Washington state is the nation's leading producer of farmed oysters, clams and other bivalves with about $100 million in annual sales. The recent downgrade of 4,000 acres of shellfish beds in Samish Bay because of fecal contamination means more days when shellfish beds can't be harvested, hurting the local economy and jeopardizing the much larger, decades-long effort to clean up pollution in Puget Sound, the nation's second largest estuary. It also was set back in the state's goal to increase 10,800 acres of harvestable shellfish beds by 2020.
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"If the water quality isn't good, we can't be open," said Scott Blau, whose family has been farming in these tidelands 80 miles north of Seattle since 1935. Most of the harvest from the small business is shucked and ends up in stews or can be ordered pan-fried or raw at local restaurants; some oysters are sold in the shell as far away as Hong Kong and Singapore.
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The problems of Samish Bay highlight the greater challenges facing Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay and other distressed watersheds, where cleanup is complicated by pollution from many varied and diffused sources, called nonpoint pollution, including farmland or stormwater runoff, agricultural activities, urban development, failing septic tanks, toxics and even pet waste.
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"If we can't fix it in Samish, we're in trouble," said Bill Dewey, who owns a clam farm in the bay and is a spokesman for Taylor Shellfish, which also has a farm there. "This is as classic as it gets for nonpoint pollution. (The governor) has put a stake in the ground here and said this is going to be an example."
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Officials say the fecal contamination comes from many sources, including farm livestock waste, wildlife, pets and humans. The bacteria level is especially high when heavy rains cause additional runoff into the Samish River, which flows into the bay. Shellfish can accumulate bacteria or other harmful pathogens; eating contaminated shellfish can make people sick.
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There's an effort underway to trace sources of the fecal contamination. But one focus of inspections will be landowners with animals, from commercial livestock operations to small hobby farms with a variety of animals such as pigs, goats or alpacas. "Animals generate manure. If that's properly managed, everything is fine," said Tom Eaton, the EPA's Washington operations director. "If they're allowed access to streams and creeks or the ground is not grassland but a muddy field, it's a lot more likely that it will get washed into the stream."
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Eaton said EPA inspectors will look for animals with direct access to streams or properties that don't have sufficient buffers near streams. Some think authorities have been too lax. "The greater problem is lack of adequate enforcement and regulation," said Larry Wasserman, environmental policy manager for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. "Voluntary approaches aren't going to solve these problems."
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Dan Berenston, natural resources manager for Skagit County Public Works, said the county and a coalition of agencies and groups have been inspecting septic tanks, monitoring water quality, and educating the public, as well as installing pet waste containers and portable toilets for birders, hunters, fisherman and other recreational users. The county got a $960,000 grant from the EPA last year to find and fix sources of fecal contamination. "I would not call it a failure," he said. "We are making progress. We just aren't making progress as quickly as we like."
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