FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW REPORT RE-FOCUSES SPOTLIGHT ON MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGES OF CHEMICALS TO PUGET SOUND

Despite improvements in sewage and industrial waste treatment since the 1970s, harmful levels of toxic chemicals have continued to be legally poured into Puget Sound.

This “license to pollute,” according to a new study published today by People For Puget Sound, comes from allowing direct discharges of toxic chemicals into “mixing zones.” Under Washington State regulations, facilities may discharge wastewaters with levels of pollutants above water quality standards in an area around their outfall pipe called “mixing zones.”

The study for the first time maps and analyzes the locations and configurations of mixing zones in the Puget Sound basin. The study supports the Puget Sound Partnership’s efforts to assess toxics loading to Puget Sound and reduce those loadings to achieve the Governor’s initiative to restore the Sound to health by 2020.

“We examined the toxic loading and mixing zones described in the permits of the 103 sewage treatment plants and 15 major industrial facilities which discharge treated wastewaters into the Puget Sound basin as of March 2007,” said People For Puget Sound’s Urban Bays Coordinator Heather Trim, “We found that, thanks to mixing zones, we are releasing toxic chemicals that might be causing harm to wildlife.  Emerging chemicals such as some of those in pharmaceuticals and personal care products are not even monitored yet.”

The study’s findings include:

•  The Federal Clean Water Act does not include explicit authority for allowing mixing zones;
•  Washington regulations are vague in not specifying exactly how aquatic life health in mixing zones should be measured;
• Washington regulators lack sufficient resources to address pollution prevention and source control strategies to reduce toxic chemical discharges
• Mixing zones are used extensively in discharge permitting rather than being used as a last resort
• To reduce toxic loadings from direct discharges, mixing zones should be phased out or significantly reduced.

We found that there is an annual discharge of over 140 billion gallons per year of wastewater from the 103 sewage treatment plants (260 b design flow) and over 40 billion gallons per year from the 15 major industrial facilities (42 b design flow) in the Puget Sound basin.  The annual permitted loads of the 7 toxic chemicals we assessed are:

LOAD (Metric tons/year)

                                                Sewage Treatment Plant    15 Major Ind. Fac.

The report was completed with the assistance of University of Washington Geographic Information System students and is available online.

Contact:

Heather Trim, People For Puget Sound | 206.351.2898 (cell) 

Mike Sato, People For Puget Sound | 206.382.7007

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