View From the Helm:  Victory for Puget Sound . . . 20 Years Later

by Chris Wilke, Executive Director & Puget Soundkeeper

In the early 1990’s, The City of Bremerton’s combined sewer system discharged an unhealthy mixture of untreated sewage and stormwater 600-800 times per year at its 15 outfalls.  Hundreds of millions of gallons were discharged annually. Driven by rainfall overwhelming an inadequate system; these combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, had been the primary cause for the rich shellfish beds in Dye’s Inlet being closed to harvest since the 1960’s.This problem was not and is not unique. According to the EPA there are 772 CSO communities around the country that include discharges from a combined population of 40 million people. Most are not even close to achieving “control” of the problem, which still closes more swimming beaches in Washington State than any other source, according to a recent Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report.  But the solution achieved through determined citizen action and this one municipality’s dedication, has achieved remarkable results.

In 1993 a still-young Puget Soundkeeper Alliance settled the first citizen Clean Water Act case in Washington State, with the City of Bremerton, setting wheels in motion through a federal Consent Decree. The decree called for a series of retrofit projects to be completed over the next 18 years. The projects included new and upgraded treatment facilities, stormwater and sanitary sewer separations (to reduce inflow), residential downspout disconnections, capacity improvements and even low impact Development (LID) projects designed to infiltrate stormwater and keep it out of the sewers. The city even tacked on projects like adding sewer service to surrounding communities. On June 29, 2011 the city celebrated completion of its CSO control project on schedule at a total cost of $50 million. According to Department of Ecology, Bremerton is the first “complex CSO community” in Washington to achieve the regulatory goal of one or less overflow events per year, on average.  In contrast, the City of Seattle is targeting 2025 and King County the year 2030 through their consent decrees negotiated with Ecology and the EPA.

In Bremerton, the project is apparently working. The flow and the number of CSO events are both down by 99%. Water quality has been steadily improving over the past decade.  In 2003, the shellfish beds in Dye’s inlet were open to harvest for the first time in nearly 40 years.  This has been hugely important both culturally and economically for the Suquamish Tribe which notes these as the richest waters for shellfish in their ancestral fishing grounds, according to tribal chairman Leonard Forsman. It also means that it is safe to swim in Dye’s inlet and Port Washington Narrows on most days (short term closures are still occasionally ordered as a precaution- remember the one or less overflow event per year on average).

At the celebration event Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent presented Puget Soundkeeper Alliance with an award, thanking us for our “vision and partnership” in helping them achieve this goal of water quality protection. Did I mention we were in litigation?  Not anymore. Soundkeeper verified their milestones and monitoring and released them of their reporting obligations under the decree. (They are still regulated by an NPDES permit of course).  However achieving this goal ahead of so many other municipalities has made the city quite proud. At a recent stakeholder meeting for Municipal Stormwater  General Permit language where various municipalities presented various reasons for not implementing LID in various situations, Larry Mattel of Bremerton stood up and asked the others in the room what the wait was for. They were already doing it with great success in Bremerton.

On June 29, I accepted the award on behalf of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, but this actual project spanned nearly our entire period as an active Waterkeeper organization and I had the easiest part by far. There were four Puget Soundkeepers before me, going back to our first, Ken Moser, who filed the original papers on behalf of the organization and its members, including a Bremerton-area shellfish grower. Ken was followed by three other Soundkeepers, BJ Cummings Sue Joerger and Bob Beckman who assisted and monitored the city’s progress throughout the project, pressing them occasionally when needed.

I was asked to speak to the audience in the Norm Dicks Government Center (Rep. Dicks was kind enough to attend and gave a nice plug for Soundkeeper in his talk).  I thanked the city for their efforts and reminded the attendees about the importance of the Clean Water Act and its promise of swimmable, fishable and drinkable waters. We face a lot of problems in the fight to recover Puget Sound, some of them quite large and daunting, including toxic sediments in areas such as Bremerton’s Naval Shipyard. But when we celebrate a victory, especially one that has not been accomplished elsewhere in our area, it gives momentum to the effort and shows that even large problems without apparent solutions are only temporary if we devote our resources effectively. 

9th Annual Lake Union Sweep a Success!

by Paul Fredrickson, Volunteer Coordinator

Soundkeeper hosted 40 businesses and organizations and 285 volunteers at the 9th Annual Lake Union, Portage Bay and Union Bay Sweep on Saturday, May 14th.

It was a beautiful day for a shoreline and water cleanup project as the weather cooperated again as it has for many past years. The effort was underwritten by area businesses and the surrounding community including the presenting sponsor Brown Bear Car Wash, as well as the Boeing Company, Floating Homes Association, Vulcan Real Estate, Werner Paddles, and Bank of America. Numerous other organizations provided in-kind support, especially the cleanup supplies from Seattle Public Utilities, and the kayaks, boats and docks donated by Agua Verde Paddle Club, Moss Bay Rowing and Kayak Center, Northwest Outdoor Center, Northwest Yacht Brokers Association, Seattle Parks and Recreation, The Center for Wooden Boats and the UW Waterfront Activities Center.  Many others (too many to mention here) brought teams of volunteers, donated raffle items, skippered individual boats or donated food and supplies.

The volunteers collected all types of debris including ubiquitous plastic junk, and large trophy trash items such as tires and a sunken skiff.  Others cleaned and restored shorelines and prepared the donated food from Lake Union restaurants for the work crews.  Over 1800 lbs. of debris was collected altogether, a bit less than some past years, which may mean that our weekly patrols and annual efforts are effective!  Also the public is apparently cooperating, as we did not find any toilet seats, car batteries or TV sets this time around.

Back again on the 5th of July!

If the Sweep straightened things up before the party, the 5th of July was the “after party clean up”.  Specifically targeting the fireworks debris, three power boats including the Soundkeeper vessel patrolled the lake early on the 5th to scout for debris.  It was very calm and the debris was relatively easy to spot.  When volunteers showed up at 9:15 to access their kayaks, we knew just where to send them. Head to the Southeast.  From the vantage point of a kayak, the concentrated floating debris was relatively easy to pick up. 150 pounds of partially burned fireworks debris was collected in just two hours. The debris included rope rubber plastic and cardboard shell casings. Toss in a few water balloons and personal fireworks from the revelers. Starbucks, a sponsor of the Family Fourth event, funded the effort and conducted an impressive shore-based cleanup the same day.

Soundkeeper thanks Starbucks and the event promoter One Reel for helping clean things up afterwards.  We wonder how many other events go to this effort, and we look forward to helping in this way in the future. However, we plan to work with the promoters and sponsors to select a pyrotechnics contractor that can assure a higher aerial burn rate of the fireworks before they reach the water. 

The Docket, July 2011

by Katelyn Kinn, Legal Affairs Coordinator

Clean Water Act Enforcement:  Soundkeeper enforces the federal Clean Water Act through citizen lawsuits against facilities in gross violation of their NPDES permits.  Violators include industrial stormwater facilities that fail to maintain permit coverage under the permit; fail to monitor their stormwater discharges as required; fail to respond to exceedances with corrective actions as required;  and/or discharge levels of heavy metals, petroleum, and other pollutants into Puget Sound at levels much higher than allowed by their permit.  

Soundkeeper is currently engaged in the organization’s largest Clean Water Act case to date regarding a large industrial facility in Seattle.  Stay tuned for more news to come.

Industrial Stormwater General Permit (SGP) Decision:  Soundkeeper’s 2009 appeal of the Industrial SGP went to hearing before the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) in January 2011.  Richard Smith represented Soundkeeper in the argument for numeric water quality based effluent limits for impaired waterways, a more involved and formal anti-degradation process, and a clearer and enforceable adaptive management scheme.  Other parties to the appeal included The Boeing Company, Copper Development Association, Department of Ecology, Gunderson Rail Services, Port of Olympia, Olympians for Public Accountability, Weyerhauser, and Arthur West (who did not appear at the hearing).  In the final order issued on April 25th, the PCHB largely upheld the permit, an act of deference to Ecology. Soundkeeper successfully defended many of the permit provisions from industry’s efforts to weaken the standards. Among the issues on which Soundkeeper prevailed for a stronger permit were the increase in the number of samples needed to achieve “consistent attainment” under the permit, and clarification of the corrective action provision. This decision has since been appealed by the Boeing Company.

Sand and Gravel Stormwater General Permit Settlement: In August 2010, Soundkeeper filed an appeal of the Sand and Gravel SGP which controls the discharge of pollutants from 600+ sand and gravel facilities, mining operations and related facilities. Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association (WACA) intervened in support of the permit.   Soundkeeper is pleased to announce a successful resolution of this appeal through a settlement with Ecology and WACA. As part of the settlement, Ecology issued a draft permit modification on June 1 that strengthens effluent limits for total suspended solids and turbidity and improves permit enforceability, protections for impaired waters and public disclosure requirements.  The settlement will be final upon Ecology’s reissuance of the final permit that is not substantially changed from the June 1 draft.

Boatyard Stormwater General Permit Update:  Department of Ecology issued the new Boatyard SGP on March 2, 2011.  Soundkeeper was disappointed with the final permit which falls drastically short of scientifically-proven standards needed to protect fish and other aquatic life from harmful pollution such as copper, zinc, lead, suspended solids and petroleum.  Soundkeeper had a strong legal basis to challenge this permit, including Ecology’s failure to implement modifications required by a previous PCHB ruling on the matter.  However in the interest of regulatory certainty and in recognition that as many as 50% of all boatyards will be required to install stormwater treatment systems under this revised permit, Soundkeeper decided not to enter an appeal.  By maintaining certainty in permit requirements, Soundkeeper hopes to see across-the-board implementation of required control technologies, including stormwater treatment, as required by the conditions in the new 2011 Boatyard SGP.

Construction Stormwater General Permit Appeal Update:  In December 2010, Soundkeeper appealed Department of Ecology’s Construction SGP.  The appeal focused on two main issues: anti-degradation and post construction stormwater controls. One of these issues, anti-degradation, was rendered moot as the PCHB chose not to rule on it in the Industrial SGP appeal. After considerable research on post construction stormwater control standards, Soundkeeper chose to dismiss the appeal, focus on permit enforcement, and address the issue via an alternative opportunity for legal argument. 

Phase I and II Municipal Stormwater General Permit Updates:  New draft provisions of the both the Phase I and II Municipal SGP’s were released on May 16th.  The drafts, which cover stormwater discharges from 90 municipalities, include newly-proposed language on low impact development (LID) requirements, as required by Soundkeeper’s 2008 and 2009 victories before the PCHB.  Unfortunately the new language still falls short of what is needed and legally-required to protect Puget Sound from municipal stormwater. In response, Soundkeeper and People for Puget Sound submitted joint comments through attorney Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice, who represents the two organizations. The three organizations continue to work together with Ecology and stakeholders to ensure implementation of the 2008 and 2009 appeal victories, which ordered Ecology to modify the 2007 permits in order to require LID “where feasible.”  A formal draft is scheduled for October 2011 with final permits due July 2012.

Activist Update: HR2018

Two weeks ago Soundkeeper sent out a rare (for us) Activist Alert to urge our supporters to oppose HR 2018, a bill before the US House of Representatives, which would undermine federal oversight of the Clean Water Act. Unfortunately this damaging bill passed the House and is going to the US Senate, which will hopefully hold the line. All but one of our Representatives from Puget Sound districts voted no on this damaging bill, including Dave Reichert (R) who broke ranks with his party. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) was the lone voice from Puget Sound who voted in favor of reversing 40 years of progress in protecting our waterways. 

THANK YOU to all our US Representatives who voted no, and thanks to all that responded to our alert. 

Staff Spotlight:

Soundkeeper Welcomes Barbara Owens

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance welcomes Barbara Owens into the Soundkeeper family! Barbara comes to PSA with extensive experience in Puget Sound education and outreach. Her formal education is in marine biology with a Master’s in Marine Affairs from the UW. Most recently she worked as the Program Coordinator for the Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines; she has also worked for the Beach Naturalist program at the Seattle Aquarium for more than 10 years. Barbara looks forward to contributing to the future growth and success of the Pollution Prevention programs at Soundkeeper.

Donor's Corner:

Earth Month Partnership w/Aveda

2011 marked the 4th year of PSA’s Earth Month partnership with Aveda.   More than 20 fundraising events, including bake sales, cut-a-thons, silent and live auctions, and even a fashion show helped raise more than $80,000.00 dollars for Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s mission. 
Many thanks to all the salons and Experience Centers throughout the Puget Sound region!   Your enthusiasm, commitment to clean water, and creative energy was inspiring.  We are very grateful for all of your efforts.  The largest donation this year and the largest single donation to date came from Gary Manuel Salon & Aveda Institute for a total of $56,945.00!

Thank you Gary Manuel Salon & Aveda Institute!

Floating House Party 

On May 26th, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance hosted its first Floating House Party at the Center for Wooden Boats.  The evening was a special celebration of PSA’s mission and recent successes and provided a wonderful local venue to meet community members and business owners.  Sponsored by:

The Center for Wooden Boats, Taylor Shellfish Farms, Ray’s Boathouse, Tall Grass Bakery, Fish Brewing and Fremont Brewing.