMDL plans get implemented. "This isn't some sort of extreme view," Bell said. "People want safe water. The longer we put it off, the more expensive it will be.
"Washington is where the rest of the country is now ? 25 years behind," Bell added.
But DOE doesn't have the budget to meet TMDL schedules outlined in the agreement. "Without resources we cannot do this work, and we need to be clear on that," White said.
Bell is optimistic state lawmakers will provide funds to meet the negotiated schedule. "They've dodged the ball for 25 years," she said. "The law is old, but figuring out how to make it work is new."
Gov. Gary Locke's supplemental budget includes $900,000 for additional DOE staff and operating costs. The department has 20 employees working on TMDL studies. The department is asking for 12 more employees now and an additional 10 people per year "over the long term," White said.
Washington is the first state to reach a comprehensive settlement agreement that includes implementation. There are about 30 states with pending TMDL lawsuits.
DOE Director Tom Fitzsimmons said the settlement represents a positive step toward creating healthy watersheds. "Poor water quality is a part of the equation in our declining fish populations, and this agreement will put us on track to improve the health of the water for our citizens and the fish."
EPA's Northwest regional administrator, Chuck Clarke, said the agreement will enable entire watersheds to be restored to their full potential. "The TMDLs will be used to clean up all the sources of water pollution, not just those that come out of an industrial outfall or sewage treatment plant."
DOE has identified fecal coliform bacteria from failing septic systems and poor agricultural practices as one of the state's leading pollution problems.
Historically, DOE has focused on controlling big, single-point dischargers such as industrial plants and municipal wastewater facilities. But White said more than half of the pollution in Washington's waters can be attributed to urban runoff and agriculture and forest practices.
"I don't distinguish between sources of pollution," Bell said. "The lawsuit wasn't intended to focus on any specific type of pollution."
But Bell said there is a tension between point and nonpoint pollution sources such as agriculture and forestry because the Clean Water Act is clear on one and not the other.
"Ecology and EPA will have to crack down on point sources if nonpoint sources can't be controlled," Bell said. Point sources can be controlled through permits; limiting nonpoint sources requires voluntary cooperation from polluters.
Dave Peeler, DOE water quality section manager, said a big area of nonpoint pollution is federal lands including Indian lands. "We have to work with them to implement solutions on their lands," he said.
White said dairy farms on the upper Chehalis River have been a significant contributor to pollution. "Beginning this week teams of inspectors are going to every dairy farm in that watershed."
Since the early 1990s, dairy farms that discharge into waterways have been required to obtain a permit. But scofflaws have been difficult to identify and it has taken years to bring some dairy farmers into compliance. Proposed changes in the law being considered by state legislators this session would speed up that process.
White said DOE is looking for new approaches and more public participation in meeting CWA water-quality standards and implementation schedules defined in the agreement.
White called the TMDL schedule "ambitious." To meet it, she said it will be necessary for DOE to build trust and promote cooperation between groups with competing views.