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Cook
Inletkeeper Watershed Watch
Pollution
Mixing Zones in Fish Streams
Speak Up for Alaska Salmon!
The Issue:
For the past 4 years, Inletkeeper and its allies have been
fighting to protect Alaska salmon from pollution “mixing zones.”
ACT NOW! A “mixing zone” is an area in a waterbody where pollution levels exceed water quality standards
designed to protect people and fish. Normally, a pollution
discharge must meet water quality standards at the end of the
discharge pipe. When the discharge is too polluted to meet such
standards, bureaucrats often employ mixing zones – which are
simply loopholes that allow compliance to be measured
downstream, after the polluted discharge has dispersed in a
receiving water. In short, mixing zones embrace the
long-discounted notion that dilution is the solution to
pollution, and they create sacrifice zones where water and
habitat quality fail to meet the fish protection goals of the
Clean Water Act.
After two
extended rulemakings - and hundreds of letters of opposition
from local governments, and fishing, Tribal and other groups -
the Murkowski Administration rammed through new final rules on
January 13, 2006, that allow mixing zone pollution in spawning
areas for Alaska wild salmon and other fish. While the Murkowski
Administration argued its new rule would protect salmon,
comments from the Alaska Department of Environment Conservation
(ADEC) belie this claim:
A mixing zone could be
allowed when spawning salmon, eggs, or larvae are not present,
state officials said. For example, a placer mine could “operate
for a very small window of time” in some salmon spawning streams
in Alaska, said Lynn Kent [then] director of the Environmental
Conservation Department’s Division of Water.
Source: Juneau Empire, Jan. 15, 2006
The
Murkowski mixing zone rule is now before the federal
Environmental Protection Agency, which must approve it before
the rule becomes a formal part of Alaska’s Water Quality
Standards. Also, in response to these salmon protection
rollbacks, legislation has been introduced (HB 74) to restore
the previous ban on mixing zones in spawning areas.
What
YOU Can Do:
1.
Write and/or Testify on HB 74.
Use the Legislator Contact List to find your senator and
representative, review the info below, and take write to your
decisionmakers!
Latest Draft
HB 74
HB 74
Mixing Zone Bill Sponsor Statement
HB 74 & Murkowski Rule Comparison
Frequently
Asked Questions on HB 74
2.
Write to EPA’s Mike Gearheard.
EPA has the authority under the Clean Water Act to reject the
Murkowski mixing zone rule. See sample comments below, then
send your own to:
Michael Gearheard, Director
Office of Water and Watersheds
U.S. EPA, Region 10
12006 6th Ave., OWW
130
Seattle, WA 98101
Fax: 206-553-0165
Email:
gearheard.mike@epa.gov
Trustees for Alaska Letter to
EPA 2006
Representative Paul Seaton
Letter to EPA 2006
Senator Gary Stevens Letter to
EPA 2006
3. Write to Governor
Palin! Governor
Palin understands the importance of healthy fish and fish
habitat to Alaska, and she can do the right thing by rescinding
the Murkowski Administration’s mixing zone rule. Write her at:
Governor Sarah Palin
P.O. Box 110001
Juneau, AK 99811-0001
Phone
(907) 465-3500
Fax (907) 465-3532
sarah_palin@gov.state.ak.us
4. Write a Letter to
the Editor!
Letters to the Editor are a great way to ensure Alaska salmon
get the attention and protections they need. Find media contact
information here:
Additional
Information:
On December 19,
2005, the Murkowski Administration closed the second public
comment period on its proposal to allow polluting "mixing zones"
in Alaska fish streams. Inletkeeper worked to support numerous
groups and municipalities and hundreds of Alaskans in their
calls to reject - again! - this short-sighted policy change.
For more information, read the following:
Cook Inletkeeper Comments (advocacy)
Cook Inletkeeper Comments (monitoring)
Trustees for Alaska Comments
2005 Petition Signed by Alaskans Opposed to Mixing Zones in Fish
Streams
2004 Petition
Against
Mixing Zones in Salmon Streams
ADEC Mixing Zone Web Site
See also:
Sample Resolution for Groups & Municipalities
Trustees for Alaska Comments 2004
Cook Inletkeeper Comments 2004
For more information, contact
Cook Inletkeeper at 907.235.4068 ext. 22 or
keeper@inletkeeper.org
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