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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Inslee Fights Proposal That Weakens Sewage Treatment Standards

19 May 2005

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee today fought the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s attempts to weaken waste water standards that would harm the Washington State shellfish industry. The proposed policy would allow publicly owned water and sewage treatment plants to release largely untreated sewage virtually anytime it rains, through a process called "blending." Inslee supported a successful bipartisan amendment to today's House Interior Appropriation's bill that would block the proposal. As the House considered the amendment, the EPA announced that it had decided not to go forward with the controversial policy.

Shellfish growers in Washington State and throughout the country have expressed concern that the weakened treatment rules would endanger shellfish harvest beaches and increase the size of the shellfish closure zones around water treatment outfalls into Puget Sound and other bodies of water.

Said Inslee, "Both humans and shellfish don't respond well to sewage in their water. Washington State consumers want to eat shellfish that has not been tainted with large amounts of waste water. The Bush Administration is opening the floodgates to untreated waste water with this unnecessary and unhealthy idea. Shellfish growers are an important part of Washington State's economy, and provide people throughout the world with delicious products. This proposal is a disastrous policy from a President that clearly is out of touch with the environment and economy of the Puget Sound region."

The Washington State Shellfish industry would be at risk under a proposal that weakens treatment standards, particularly during frequent rain storms. In 2000, it was estimated that the Washington State shellfish industry would harvest 85.9 million pounds of shellfish and sell nearly $76 million worth of shellfish products. Yet under the new policy, shellfish closure zones would be expanded around waste water treatment plant (WWTP) outfalls, making fewer areas available for safe shellfish harvesting.

In Inslee's district, shellfish closure areas in Bainbridge Island's Port Madison could be expanded. Throughout other parts of Washington State, growers near WWTP outfalls are located in Birch Bay, Lummi Bay, Grays Harbor, North Dyes Inlet, Drayton Harbor, Hood Canal, Cedar River, Poverty Bay, East Straits (Point No Point), Possession Sound, Penn Cove and Fox Island. Washington State recreational shellfish beaches would also be negatively impacted. Among those who oppose the new proposal are the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington State Department of Health.

Inslee will supported a successful bipartisan amendment offered by U.S. Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI), E. Clay Shaw (R-FL), Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Jeff Miller (R-FL) to the Interior Appropriations Bill that will prevent this harmful proposal from being enacted. Under current policy, sewage must be fully treated except during hurricanes and other extreme weather events. The new policy would allow the routine release of largely untreated sewage virtually any time it rains - even when it is feasible to provide full treatment. The proposal would enable sewage plants to bypass a crucial step - known as "secondary treatment" - that removes most of the bacteria, parasites and other pathogens, as well as toxic chemicals, from sewage. Under the new policy, after mixing the waste with sewage that has been secondarily treated, large volumes of partially treated (or "blended") sewage could be dumped directly into rivers and streams.