Originally Published at https://nwtreatytribes.org/epa-sacrifices-human-health-for-short-term-profit/

Being Frank is a monthly column written by the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. As a statement from the NWIFC chair, the column represents the natural resources management interests and concerns of the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington.

Treaty Indian tribes in western Washington are outraged that the Environmental Protection Agency is advancing the agenda of a small group of industrial polluters to undermine public health, science and decades of hard work by rolling back the water quality standards that we have been implementing for almost three years.

The 2016 standards were supposed to make sure that seafood from Washington waters was safe for everyone to eat. EPA’s reversal no longer ensures that the human health criteria adequately protect Washington fish and shellfish consumers – including tribal members ­– from exposure to toxic pollutants.

Our health should not be unjustly jeopardized by increased levels of known dangerous pollutants like PCBs and dioxins that accumulate in the environment and cause real harm to people, orcas, salmon and the entire ecology of the region. PCBs and dioxins are the source of most public health warnings in our state regarding fish and shellfish consumption.

The pulp and paper industry, oil companies and other polluters want to make this issue about select groups of people like tribes, Asian and Pacific Islanders and others who consume more fish and shellfish than other residents. The truth is that this issue is about all of us and everything we depend on.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, tribes and states – not the federal government – are responsible for setting water quality standards under their jurisdictions. EPA is allowed to revise existing standards only when they are deemed not strong enough. That’s not the case here because our current standards are among the most protective of human health in the nation.

That’s why we will fight this move with everything we have. We will stand with all 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington, the entire Democratic congressional delegation, the governor, attorney general’s office, environmental groups and many others who oppose EPA’s actions.

Tribes applaud Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson for filing a lawsuit challenging EPA’s decision to roll back our water quality standards. “Trump’s EPA cannot change important water quality protections at the whim of industry interests. It’s not only disruptive to Washington’s environmental efforts over the past two years, it’s a clear violation of the Clean Water Act,” he said in announcing the lawsuit.

PCBs and dioxins are known carcinogens and we are going to have to deal with them one way or the other. The question is whether we want to do that when they’re still in the water or after they have entered our bodies and those of the fish, shellfish, orca and other species we are working so hard to protect.

Why are polluting industries trying to poison all of us? Simply for their short-term economic profit. In the process, EPA’s decisions threaten the integrity of the entire Washington seafood economy.

These industries and EPA should be ashamed of their actions. It is unconscionable to knowingly allow more cancer-causing and other toxic chemicals to be released in our waters.

A public hearing about the water protection rollback is scheduled for Wed. Sept. 25 in Seattle. Click here to register.

Lorraine Loomis is the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

For more information, contact: Tony Meyer (360) 438-1181

Originally Published at https://nwtreatytribes.org/politics-not-science-behind-water-quality-rollback/

Being Frank is a monthly column written by the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. As a statement from the NWIFC chair, the column represents the natural resources management interests and concerns of the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington.

I don’t know how you can be against clean water, but some of the industries in our state are.

They have convinced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to roll back the water quality standards we established two years ago. Now being implemented, these standards are among the most protective of human health in the nation. They were developed in cooperation with industry after 20 years of effort. They reflect the truth of Washington state’s economic and cultural connection to water and water-based resources.

The pulp and paper industry, oil companies and others are behind the rollback, using the same old excuses that industry has used for decades to avoid regulation.

Automakers once claimed that air bags, unleaded gas and pollution-reducing catalytic converters – even seat belts – would spell the end of the auto industry. Too expensive, they said. The technology doesn’t exist. The standards are too high and their effectiveness is questionable.

Today, the industry accepts those health and safety standards as the cost of doing business. In fact, safety ratings now drive profits. The auto industry was forced to innovate because we had the courage and wisdom to require them to meet new standards.

When protective standards are based on good science, innovation will come. It always does. Industries were given generous implementation timelines to help foster solutions. But this water quality rollback undermines our ability to accept science, make changes and move forward together.

The state’s old water standards were based on a fish consumption rate of 6.5 grams per day, or about one 8-ounce serving per month, and included a cancer risk rate of one in 1 million. The new standards are similar to Oregon’s. They include a consumption rate of 175 grams per day while keeping the same cancer risk rate.

Agreeing to the 175 grams per day rate was a huge compromise by the tribes, who routinely consume much higher levels of fish and shellfish.

Industry and EPA were at the table when we developed the new standards. What’s changed? Not the science. Not the need to protect our waters and our health from toxic chemicals. The only thing that’s changed is the politics of the last few years.

Equally as disturbing is the way that EPA is rescinding our standards. There was no consultation with the tribes or state before taking action. Even worse, EPA refuses to take any input from the state, tribes or public until after the rollback is complete.

Here at home, the state of Washington is providing leadership on the issue. The director of the state Department of Ecology, Maia Bellon, has repeatedly called on EPA to stand down and let the current standards be implemented.

We also are encouraged by Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who called the action illegal and vowed to take the issue to court. They point out that under the federal Clean Water Act, tribes and states are responsible for setting water quality standards under their jurisdictions.

Our water protection standards could be tied up in court for decades.

EPA and industry are motivated by short-term profits at the long-term expense of our health and the health of the environment, salmon, orcas, and other natural resources. Sooner or later the bill always comes due. All of us who live here will be on the hook. We will pay for it with our health, quality of life and our natural resources.

Lorraine Loomis is the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

For more information, contact: Tony Meyer (360) 438-1181

Originally published at https://nwtreatytribes.org/puget-sound-is-not-a-sewer/

Being Frank is a monthly column written by the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. As a statement from the NWIFC chair, the column represents the natural resources management interests and concerns of the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington.

We must stop treating Puget Sound like a sewer if we are going to restore the fish, shellfish, wildlife and other natural resources it supports. That’s why we are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stand strong in the face of challenges to water quality improvements.

We were disappointed to learn that tugboat companies, cruise lines and other marine industries recently filed suit against EPA claiming that complying with a new no-discharge zone for human waste is too expensive.

If this sounds familiar it’s because the move comes on the heels of another industry challenge that claims our state’s new water quality standards – the most protective of human health in the nation – are also too costly to implement.

The state Department of Ecology worked to establish the no-discharge zone to protect an area of more than 2,300 square miles in Puget Sound and lakes Washington and Union. It was the first established in Washington, although there are more than 90 in 26 other states.

There are more than 150,000 recreational boats and more than 3,500 commercial vessels in the Puget Sound region. Most already have holding tanks for sewage, and EPA has determined that there are enough shore-based and mobile sewage pump-out services to provide for the region. Vessel owners were given five years to comply with the new no-discharge rules.

It takes only a small sewage leak to force the closure of a shellfish bed or make people sick. Before the zone was established, boats could dump partially treated sewage anywhere in the sound. Raw sewage could be flushed from vessels at least three miles from shore.

Meanwhile, the EPA is considering an industry trade group petition claiming that complying with the state’s new water quality standards will increase their cost of doing business.

The idea that the solution to pollution is dilution is outdated. Our waterways are not an out-of-sight, out-of-mind solution for industrial waste. It’s time we stop balancing the pollution ledger with our health and future.

It’s been a couple of years since EPA stepped into the state’s rule-making process to ensure that our water quality standards are based on the best available science. The federal Clean Water Act requires states to develop rules that ensure our waters are clean enough to provide healthy fish and shellfish that are safe to eat.

The updated water quality standards were the result of years of extensive public processes at the state and federal levels, involving tribal governments as well as industry representatives, environmental groups and other stakeholders. The standards are based on science that accurately reflects what happens when we are exposed to pollution in our waters. They also include a wide range of implementation tools and generous timelines for the industry to comply.

There is no new science or law that justifies EPA’s reconsideration of industry’s pleas that their short-term profits outweigh the long-term health of our communities and resources. Politics, not science, is the only factor that would lead to a different result. It would simply be a rehashing of issues that were discussed, debated and resolved through a lengthy public process that spanned decades.

We believe that human health and environmental quality are the keys to economic health and prosperity for our region. We don’t believe you can put a price on clean water, our health or the health of our natural resources.

A pollution-based economy is not sustainable, but cooperation is. We must work together if we want healthy waters, healthy people and a thriving economy.

Lorraine Loomis is the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

For more information, contact: Tony Meyer (360) 438-1181