Washington State Seeks Public Help to Clean Puget Sound

Broadcast to mark Earth Day, the PBS Frontline documentary "Poisoned Waters" put Puget Sound's water quality issues in the national spotlight, and Josh Baldi, the Department of Ecology's special assistant for Puget Sound, said studies conducted by the department support Frontline's observations of toxic materials entering the water.

Baldi says the Department of Ecology now is cleaning many near-shore areas with high levels of toxic chemicals in sediments and is reaching out to involve the more than four million people who live and work around the Puget Sound in reducing the amount of toxics flowing into the Sound.

In addition to the major cities of Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Everett, Puget Sound hosts seven military bases, including Fort Lewis with its population of more than 19,000, and the Bangor submarine base where ballistic missile submarines, armed with Trident missiles, are homeported.

The Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma if combined, comprise the second largest container port in North America after Los Angeles/Long Beach.

"Our greatest challenge is getting everyone who lives around the Sound to help reduce the constant stream of toxics entering the Sound every day," Baldi said.

Tugs compete in the world's largest tugboat race during Maritime Festival in Puget Sound. (Photo by Don Wilson courtesy Port of Seattle)

To help focus its efforts, Ecology has developed a new computer prediction tool that analyzes how toxic chemicals move through the Sound's water, sediment, and marine life. The tool will boost the state's understanding of how stormwater pollution affects conditions of Puget Sound.

The Ecology computer model simulates water circulation, transport of toxic chemicals in water and sediments, and the buildup of toxics in the Puget Sound food web.

The tool tells scientists that stormwater is still carrying polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, into Puget Sound, even though the family of chemicals was banned 30 years ago. For decades, PCBs were commonly used in adhesives, asphalt roofing materials, paint, lubricants, caulking and grout, and as a coolant for hot electrical equipment.

When PCBs were banned in 1979, the action decreased sources of the chemical in the region. While no longer manufactured, PCBs are still in limited use, and toxic chemicals with similar properties are in use throughout the region.

Ecology used PCBs as a test case for the model because, relative to other toxic contaminants, there is a great deal of existing information on concentrations in different parts of the Sound.

"PCBs are probably a good indicator of how other toxic chemicals with similar properties such as banned flame retardants, chlorinated pesticides and mercury are getting into and moving through the Puget Sound ecosystem," said David Dicks, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership, a community effort of citizens, governments, tribes, scientists and businesses to restore and protect the Sound.

Department of Ecology scientists will use this model to look at other toxic contaminants in Puget Sound, such as zinc, copper, lead and petroleum products.

"This new science and the advances of the last several years show us how enormous and complex the stormwater problem is, and that we are going to need a lot of help to fix it," said Baldi. "Orca whales, salmon, herring and rockfish accumulate and carry PCBs in their bodies. The toxic pollutants make our resident orcas more vulnerable to infectious disease, impair reproduction, and impede normal growth and development."

Although PCBs are found in greater concentrations in urban areas – especially where significant spills have occurred – forested lands also are contaminated due to air deposition.

Today, a key source of PCBs is accumulated deposits from air pollution, Baldi said. Erosion of disturbed soil due to land use changes like development, releases these accumulated deposits onto hard surfaces, such as roads, into stormwater and into Puget Sound.

"Traditional methods of developing land are one of the main reasons PCBs and similar toxic chemicals today are being washed into Puget Sound," said Rob Duff, manager of Ecology's environmental assessment program. "Our modeling tool predicts that if we can decrease the toxics in surface runoff now, we can decrease concentrations of toxics in our sediments, fish and other marine life in Puget Sound."

"The model predicts that more than 95 percent of the PCBs already in the aquatic ecosystem are present in sediments and from there begin to bioaccumulate in various aquatic species," Dicks said. "We need to zero in on the sources of contamination as well as continue targeted cleanup efforts in our urban bays throughout the region."

Baldi says the new computer model will be useful in evaluating how Puget Sound's health responds to various levels of reductions in inputs of toxic chemicals.

The Washington State Legislature has passed a bill to establish a stormwater technology resource center to provide a place where state agencies, local governments and private parties can find practical solutions to stormwater challenges. This includes research, development, technology demonstration, technology transfer, education, outreach, recognition, and training programs.

Baldi said that Department of Ecology inspectors, local source control inspectors, industrial environmental coordinators and other "boots on the ground" face continued hard work to control sources of toxic chemicals and prevent them from reaching the waters of the Sound.

He said establishing good management practices, such as low-impact development and use of porous materials for hard surfaces where possible, will help reduce the load of toxic chemicals coming from stormwater. These efforts will directly benefit Puget Sound fish and shellfish and everyone who eats them.

Baldi pointed again to the documentary, "Poisoned Waters," with its message that effective restoration of water quality takes local action by committed citizens. Restoration can improve the quality of life as well as protect the Sound, he said.

People can learn how to help reduce toxics in stormwater online at the site Washington Waters – Ours to Protect at www.ecy.wa.gov/washington_waters/ and at the Puget Sound Partnership at: www.psp.wa.gov.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.