Our program has a core mission of using and leveraging the Laws like the Clean Water act of 1972 and the Washington Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that those who are legally (under permit) or illegally polluting our waters are held accountable. We use education, collaboration, and litigation to accomplish the goal of protecting your Rivers.
The Clean Water Act uses 2 main tools to hold polluters accountable: the Water Quality Standard and Pollution Discharge Permits.
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Under the Clean Water Act, all of the waters of the United States are assigned Water Quality Standards (WQS) to ensure that those waterways are safely fishable and swimmable. There are standards for many types of pollutants. Nutrients, temperature, and toxic chemicals are several kinds of standards.
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Pollution Permits are defined by the Clean Water Act as National Pollution Elimination System (NPDES) Permits. These Permits actually allow a facility or entity to legally dump pollution into a body of surface water. These permits are managed by the Washington Department of Ecology. Legally, all permits must adhere to Water Quality Standards and “protect the uses” of fishing and swimming.
Much of our Water Protector’s time is spent negotiating, commenting on, and watchdogging these legal permits to pollute. If an entity illegally breaks the terms of its NPDES Permit, it can be subject to a lawsuit brought by anyone with standing in the watershed who is harmed by the pollution, including Spokane Riverkeeper.
The Spokane River Permittees are numerous. But the largest are five facilities: City of Spokane; Kaiser Aluminum LLC; Liberty Lake; Spokane County; and Inland Empire Paper Company.
There are many things that contribute to the health of the Spokane River and affect our water quality.
RECENT ADVOCACY EFFORTS:
PCBs: Spokane Riverkeeper provided comments on the EPA’s draft PCB TMDL for the Spokane River and Little Spokane River. Our comment highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach the addressing PCBs in our basin. Read our full comment letter, you can find it here or read our summary here.
PFAS: Spokane Riverkeeper, in partnership with the Waterkeeper Alliance and waterkeeper groups across the nation, urging the EPA to implement robust discharge limits for PFAS coming out of publicly owned treatment works to better protect our waterways against PFAS contamination. Read the full letter here. In addition, we joined forces to urge the EPA and Congress to designate PFAS as Hazardous Waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and CERCLA, to increase accountability for PFAS clean up.
6PPD/6PPD-qunione: Spokane Riverkeeper in collaboration with Puget Soundkeeper and other waterkeeper groups across the state and nation have pushed for stronger protections against 6PPD contamination. In Washington, we have urged Ecology to adopt protective measures in its Aquatic Life Criteria and Industrial Stormwater General Permit. Nationally, we have called on Congress to establish a clear pathway to phasing out the use of 6PPD.
RECENT LITIGATION WINS:
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In 2021, Spokane Riverkeeper sent a Notice of Intent to sue to Rockford Elevator and Agronomy and CHS, Inc. for discharges to Rock Creek that exceeded the allowed pollutants, particularly turbidity. A settlement was reached in 2023, that in part required CHS to update its stormwater pollution prevention plan, install new prevention measures, and take ongoing corrective actions.
Read more about the issues and resolution in this joint press release with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe
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In 2022, we prevailed with partners in a win against the EPA and the state of Washington to put in place tight new standards for toxic PCBs.
In Washington State, which includes the Spokane River, standards were being threatened, putting the health and safety of our river and all its users at risk. Pollution dischargers in the Spokane River continue to claim that with the existing technology and treatment plans, they cannot currently reach the current state water quality standard for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Along with some other entities, those dischargers asked the EPA to reinstate older, weaker standards simply because, well, it’s cheaper for them. But our waters are already polluted, the fish are polluted, and now is not the time to relax this necessary standard.
Please read our comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency concerning the promulgation of a new and protective standard for PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls- PCBs). If approved in 2022, this will protect 95% of the fish-consuming population. Read our (and partner’s) comments right here, written by Earth Justice.
Read more about Spokane Riverkeeper’s work on PCBs on our blog.
Spokane Riverkeeper worked with Washington Waterkeepers, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Earth Justice, and the Makah Tribe to defend your right to clean water and healthy fish in court:
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In 2018, the Spokane Riverkeeper concluded a lawsuit with the EPA over a flawed clean-up plan in the Hangman Creek Basin. This has accelerated the process of addressing land use that pollutes the rivers with temperature problems and sediment issues. The update on the Hangman Creek Settlement Plan reports the last several year’s pollution prevention work in the Hangman Basin. This is both riverside shoreline vegetation restoration as well as enforcing water quality violations. The resulting agreement also designated the Watershed as a High Priority Watershed in State of Washington.
Read more about the settlement and results:
Spokane River conservationists, state officials settle lawsuit over polluted Latah Creek, Mar. 30, 2018, Spokesman-Review
Hangman Creek is still a muddy disaster, but a new legal settlement gives the Spokane Riverkeeper hope, Apr. 19, 2018, Inlander
Watershed Revival, Mar. 27, 2023, Out there Outdoors
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In 2018, Spokane Riverkeeper brought suit against The Darigold Coop, for discharging pollutants into the stormwater basin that runs into the Spokane River at their North Spokane Facility. This discharge was over the permitted limit held by Darigold and therefore they were illegally polluting the Spokane River. Inside the settlement agreement, Darigold agreed to install high-end filtration to capture pollution and they paid out a Supplemental environmental fund of $125,000 to remediate environmental damage and help correct the pollution problems in the basin. This fund went to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe to support the great work they are doing to reduce pollution and recover salmon habitat in the upper Hangman Basin.