May 26, 2023 — New regulations in the U.S. state of Oregon are concerning local seafood processors, who are worried they will be forced to treat wastewater to be cleaner than drinking water.
The West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) said in an issue brief the regulations will force many of its members to close unless the state legislature intervenes.
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exempts seafood processors from these types of extreme limits,” WCSPA said “No other state in the United States – nor any other country in the world – has applied these requirements to seafood processors. Without immediate action by government leaders, Oregon’s seafood and commercial fishing communities are in jeopardy.”
In response, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said it is working with individual seafood processors on incremental improvements and is not trying to shut down the facilities.
“It is not DEQ’s intention … to put any seafood processor out of business,” DEQ Water Quality Administrator Jennifer Wigel said in testimony last month.