Saving Seafood

Alaskan Gold Mine Gets Boost as Trump’s EPA Intervenes on Permit

July 3, 2019 — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday moved to ensure it has a role negotiating the terms of any permit for the massive Pebble Mine planned near Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a move that may bolster the permit’s chances of approval.

The EPA’s action comes as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evaluates how the proposed gold, copper and molybdenum mine would affect the region’s water, land and thriving salmon fishery. In comments filed with the Army Corps, the EPA invoked a provision in a federal clean-water law that would allow top officials from both agencies to work out disagreements over a potential mine permit.

The EPA last week decided to resume consideration of proposed water pollution restrictions that threatened the project since the Obama administration outlined the restrictions in 2014.

The EPA’s continued involvement could be welcomed by supporters of the mine, developer Pebble LP and its parent company, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

However, the EPA stressed that its action should not be viewed as a decision on the project or what to do about those five-year-old proposed restrictions. Regional EPA officials are coordinating with the Army Corps “to ensure that the EPA can continue to work with the Corps to address concerns raised during the permitting process,” the agency said in letters and formal comments made public Tuesday.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Report: Pennsylvania must do more to help Chesapeake Bay

May 29, 2019 — A nonprofit that tracks pollution in the Chesapeake Bay lambasted Pennsylvania on Tuesday, saying that the state is failing to protect the nation’s largest estuary from farm manure and dirty stormwater.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a report saying Pennsylvania’s plan to reduce pollution from farms and cities is “woefully inadequate” and underfunded by about $250 million a year.

The foundation also warned that the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to keep Pennsylvania on track. It’s one of six states, along with the District of Columbia, federally required to significantly reduce bay pollution by 2025.

“If EPA does not hold Pennsylvania accountable, CBF and others must consider legal action,” foundation President William C. Baker warned in a news release.

Pennsylvania officials said the foundation’s assessment is inaccurate and failed to account for all of the state’s efforts. The EPA said in its own statement that Pennsylvania has made “significant” progress.

The foundation’s report is the latest note of caution about the Chesapeake Bay’s health, which appears to be improving after decades of unbridled pollution.

In recent years, the story of the 200-mile-long (325-kilometer-long) bay has mostly been about signs of recovery. Underwater grasses are spreading. Oxygen dead zones are shrinking. The latest survey of blue crabs showed the highest estimates in seven years.

But environmentalists say more work is needed and threats like climate change still loom. Last year, a punishing cycle of downpours led to increased pollution in the bay, according to a recent report from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

WASHINGTON: Lawmakers hopeful for Puget Sound funding from Congress

May 20, 2019 — Optimism, as related to a possible increase in funding for Puget Sound recovery, permeated discussions last week, when 80 officials from the region met with lawmakers in the nation’s capitol.

“It’s the first time in several years that we’ve actually been in a position to direct more money to Puget Sound programs,” said U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, during one of many “Puget Sound Day on the Hill” meetings.

With Democrats now in control of the House, they can draft a budget that fits their priorities for a host of projects — from civil rights legislation to funding for climate change. Of course, the challenge will be to get their issues through the Senate.

“It is really heartwarming to see the optimism that they are expressing, almost to a member,” said Stephanie Solien, vice chair of the Leadership Council, the oversight board for the Puget Sound Partnership. The partnership coordinates the wide-ranging efforts to restore Puget Sound to ecological health.

Kilmer said he was sworn to secrecy about the actual numbers in the soon-to-be-released House appropriations bill, “but when it comes to fish funding and Puget Sound funding, we did very well.”

When Republicans controlled both the House and Senate, funding was substantially reduced for environmental programs, including money for the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operate specific funds for improving salmon habitat and restoring major estuaries throughout the country.

The Trump administration’s proposed budget the past two years “zeroed out” funding for the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund, which supports salmon-restoration efforts throughout the Northwest. But Republicans and Democrats worked together to restore the levels to $65 million, which is spread across five states.

Read the full story at the Kitsap Sun

Oregon backs down on terms of proposed processing pollution permit

May 10, 2019 — The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has backed down on the terms of a proposed pollution permit for seafood processors in the state, after the last iteration of the permit expired eight years ago, according to the Statesman Journal.

Since the permit expired, more than a dozen Oregon seafood processors have been operating under an administrative extension as negotiations have taken place.

The Department of Environmental Quality began regulating the discharges of seafood producers in 1982, in an attempt to crack down on the shells, bones, blood and fish waste as well as chemical byproducts that were being dumped into bodies of water by companies.

When the department put out the initial version of a proposed permit in spring of last year, politicians representing fishing communities on Oregon’s coast had called the regulations “extreme.”

“In Oregon, seafood processing is a key component of coastal economies and we ask that the state revisit the revision process for the [permit] in a way that supports the success of this critical industry,” state legislators wrote in a letter to the DEQ.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Proposed environmental rule changes threaten fish spawning areas in Alaska

April 9, 2019 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, together with the Alaska Department of Environmental  Conservation, are attempting to loosen water pollution standards in areas where fish spawn, according to Alaska Public Media.

The rule change, initially proposed in 2006, would alter how the state enforces the Clean Water Act, which is the main tool used by federal agencies to regulate water standards. The change are designed to assist the state’s mining community, which has argued the current standards set in place by the Clean Water Act are too 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, who has been active in Alaska’s mining industry for four decades. “So if you follow the Clean Water Act to the detail, you pretty much have to discharge distilled water.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

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

EPA Chief Recused From Bristol Bay Mine That His Former Law Firm Represented

March 26, 2019 — EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is formally recusing himself from agency reviews and permitting decisions on a proposed gold and copper mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay amid criticism his former law firm represented the developer.

Wheeler promised to steer clear of matters involving the controversial Pebble Mine in an updated March 20 recusal statement, two years after his former employer, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, had arranged a meeting between former EPA chief Scott Pruitt and project developer Pebble LP.

Weeks after that 2017 meeting, Pruitt moved to withdraw proposed mining restrictions that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the project to secure an essential Clean Water Act permit. Although Pruitt later backtracked, business groups have recently lobbied the EPA to toss out the five-year-old restrictions, arguing they preemptively block a project that would sustain jobs and extract at least 6.5 billion tons of known minerals. Environmentalists counter that the proposed mine jeopardizes a thriving salmon fishery.

Wheeler cast his decision as a “voluntary recusal” since he never provided services to a Faegre Baker Daniels client on the Pebble Mine and government advisers have said the move isn’t necessary to fulfill federal ethics rules. Wheeler said his recusal would last as long as he leads the Environmental Protection Agency. In the meantime, Wheeler has delegated Pebble issues to EPA General Counsel Matthew Leopold.

The Environmental Protection Agency could still move to lift the restrictions, without Wheeler’s involvement. And in the meantime, the Army Corps of Engineers is taking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement analyzing the mine.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

NEW JERSEY: The Swap-a-Fish Program That Traded Tilapia for Seafood Contaminated By Agent Orange

March 18, 2019 — AS IT GLINTS IN THE afternoon sunlight, Newark, New Jersey’s Passaic River looks peaceful. But a plaque along the boardwalk has a warning for visitors. “The river remains full of life,” it reads. “Try to spot these creatures, but until the pollution is removed from the river, be careful NEVER to catch or eat any of them.”

There’s been an advisory against eating lower Passaic fish since 1983, when the EPA found they were contaminated with dioxin—chemical waste from local factories, including one that produced Agent Orange, an herbicide the U.S. military used to devastating effect in the Vietnam War. Despite health risks ranging from cancer to developmental issues, people still catch and eat fish from the lower Passaic River.

Researchers don’t know precisely how many people consume fish from the lower Passaic. Elias Rodriguez, an Environmental Protection Agency Public Information Officer, says the EPA hasn’t seen evidence of widespread fishing. According to preliminary results of an ongoing study conducted by the NYU School of Public Health’s Zelikoff Lab, those who do fish the Passaic—including several homeless people who use it as a regular food source—are often food insecure and looking to supplement their diet. Research has shown that low-income anglers are more likely to consume their catches, and Latino anglers are less likely to be informed of the health risk.

Amy Rowe, County Agent at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Essex County, says that the vulnerability of populations who fish in the Passaic makes the problem particularly difficult to tackle. But in 2015, Rowe and her team implemented a novel solution: a fish swap.

Read the full story at Atlas Obscura

Trump Taps Former Oil Lobbyist David Bernhardt to Lead Interior

February 5, 2019 — President Donald Trump is nominating David Bernhardt to be Interior secretary, a move that puts a former oil lobbyist on track to take over the Interior Department.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bernhardt, the deputy secretary, would succeed Ryan Zinke at the helm of the Interior Department, an $11 billion agency that oversees drilling, grazing and other activities on public lands. Bernhardt has been acting secretary since Zinke left the Trump administration in January amid mounting federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest.

Trump announced the nomination on Twitter Monday. The choice echoes Trump’s decision to put a politically savvy lawyer, Andrew Wheeler, in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency after the departure of the president’s scandal-plagued first EPA chief, Scott Pruitt.

Like Zinke, Bernhardt is expected to continue charting a pro-energy course at Interior, having already played a leading role in shaping department policies to expand drilling, make sure economics are factored into endangered species decisions and alter the way the government analyzes the environmental consequences of projects.

Read the full story at Yahoo Finance

Federal Shutdown Halts Some Environmental Conservation Efforts, Slows Others

January 9, 2019 — Federal researchers in western Massachusetts study ways to protect migrating fish, backyard birds and urban trees. The government shutdown is keeping them home and away from their research.

The researchers work for agencies like the USDA Forest Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Curt Griffin heads the UMass Amherst Department of Environmental Conservation, where some of the scientists are based.

“It’s a very, very unfortunate event that our federal colleagues are caught up in this mess,” Griffin said. “And it’s not fair to them. It’s not fair to the public that they provide important services to. So it’s just a very broken system, and they’re caught in the middle.”

Read the full story at New England Public Radio