Saving Seafood

EPA, Alaska seek to relax water pollution rules

April 3, 2019 — The Trump administration is quietly reviving a long-stalled effort by state regulators to loosen pollution standards where fish spawn. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation proposed the rule change more than a decade ago to change how it enforces the federal Clean Water Act.

After a dozen-year hiatus, it’s making its way through the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule-making process. But opponents warn if the EPA gives the 2006 “mixing zone” rule the thumbs-up, it could help pave the way for controversial projects like Pebble Mine.

The Clean Water Act is the primary tool used by the feds to regulate water pollution. Industry often argues these standards are difficult to meet.

“Alaska’s a beautiful, pristine place, and there is no pollution and certainly the background water quality is excellent,” said Frank Bergstrom, an Alaska mining consultant with 40 years of experience. “So if you follow the Clean Water Act to the detail, you pretty much have to discharge distilled water.”

That’s overstating the state’s water quality standards. Basically the limits are designed to prevent water bodies from being degraded. But years ago, Alaska and other states took the industry’s view in mind when it came up with “mixing zones.” This compromise allows things like wastewater plants, mines and oil refineries to exceed water pollution standards in designated areas.

Read and listen to the full story at KTOO

Garden State Seafood Association Supports New Vessel Discharge Rules

November 16, 2018 — This week, after more than a decade of activism from the fishing industry, Congress has moved to alleviate a major regulatory burden on commercial fishermen. Part of this year’s Coast Guard reauthorization bill once again exempts fishing vessels from requiring a permit for incidental discharge from boats, in a return to a long-standing EPA practice.

“The reauthorization is a common-sense step by Congress that provides necessary relief to fishermen without compromising the environment or water quality,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association. “Now commercial fishermen can focus on core environmental issues without having to deal with unnecessary, court-imposed restrictions.”

The issue dates to a 2006 court case, where the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned EPA vessel discharge rules that had been in force since the passage of the Clean Water Act. Under the ruling, fishing vessels and other boats, regardless of size, were required to get vessel discharge permits from the EPA for routine, incidental discharges. This goes so far as to potentially include water from the fish hold, rainwater washing off the boat deck, and other minor discharges.

Notably, an incidental discharge does not include any discharges related to sewage, fuel, or ballast water. Fishing vessels are still, and have always been, required to adhere to all laws that regulate these types of discharges. The court ruling simply added a new, costly, and unnecessary layer of regulations for vessels to follow.

After years of temporary exemptions as a short-term way to address the ruling, the Coast Guard reauthorization, the “Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018,” finally creates a permanent solution. Fishing vessels will return to being exempt from incidental discharge requirements, and fishermen will no longer need to deal with the added expense and bureaucratic red tape that goes along with them.

“We have worked to fix this issue for our clients since 2006,” said Rick Marks, a Principal at Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh in Reston, VA. “Despite a challenging and sustained effort it is rewarding to finally see a victory for common sense delivered by the 115th Congress. Our thanks go to those coastal Members of Congress and their staff from around the country whose persistence finally paid off for commercial fishermen everywhere.”

Learn more about the GSSA by visiting their site here

Judge rules EPA must protect salmon from rising water temperatures in Washington

October 29, 2018 — A U.S. Federal Court in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. has issued a ruling that is intended to protect salmon and steelhead trout in the Columbia River basin from rising water temperatures.

In the mile-long lakes created by hydropower dams on the rivers, the water temperature has often exceeded 70 degrees Fahrenheit for days at a time, though the Clean Water Act bars the temperature in the river from exceeding 68 degrees. Cold water species such as sockeye and steelhead become stressed at temperatures over 68 degrees and stop migrating when the temperature exceeds 74 degrees.

The ruling instructs the Environmental Protection Agency to protect the species. The EPA will, within 60 days, come up with a “comprehensive plan to deal with dams’ impact on water temperature and salmon survival,” according to Columbia Riverkeeper Executive Director Brett VandenHeuvel, one of the plaintiffs of the case, which was initially filed in February 2017. Other conservation and fishermens’ groups were plaintiffs in the suit as well: Idaho Rivers United, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Snake River Waterkeeper, and The Institute for Fisheries Resources.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Group will sue New Hampshire hatchery for pollution

August 3, 2018 — An environmental group plans to sue New Hampshire’s largest fish hatchery, allegations that discharge from the facility is polluting nearby lakes and rivers.

The Conservation Law Foundation announced its plans Thursday to sue the New Hampshire Fish and Game Departments and its commissioners over discharges from the Powder Mill Fish Hatchery in New Durham. It now must wait 60 days before filing a lawsuit in federal court.

In its letter, the group alleges that hatchery food and waste containing high levels of phosphorous, nitrogen and other pollutants has caused “significant water quality violations” in the Merrymeeting River and nearby waterways. The notice alleges that the discharges are in violation of the hatchery’s federal permit which, in turn, violates the federal Clean Water Act.

Among the Conservation Law Foundation’s biggest concern is algae growth and outbreaks of cyanobacteria, which they claim have sickened people and animals, hurt property values along the river and prompted the state to ban activities like swimming in some waterways. The waterways aren’t used for drinking water.

“It’s unthinkable what this state facility has done to the Merrymeeting River, degrading its health and putting the public’s health at risk with cyanobacteria outbreaks,” Tom Irwin, director of Conservation Law Foundation New Hampshire. “During the heart of the summer, people want to swim, boat, and enjoy New Hampshire’s rivers and lakes. They don’t want to be told ‘stay out’.”

Fred Quimby, a retired environmental toxicologist who lives in New Durham where the hatchery is located, said the state has known about this problem for more than 15 years and has failed to take appropriate action to address the dirty discharges. He said cyanobacteria outbreaks have become more common, leading to some people getting skin rashes and animals dying.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Pruitt resigns from EPA: What is next for Pebble?

July 10, 2018 — Fireworks rippled across dark horizons around the nation on the Fourth of July in celebration of Independence Day. The following afternoon, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s first foray into federal government leadership came to an end with no sparks, no bang, not even a dull thud. Rather, it came as a Tweet from the president.

Pruitt’s short term at the helm of the EPA was belabored by ongoing and mounting investigations into his spending on travel and security, and his use of the position to strike personal deals, including a job for his wife.

“The unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us,” Pruitt reportedly wrote in his resignation letter.

The long list of potential violations also led close aides and EPA staffers to resign, and Pruitt was beginning to lose support from Republicans in Congress who had approved his nomination.

A whistleblower — who was fired from EPA in February for raising questions about Pruitt’s spending and management — reported that the agency kept a secret calendar to hide industry-related meetings.

The discovery of just such a meeting with representatives from Pebble Mine owner Northern Dynasty resulted in an immediate flip-flop of EPA’s decision to forestall the mine under the Clean Water Act.

After Pruitt’s May 1 meeting with Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier, Northern Dynasty published a press release on May 12 declaring that EPA had settled the lawsuit in exchange for a reversal of the agency’s 2014 decision that the mine would violate the Clean Water Act and threaten Bristol Bay’s wild salmon population.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Mining power: EPA’s Pruitt aims to short-circuit Clean Water Act

June 29, 2018 — Three days before the deadline for public comments on the proposed Pebble Mine project  in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt directed his staff to create a rule limiting the agency’s ability to regulate projects under Clean Water Act guidelines.

These are the exact guidelines that commercial fishermen and local tribes urged Obama-administration EPA officials to invoke to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska’s salmon gold mine.

In a memo dated Tuesday, June 26, Pruitt directed the EPA’s Office of Water to submit the following changes, at minimum, to the Office of Management and Budget within the next six months:

• Eliminating the authority to initiate the section 404(c) process before a section 404 permit application has been filed with the Corps or a state, otherwise known as the “preemptive veto.”

• Eliminating the authority to initiate the section 404(c) process after a permit has been issued by the Corps or a state, otherwise known as the “retroactive veto.”

• Requiring a regional administrator to obtain approval from EPA Headquarters before initiating the section 404(c) process.

• Requiring a regional administrator to review and consider the findings of a final Environmental Assessment or environmental impact statement by the Corps or a state before preparing and publishing notice of a proposed determination.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Pointing at Pebble, EPA leader looks to rein in agency’s veto power

June 28, 2018 — In a sweeping memo released today, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt asked the agency to propose changes to how it uses the Clean Water Act.

In the memo, Pruitt wrote that the action would fit in with his larger aim to “ensure predictability and regulatory certainty and take actions based upon a comprehensive understanding of the facts.”

The proposal would eliminate EPA’s ability to preemptively or retroactively veto permits for waste discharge in waterways, restricting the agency’s ability to step in and regulate large projects. However, the proposal is far from final.

Under the Obama administration, EPA used its authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to propose restrictions on the Pebble Mine before the developer applied for a permit with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

That essentially halted the controversial project until last year, when EPA reached a settlement with Pebble under the Trump administration. Then in January, Pruitt suspended the agency’s move to reconsider the Obama-era proposal, saying Pebble may pose an “unacceptable” risk to Bristol Bay, home to one of the most valuable salmon fisheries in the world.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Fishing company to pay $400,000 penalty following 4,200 gallon fuel spill into New Bedford Harbor

May 8, 2018 — A fishing company will pay $400,000 in penalties after spilling thousands of gallons of fuel into New Bedford Harbor and routinely dumping oily waste overboard, in violation of the Clean Water Act.

In August of 2017, the Challenge — a fishing boat owned by the New Bedford company Quinn Fisheries — sunk while docked on the city’s waterfront, causing a fuel spill that spread over a mile and killed at least five ducks.

The Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Justice launched an inquiry, and found that the ship sunk when its captain failed to shut off a valve after illegally dumping bilge into the harbor and leaving the boat for the day, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.

“Discharges of fuel and oily bilge wastes into our nation’s waters have long been prohibited and will not be condoned,” Captain Richard J. Schultz, Commander of the Coast Guard’s Sector Southeastern New England, said in a statement. “These defendants will pay significant penalties and conduct fleet-wide corrective measures for their discharges of oil into New Bedford Harbor and the ocean.”

Quinn Fisheries signed a consent decree agreeing to pay the penalties and correct violations, but did not admit liability for the discharges. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Read the full story at MassLive

 

Public comment period on Pebble Mine starting soon amidst controversy

March 29, 2018 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is opening a public comment period on the scope of the planned Pebble Mine in southwestern Alaska, and some lawmakers want the Environmental Protection Agency to pay attention.

The proposed copper and gold mine in Bristol Bay has been the source of controversy for several years as the fishing industry and other groups have fought against it, claiming such an operation could impact their operations and the environment.

The Corps plans eight meetings, scheduled from 9 to 19 April, to gather public comments and will also accept them online for 30 days starting on Sunday, 1 April. At the meetings, Corps officials will also give the public additional information about its process in developing the environmental impact statement. The draft statement is scheduled to be released in January, after which another public comment period will begin.

Bristol Bay is home to more than 50 million salmon, which produced an annual economic impact of USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.21 billion). Mine proponents say the area holds about 80 billion pounds of copper and that it would help alleviate America’s need to import the mineral used for electrical wiring and other everyday needs.

In January, the EPA released a statement upholding a ruling made by the administration of then-U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014 that placed restrictions on the proposed mine, saying it would significantly impact the bay’s sockeye salmon fishery. Scott Pruitt, the agency’s current administrator under the administration of President Donald Trump, said in January the order didn’t block the proposed mine outright. However, it would give the agency time to get information and determine the mine’s potential environmental impact.

Earlier this month, three Republican congressional leaders wrote to Pruitt with concerns over that decision, saying the 2014 ruling was unprecedented under the Clean Water Act. U.S. Representatives Lamar Smith, Rob Bishop, and Paul Gosar claim agency officials involved in assessing the proposal unduly influenced the decision.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Fugitive salmon may be dead, but the court case is just getting started

November 15, 2017 — A Washington state conservation group is suing the owners of an Atlantic fish farm that failed over the summer.

Wild Fish Conservancy says the company negligently allowed the salmon escape to happen, which would be a Clean Water Act violation.

More than 100,000 non-native Atlantic salmon escaped into Puget Sound when Cooke Aquaculture’s pens near Cypress Island collapsed.

Aside from the spill, the Wild Fish Conservancy also contends Cooke violated its Clean Water Act responsibilities over the past five years. Attorney Brian Knutsen is representing the conservancy.

Knutsen: “Permits require that Cooke Aquaculture implement pollution prevention plans at all eight of its facilities. Cooke Aquaculture has over the last five years failed to implement these plans in a manner that’s required by its clean water act permits.”

He said the lawsuit seeks to hold Cooke responsible for the fish escape in August and for allegedly failing to follow its pollution plan.

Read the full story at KUOW