Federal agency sets new standards for allowable PCB discharges into Spokane River

A federal agency has decided to take the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ lead in addressing cancer-causing pollutants in the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers.

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency issued more restrictive limitations on the release of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, into the region’s primary watershed.

The chemicals were used in inks, paints, lubricants and other products until they were banned by the EPA in 1979 over health concerns. Research has shown the chemicals accumulate in sediment and aquatic critters, and can have negative health effects on the immune, reproductive, neurological and endocrine systems, according to the agency.

The new total maximum daily load for PCBs released into the rivers is 1.3 picograms per liter, the Spokane Tribe’s standard for the river as it flows through the reservation.

The decision comes after years of deliberation and legal battles over how to address the legacy pollutant, which enters the Spokane River through wastewater discharged by the city of Spokane and Spokane County, as well as the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District, Kaiser Aluminum and Inland Empire Paper Co., in addition to other runoff sources. Inland Empire Paper is owned by the Cowles Co., which also publishes The Spokesman-Review.

In 2022, a federal judge compelled the EPA to be more hands on in the process, after several conservation groups and the Spokane Tribe challenged past cleanup efforts that lacked specific federal limits for the entities releasing the chemicals into the river.

The new limit, first enacted by the tribe in 2013, is not just lower than the state standard of 7 picograms per liter. It’s so low that there is no approved method for measuring PCBs in such minute amounts, and meeting the standards may be next to impossible.

One picogram per liter is equivalent to two sheets of typing paper in a land mass the size of Washington, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review.

The EPA estimates concentrations of PCBs in the rivers range from an average of 6 picograms per liter at the confluence of the Little Spokane and Spokane river to an average of 130 picograms per liter in Long Lake.

Jason Pappani, an EPA water quality specialist, said it’s not uncommon for the agency to adopt standards to which technology hasn’t caught up.

“They’re set at what’s necessary to protect human health,” Pappani said.

“The idea is that as technology improves, as our ability to measure improves, we can ratchet down those levels,” he added.

Since 1994, health advisories have warned people to limit the number of meals of fish they eat from the Spokane River, one of the many reasons the tribe has taken an aggressive approach to eliminating PCBs from the 100 miles of water between the Idaho border and the confluence with the Columbia River.

The Spokane Tribe has relied on the river for centuries, with an average tribal member historically eating up to 2 pounds of fish per day, as the tribe’s water and fish program manager Brian Crossley told the newspaper when the tribe first enacted the limit a decade ago.

The standard was based on “what we used to consume and we’d like to consume without it being a hazard to our health,” Crossley said.

The limit received pushback then from major dischargers, who pointed to the inability to test such minute amounts and therefore adhere to the new limits.

A representative for the tribe did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday on the EPA’s decision.

Spokane Public Works Director Marlene Feist said in a statement that the city is reviewing the new regulations, but remains concerned over the state limit of 7 picograms per liter. She said that figure is also too low to be reliably measured or achieved with current testing approaches or technology.

Feist noted the city’s past and ongoing efforts to curb PCBs, including the $125 million Taylor Tertiary Treatment Facility that opened in 2021.

The system removes harmful heavy metals, PCBs and phosphorus from the waste that would have otherwise been discharged into the river.

More than 99% of all PCBs are removed through the system, Feist said.

The EPA acknowledged successful efforts by Spokane, Spokane County, the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District, and industry dischargers in its decision Tuesday.

The water district and Spokane County have each upgraded their treatment plants to remove 97% and 99% of PCBs, respectively, and Inland Empire Paper told the agency its system is now “the most advanced wastewater treatment system for a pulp and paper mill in North America, removing 99% of PCBs,” as stated in the EPA’s documents.

“The investment of these entities to research, pilot and implement these upgrades shows commitment to addressing and reducing PCB discharges, and has resulted in significant reductions in PCB discharges to the Spokane River,” the agency said.

Spokane County Public Works spokeswoman Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter said the county is reviewing the EPA’s decision, which includes more than 60 pages of background, research and data, as well as the agency’s new standard. She said the county is committed to working with community and government partners to meet the EPA’s recommendation.

The onus of implementing a plan to meet the new standards falls on the Washington Department of Ecology, which received a $6.9 million grant from the EPA as part of the Columbia River Basin Restoration Program to address toxins in the Spokane River basin.

A portion of the grant funding has been earmarked for the development of a regional plan specific to the Spokane River and for on-the-ground implementation of the new standards, according to the EPA.

Ecology has been tasked with developing the plan alongside local municipalities, tribal entities and community partners, which have come together on the Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force and the Spokane River Toxics Advisory Committee as part of past efforts.

The state agency is expected to specify measurable goals, timelines and milestones for PCB load reductions when it releases its implementation plan, according to the EPA.