REPORT ON
POLLUTION OF INTERSTATE WATERS
OF THE SNAKE RIVER NEAR AND BELOW
LEWISTON, IDAHO, AND CLARKSTON, WASHINGTON
by
G. N. Dietrich
Sanitary Engineer
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
Public Health Service
Enforcement Activities, Pacific Northwest Office
Portland, Oregon
December 1963
RIVER BASIN STUDIES BRANCH
-------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORD i
CONCLUSIONS iii
BACKGROUND 1
PRESENT WATER USES 3
FUTURE WATER USES 4
WASTE SOURCES 5
PRESENT EFFECTS OF POLLUTION 11
Bacterial Pollution 11
Damages to Aesthetic Value 11
FUTURE EFFECTS OF POLLUTION 15
-------
REPORT ON
POLLUTION OF INTERSTATE WATERS
OF THE SNAKE RIVER NEAR AND BELOW
LEWISTON, IDAHO, AND CLARKSTON, WASHINGTON
FOREWORD
This report reviews the pollution of the interstate waters of the
Snake River in the vicinity of Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington.
Emphasis is placed on the causes of water pollution and on the resulting
interference with legitimate water uses.
Primarily, the analytical data presented in this report resulted
from a survey conducted by the Public Health Service in July and August
of 1963. The purpose of that survey was to develop information to advise
the Corps of Engineers on water quality changes that can be expected when
impoundments constructed downstream produce a ponded condition in the
Lewiston-Clarkston area. The two-fold objectives of the survey were to
determine present water quality conditions and to evaluate the effect of
impoundments on future water quality. The Snake River, from five miles
above to 30 miles below Lewiston-Clarkston, and four miles of the Clear-
water River above its junction with the Snake were surveyed. Stream
samples were taken for chemical, physical, and bacterial determinations.
Limited waste source sampling and sludge bed investigations were included
in the survey, also.
In the preparation of this report, information has also been obtained
from the Public Health Service National Water Quality Network stations on
-------
ii
the Clearwater River at Lewiston and on the Snake River at Wawawai,
Washington. Material, information, and assistance were contributed
by the following agencies:
Idaho State Department of Health
Washington State Pollution Control Commission
City of Lewiston
U. S. Corps of Engineers
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This report has been prepared by G. N. Dietrich, Sanitary Engineer
for the Enforcement Activities Section of the Pacific Northwest Office
of the Public Health Service, Portland, Oregon.
-------
iii
CONCLUSIONS
Information recently collected by the Public Health Service dictates
the following conclusions concerning interstate pollution of the Snake
River at and below Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington:
1. Waste is discharged to the Snake River from several sources
in the Lewiston-Clarkston area. The waste discharges from
Idaho are: the partially treated municipal sewage from the
City of Lewiston; the untreated industrial and sanitary wastes
from Potlatch Forests, Inc., pulp and paper mill; and the
untreated industrial wastes from Seabrook Farms Company pea
and potato cannery. From Washington, the waste discharges
are: the partially treated municipal sewage from the Cities
of Clarkston and Asotin and the untreated meat packing wastes
from Bristol Packing Company and Meats, Inc.
2. The significance of bacterial pollution existing in the Snake
River in and below the Lewiston-Clarkston area cannot be
evaluated on the basis of presently available information.
Further studies are needed to make this possible.
3. The Snake River waters in Washington carry high loads of
suspended solids material, primarily wood fiber, and support
several areas of sludge deposits. These conditions result
from the wood fibers entrained in the wastes from Potlatch
Forests, Inc., pulp and paper mill in Lewiston, Idaho. The
discharge of these highly colored, odorous, and turbid wastes
results in damage to the aesthetic value of Snake River waters
in Washington.
-------
iv
4. These interstate pollution problems are subject to abate-
ment under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Pollution
of the Snake River endangers the health and welfare of persons
in a state other than that in which the discharges contribut-
ing to such pollution originate.
-------
BACKGROUND
By definition, the Lower Snake River begins near Weiser, Idaho, and
flows northward, forming first the boundary of Idaho and Oregon, and
later, 37 miles of the boundary of Idaho and Washington. At Clarkston,
Washington, and Lewiston; Idaho, the river makes an abrupt turn to the
northwest and flows through the State of Washington to its confluence
with the Columbia River.
As it flows toward Lewiston-Clarkston, the river is carried in deep,
narrow canyons through high plateau country. Lowlands adjacent to the
river are limited to narrow belts of land in the bottom of canyons.
Population is sparse and agriculture is limited. Therefore, there is
little opportunity for pollution of the Snake River before it reaches
the Lewiston-Clarkston area.
The Clearwater River is an intrastate stream that flows westward
through Idaho to meet the Snake River at Lewiston. Like the Snake, its
valley is sparsely populated above Lewiston, and the waters reach the
Lewiston area in a relatively unpolluted condition.
The Lewiston-Clarkston urban area supports a population of over
31,000, two-thirds residing on the Idaho side of the river. Asotin,
Washington, with a population of 800, is located some five miles upstream
on the Snake River.
The economy of the Lewiston-Clarkston area is built around the
forest products and food processing industries. Potlatch Forests, Inc.,
at Lewiston, operates a complex of wood products manufacturing facilities
that produce pulp, paper, lumber, plywood, and fuel by-products. The
principal food processors are: Seabrook Farms Company, a potato and pea
-------
2
processor, and Smith Frozen Foods, a pea processor, both in Lewiston,
Idaho, and two meat packing firms in Clarkston, Washington, the Bristol
Packing Company and Meats, Inc.
This report deals with the causes and effects of water pollution
in the Snake River in the vicinity of Lewiston-Clarkston and with the
lower four miles of the Clearwater River.
During the first week of the survey, average stream flow in the
Snake River below the Clearwater near Clarkston was 27,060 cfs; during
the second survey period, it was 23,120 cfs. Corresponding flows in
the Clearwater River at Spalding were 5,465 cfs and 4,465 cfs. These
are higher than the average annual low flows of approximately 18,500 cfs
•,
in the Snake River and 3,000 cfs in the Clearwater River, which occur
during August and September.
-------
PRESENT WATER USES
The Snake River in the Lewiston-Clarkston area is used for a variety
of expanding recreational activities, including swimming, boating, water
skiing, waterfowl hunting, and fishing. In addition to these water uses,
the river serves as a migratory pathway and spawning ground for an impor-
tant anadromous fishery and as a habitat for a large resident fishery.
Both Lewiston and Clarkston maintain attractive public bathing beaches
within their city limits. In the summer months, each of these beaches
serves approximately 200 persons per day. Water skiing and pleasure boat-
ing are popular. Several excellent small boat marinas are located on the
Lewiston-Clarkston water front to support these activities.
At the confluence of the Clearwater River, the Snake River bends to
the west and becomes an intrastate stream in Washington. As a result of
pollution, the waters become offensive and unattractive for water contact
sports. Below the Washington line, the river is used only occasionally
for pleasure boating or water skiing. Attractive beaches are located in
the lower section of the river.
Some use is made of the Snake River waters below the Lewiston-
Clarkston area for irrigation. Spray irrigation of orchard and truck
farm crops grown on the narrow bands of land in the canyons adjacent to
the river is practiced.
-------
FUTURE WATER USES
The authorized construction of Lower Granite Dam, 32 miles below
the Lewiston-Clarkston area, will form a reservoir extending to and past
these two cities. When completed in 1970, this impoundment will increase
the water depths to some 38 feet along the Lewiston-Clarkston water front
and will reduce present minimum velocities of about three to six feet per
second to less than one-half foot per second. These deep, quiet waters
located adjacent to and readily accessible to a major population center
can be expected to support a greatly expanded participation in water-
oriented recreational activities. There is good reason to believe that
a sizable portion of the future recreational use will be located below
both the Interstate Bridge and the several existing points of waste dis-
charge.
-------
WASTE SOURCES
Figure 1 illustrates the location of principal sources of wastes in
the Lewiston-Clarkston area. Briefly, their sizes and characteristics
are:
1. The Lewiston sewage treatment plant serves the Lewiston popu-
lation of 12,000 and 1,000 persons in suburban Lewiston
Orchards. This treatment plant is a modern, well maintained,
and efficiently operated facility. Primary sedimentation and
effluent chlorination are accomplished, with the effluent dis-
charged to the north side of the Clearwater River, 0.8 miles
above its confluence with the Snake River.
2. Potlatch Forests, Inc., operates a lumber and plywood plant,
a 650-ton/day pulp and paperboard mill, and a recently con-
structed 50-ton/day tissue mill at Lewiston on the south bank
of the Clearwater River, a short distance above its mouth. The
largest portion of the liquid wastes from these facilities,
including all of the wastes from the pulp and paper operation
and some of the firm's sanitary sewage from a work force of
2,200 persons, are discharged through an outfall sewer to the
Snake River. These wastes enter the river through a submerged,
non-diffuser type outlet on the east shore of the Snake River
100 feet above the confluence with the Clearwater River. Waste
retention lagoons of small size exist but are not now being
used.
-------
6
3. Seabrook Farms Company, in Lewiston, is a vegetable processor.
Peas are packaged during a six-weeks' campaign in June and
July, and potatoes for nine months of the year beginning in
August. The potato processing capacity of the plant is 150
tons/day. The wastes are not treated and are discharged
directly to the Clearwater River one-quarter mile above its
mouth.
4. The City of Clarkston serves its entire population of 6,100
with sewage collection. The wastes collected are treated by
the city's sewage treatment plant, which employs primary sedi-
mentation and effluent chlorination. Effluent is discharged
to the Snake River one mile below Clarkston. While this
facility is old, it is well operated and maintained, and pro-
vides efficient primary treatment.
5. The Asotin sewage treatment plant receives the municipal sewage
from its 800 population. This facility also provides primary
sedimentation and effluent chlorination, but the adequacy of
treatment is not known. Effluent is discharged to Asotin Creek,
a short distance above its confluence with the Snake River.
6. Bristol Packing Company is located in Clarkston proper. This
meat processor kills up to 50 head of cattle per day, or a
maximum of 135 hogs daily. Paunch manure and grease are sepa-
rated from the liquid wastes and land disposed. The wash
water, floor drainage, and kill-blood wastes are not treated.
These wastes are discharged directly to the Snake River.
-------
7
7. Meats, Inc., processes an average of 55 head of cattle daily.
As with the above firm, paunch manure and grease are separately
collected and adequately disposed. Liquid wastes, including
kill-blood, are not treated and are discharged to the Snake
River. The cattle holding pens adjacent to this plant extend
to the river's edge. Cattle are allowed access to the river
and the sloping land allows unimpeded surface drainage to its
waters. These constitute an additional source of wastes from
this firm. Meats, Inc., is located two and one-half miles
below Clarkston.
All seven of the major Lewiston-Clarkston waste sources contribute
organic pollutants to the Snake River. It is customary to express the
strengths of such pollutants in terms of their equivalents of raw domestic
sewage, the basis for such comparison being the 5-day biochemical oxygen
demand. The unit used in these expressions is the population equivalent
(P.E.)—' . Each such unit represents the equivalent strength of the daily
raw sewage contributed by one individual.
Table 1 lists the best estimates available of the organic pollution
contributed to the Snake River by the waste sources of concern here.
Recognition is first given to the high, total organic content of the
wastes going to the Snake River, which are equivalent to the raw sewage
from a population of 312,600. More than 95 percent of this organic load
is contributed by Potlatch Forests, Inc., wastes. However, BOD alone
does not sufficiently describe the wastes from this industry. Pulp and
paper wastes from Kraft mills must also be judged as to their content of
-/P.E. = BOD5 of 0.17#/cap/day.
-------
TABLE 1
SUMMARY OF THE BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND
POPULATION EQUIVALENTS OF THE WASTES DISCHARGED
TO THE SNAKE AND CLEARWATER RIVERS BY SOURCES
IN THE LEWISTON-CLARKSTON AREA
Source
Idaho
Potlatch Forests, Inc.
Lewiston Treated Sewage
Seabrook Farms Company
Subtotal
Washington
Bristol Packing Company
Meats, Inc.
Clarkston treated sewage
Asotin treated sewage
Subtotal
P.E.
299,000
3,300
2,300
304,600
1,000
1,800
4,600
600
8,000
Percent
of total
95.6
1.1
0.7
97,4
0.3
0.6
1.5
0.2
2.6
Total 312,600 100.0
-------
9
biologically toxic material and solids material. With regard to the
first of these, this type of wastes contains certain sulfur compounds,
which in small amounts can be very toxic to fish and other aquatic life.
To date, however, no fishkills have been reported, and there is not suffi-
cient information to judge if toxicity of these wastes is presently a
problem.
The discharge of solids materials from this waste source is also
significant. It was extremely difficult to obtain representative samples
of the plant effluent at the submerged outfall. A single sample pumped
from the outfall sewer indicated that this source adds 320 tons of solid
materials daily to the Snake River. Measured volumetrically after one
hour of settling, it amounts to over 267,000 cubic feet per day. Roughly
one-third of this, 104 tons per day, is suspended material, 90 percent
of which is combustible organic matter. This composition of these
wastes results from the high content of wood fibers. This fibrous
material is settleable and results in sludge deposits on the river
bottom. Furthermore, being organic, the sludge deposits continue to
ferment after being formed. The material remaining in suspension is
unsightly and damaging to the aesthetic appeal of the waters.
-------
WASTE SOURCES
Lewiston Sewage Treatment Plant
Seabrook Farms Company
Potlatch Forests, Inc.
Lindsey Creek
Dirty Bill Creek
Asotin Sewage Treatment Plant
Bristol Packing Company
Clarkston Sewage Treatment Plant
Meats, Inc.
R H
CLARKSTON
WASHINGTON
LEWISTON
ORCHARDS
WATER QUALITY STUDY
WASTE SOURCE LOCATIONS
SNAKE RIVER;LEWISTON.IDAHO
USDEPARTMENTOFHEALTH.EDUCATIONaWELFARE
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
REGION IX PORTLAND. OREGON
FIGURE 1
-------
11
PRESENT EFFECTS OF POLLUTION
Water quality data collected to date indicate that there are two
pollution conditions to be considered in the Lewiston-Clarkston area.
These are: bacterial pollution and damage to aesthetic value.
Bacterial Pollution
The Public Health Service water quality survey of July-August 1963
included only limited bacteriological sampling. The resulting data are
at variance with earlier bacteriological data obtained by the States of
Idaho and Washington and the Public Health Service National Water Quality
Network. Accordingly, the significance of the bacterial pollution in
the Snake River below the Lewiston-Clarkston area presently is not clear.
Additional field study to fully evaluate these conditions is needed. Such
study could be accomplished effectively by joint and cooperative effort
by the States of Idaho and Washington and the Public Health Service.
Damages to Aesthetic Value
A rotten cabbage odor prevails in the Snake River below Potlatch
Forests, Inc., waste discharge point. At times, it was difficult to
separate water odors from atmospheric odors, also attributed to the pulp
and paper mill. On several occasions, however, when the wind was out of
the west, precluding the effects of air pollution, distinct odors of the
Snake River waters were noted as far as four miles below the discharge
point.
The physical appearance of the Snake River also is damaged by waste
discharge in the Lewiston-Clarkston area. By decreasing their attrac-
tiveness, the uses of these waters for swimming, boating, water skiing,
and fishing are interfered with.
-------
12
During the latter part of the July-August 1963 survey, notes were
made of the physical appearance of the Snake River in the Lewiston-
Clarkston area. Generally, the Snake River above the Interstate Bridge
can be described as odorless, having almost no turbidity, and very little
color. Noticeably apparent in the river immediately below the Washington
State line are the aesthetically displeasing odor and visual appearance
of the river. These conditions are believed to be in large measure
attributable to the waste from Potlatch Forests, Inc. The waste dis-
charged from the pulp and paper mill is vividly evident as a deep brown,
odorous, and turbid section in the Snake River from the point of discharge
for approximately one-half mile downstream. Below that point, the waste
appears to mix more effectively with the entire Snake River flow and is
well dispersed when it reaches the point two miles below the Lewiston-
Clarkston area. These wastes also contain a high concentration of sus-
pended and settleable solids. During the survey, high suspended settle-
able solids concentrations were observed in the river for seven miles
below the Potlatch Forests, Inc., outfall. Examination disclosed this
material to be wood fibers.
Limited sludge bed deposit investigations involved Ekman dredge
sampling in several of the pools downstream from the Lewiston-Clarkston
area. Four dredgings from each sampling location were shipped to the
laboratory for dry weight and percent volatile solids determinations.
As shown in Figure 2, the sludge in a pool 5.7 miles below the pulp
and paper mill outfall contained 37.3 percent volatile solids. Field
notes describing the visual appearance of this sample indicated that it
was drawn from a well established sludge deposit. The stratified deposit
-------
13
contained sludge in various stages of decomposition, ranging from black
septic material to more recent depositions of fresh fibrous material.
Samples from the six locations between 8.7 and 22.5 miles below the Pot-
latch, Forests, Inc., sewer revealed sludge deposits of lower volatile
solids contents, ranging from 10.2 percent to 17.4 percent. These
samples also included wood fiber material and contained sludge in vari-
ous stages of decay, from brownish, less septic material, to non-decomposed
fibers. These sludge deposits were found in eddies and pools along the
banks of the river where velocities were very low and allowed settlement
of the water's suspended load. A few dredgings were made in the higher
velocity waters near the center of the channel, but no sludge deposits
were found. No attempt was made to define the total extent and amount
of sludge deposits.
Sludge deposits can have a number of effects on river waters from
the partial elimination of bottom aquatic life, important as fish food,
to the exertion of heavy demands on the dissolved oxygen resources of
the waters. In this case, however, insufficient information is available
to evaluate such effects.
The Bristol Packing Company and Meats, Inc., both in Clarkston,
Washington, discharge blood wastes to the Snake River and create an
offensive condition. The bright red discharges are vividly evident;
those from the Bristol Packing Company can be seen from the Interstate
Bridge. These wastes are rapidly dispersed in the river.
The unpleasant effects of odor, color, and suspended solids occurring
in the Snake River waters within the State of Washington are caused by
wastes originating in Idaho.
-------
% Volatile Solids in
Sludge Bed Deposits
S-I30S River Mile
WATER QUALITY STUDY
SLUDGE BED DEPOSITS
SNAKE RIVER; LEWISTON, IDAHO
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION.&WELFARE
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
REGION IX PORTLAND.OREGON
FIGURE 2
-------
15
FUTURE EFFECTS OF POLLUTION
The impoundment to be formed by the Lower Granite Dam will change
the pollution picture in the Snake River in the Lewiston-Clarkston area.
Minimum velocities will be reduced to less than one-half foot per second
so that time of water passage from the Interstate Bridge to the dam will
increase to more than 11 days during the summer low flow period as
opposed to the present 10 hour flow time. Because of this, one-half day
flow time will be required for the first three and one-half river miles
below the Interstate Bridge, and wastes discharged in the Lewiston-
Clarkston area will be retained for a long time in the area of future
increased recreational use. Bacterial pollution can be expected to
undergo regrowth to maximum densities in the river waters before passing
out of this area. Thus, bacterial densities might well exceed the
established limits held necessary to protect the health of the many
persons who will be using the impounded Snake River waters in the future.
Further, lower velocities will allow for the deposition of a major part
of the suspended solids of the wastes now discharged. Sludge beds thus
will be formed to the detriment of bottom aquatic life and the oxygen
resources of the river. With the biochemical oxygen demand concentra-
tions which now exist, dissolved oxygen resources of the waters passing
through Lower Granite Dam very likely will be reduced to about 5.4 ppm,
or 66 percent of saturation. This raises questions as to whether adverse
effects on the fishery will result. Aside from these over-all pollution
effects, individual waste discharges also will cause localized zones of
similar but more aggravating pollution conditions by virtue of reduced
mixing and dispersion.
-------
16
These future pollution effects, coupled with the expected increased
recreational water use, might well demand that all waste discharges
receive the maximum treatment reasonably obtainable. In addition, it
may also be necessary to provide diffusion-type outlets to enhance dis-
persion and to relocate outlets farther downstream to help eliminate high
waste concentrations at points of intensified recreational use.
------- |