River cleanup appeal denied

POST FALLS - The pollution cleanup plan for the Spokane River is moving ahead - for now.

Washington Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant on Wednesday ruled that the conditions in his agency's plan should be upheld despite Idaho municipal wastewater dischargers' appeal stating they are unfair and unachievable.

The cities of Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene and the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board discharge treated wastewater into the Spokane River. The phosphorous cleanup plan is called a TMDL (total maximum daily load).

"It has taken years for us to develop an approvable TMDL, and it is time to move ahead and implement actions that will improve water quality in the Spokane River," Sturdevant wrote in a letter to the dischargers.

"I recognize this TMDL is a challenge for the dischargers and Avista, yet moving forward and starting implementation is absolutely critical. Each day we delay prolongs unacceptable loading to the river and Lake Spokane and delays the time when we will actually see improvement."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which will issue new wastewater discharge permits on the Idaho side, is expected to sign off on the plan soon to finalize the document.

However, the dischargers, through Washington district court, may ask for an injunction to delay the EPA from issuing a permit until their concerns are heard in court.

The city of Post Falls issued a prepared statement on Ecology's decision and did not comment further.

"Post Falls is disappointed that the Department of Ecology did not adopt the change we requested to address the unfairness of the TMDL," the city stated. "We are assessing potential litigation and therefore it is not appropriate to give further comment at this time.

"We will continue to explore all possible avenues to resolve this matter short of litigation."

Officials from Coeur d'Alene and HARSB could not be reached for comment.

Phosphorus encourages algae growth, which then depletes oxygen from the water that fish need to live. Due to the sensitivity of the Spokane River system, the phosphorous limits for industrial and municipal discharges are among the most stringent in the country.

Sturdevant's decision affirmed a dispute resolution panel's recommendation on concerns presented by dischargers on April 5.

The plan calls for a reduction in phosphorus pollution from industrial and municipal pipes by approximately 80,000 pounds of phosphorus a year.

Idaho officials have said their agencies are not opposed to doing their fair share in the cleanup, but argued they'll be held to a stricter standard than Washington dischargers.

Sturdevant wrote that the dispute panel considered the equity issue and allocations in which all facilities would get the same seasonal limit, but opted to not go there.

"While this change might have resolved the perceived equity issue for some, it was not clear to me that this would satisfy any of the disputants and would not have improved the TMDL," Sturdevant wrote.

"Once the TMDL is approved by the EPA, we can start more detailed conversations about implementation. But we need to move ahead, so we can finally get past process and actually start reducing phosphorous in the river."

Idaho agencies say the plan will also stunt growth and could nearly double residential sewer rates due to costly plant upgrades.

Dischargers will have up to 10 years to comply with new discharge limits in the plan, with extension up to 20 years possible under some circumstances.

Cities are already exploring new technologies to meet the new cleanup standard.

In another recent decision on the issue, the EPA ruled that it does not see consistency problems with the Spokane River model that's used to determine the cleanup plan. A firm had told the city of Coeur d'Alene that the model's perceived instability leads to inconsistent dissolved oxygen predictions.