River appeal to be filed
POST FALLS - Local agencies that discharge wastewater into the Spokane River are appealing the recently released cleanup plan for the river.
Officials with the cities of Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene and the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board say the new standard is unachievable and unfair, will stunt growth and could nearly double residential sewer rates due to costly plant upgrades.
"The city is not opposed to doing its fair share to (clean up) the Spokane River, but the standard is unfair, unachievable and unreasonable," said Eric Keck, Post Falls city administrator.
The plan, which has been approved by Washington Ecology and is being reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency for the Idaho side, would set a phosphorous limit of 1.5 pounds per day from March to October for Post Falls. The city will ask for 3 pounds through the appeal process to meet its expected 2027 population of 80,000.
"(The proposed allocation) means that the Post Falls treatment plant will be held to a standard that is more than twice as strict as some Washington municipalities," Public Works Director Terry Werner said.
The proposed phosphorous limit is slightly more for Coeur d'Alene and less for HARSB due to their size differences in discharge amounts.
Werner said if the plan, in the works for 12 years, becomes final, the treatment plant by 2027 will need to remove more than 99.9 percent of the phosphorous and produce an effluent with less than 30 parts per billion. The city suggests a seasonal average of 50 ppb. A ppb is equivalent to half a teaspoon in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Idaho dischargers are not optimistic that a seasonal average standard will be granted during the discharge permit process through the EPA.
The river contains too much phosphorus and other substances that act like fertilizers, causing algae and other aquatic plants to grow and thrive. When the plants decompose, they use up dissolved oxygen that fish need to breathe.
In addition, unsightly algae blooms can become toxic and cause nuisance smells or human skin irritations. They can make Lake Spokane, 76 river miles downstream from the Post Falls Dam, unhealthy for swimming and compromise its ecological balance.
EPA and Ecology disagree with the dischargers that the new standard is unachievable with the newest technologies.
Werner said the city believes the proposed phosphorous limit will jeopardize its ability to sustain development within the next five to 10 years.
A recent report by Tischler Bise, a consultant hired by the city to review the cleanup plan, states the cleanup plan will create a cap on growth and "effectively shrink Kootenai County's economy in 2030 by 50 percent."
The firm estimates plant upgrades will cost the city $27.5 million with a debt service of nearly $2.4 million per year. That could increase residential sewer rates from $27 per month to $48.
Cities are already exploring new technologies to meet the new cleanup standard.
The dischargers' appeal is expected to be filed on Monday. Washington Ecology will hold a hearing, then would make a ruling by mid-May. The decision is appealable to Washington state court.