Toxics Reduc
Newsletter
1-10-003
September 2010
Photo by Susan Hess
In This Issue:
Working Together
to Reduce Toxics in the
Columbia River Basin
Come to September 21
Toxics Reduction
Working Group meeting
- Goldendale, WA
Maryhill Museum's
Native American Gallery
Columbia River
Restoration Act of 2010
Unity - a poem
by Dave Densmore
Pharmaceuticals: Out of
Water, Out of the Medicine
Cabinet, Off the Streets
Places of the
Columbia River Basin -
The Salmon River
Washington State Moving
Forward With Monitoring
for Persistent
Bioaccumulative Toxics
For More Information:
Mary Lou Soscia
Columbia River Coordinator
soscia.marvlou@epa.qov
503-326-5873
Debra Sherbina
Community Involvement
sherbina.debra@epa.(
206-553-0247
www.epa.qov/reqion10/columbia
Working Together to Reduce Toxics
in the Columbia River Basin
The magnificent and precious Columbia River
Basin is one of the world's great river basins,
covering a major part of the North American
landscape. The Basin is contaminated with
many toxic pollutants that threaten the health of
people, fish, and wildlife. Subsistence fishing by
tribal people provides an even greater threat to
tribal communities who have depended on fish
for many generations. To protect people and the
environment, EPA created the Columbia River
Toxics Reduction Strategy to reduce toxics in
Basin fish, water, and sediment. A large, diverse
group of partners, including state, tribal, and local
governments; other federal agencies; the Lower
Columbia River Estuary Partnership; citizen
groups; and industry, is now collaborating on
actions to reduce toxics throughout the Basin.
Come to September 21 Working Group Meeting -
Goldendale, WA
The next meeting of the Columbia River Toxics Reduction Working Group will be
held Tuesday, September 21, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the lovely Maryhill Museum in
Goldendale, WA. Presentations include:
• Merlin Berg of the Wy'East Resource Conservation & Development Council to discuss
• the organophosphate reductions achieved with the Integrated Fruit Production
Network;
• the Working Group will present the 2010 Columbia River Hero Award;
• an update on the September public release of the Columbia River Basin Toxics
Reduction Action Plan;
• an update on EPA Lower Columbia River Superfund Site Assessment Work;
• an update on EPA Upper Columbia River Monitoring Work; and
• Brett VandenHeuvel of Columbia Riverkeeper will share observations and lessons
learned from his three weeks in the Gulf of Mexico.
httos://twi tter.com/EPAcolumbia
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Columbia River Toxics Reduction Newsletter
Maryhill Museum's Native American Gallery
by Mary Schlick
The Native American gallery at Maryhill
Museum of Art is noted for its fine
collection of American Indian baskets.
One of the largest displays of such basketry
in the world, it often surprises visitors with
the array of tribal groups represented. In
museums with larger collections, much is
in storage. Maryhill, too, has baskets in
storage. However, the rotunda designed
to serve as a garage for Sam Hill's stately
home offered Maryhill an unusual space to
exhibit a broad variety of fine works from
tribes across the continent.
Because of its importance to the region,
the work of the Columbia River and
Plateau peoples are featured near the
entrance to the gallery. A major portion
of these items were given to Maryhill
by descendants of an Upper Chinookan
leader from the Hood River area, as well
as by other Gorge residents who were this
family's friends and neighbors.
These works of art and skill enriched the
daily lives of those who were first to live
in the Columbia Gorge. They continue to
enrich our lives today.
Basket weaver Nah-Wy-Yatt Tahkeal with Fidelia Meninick at
Celilo. Photo by James Rayner, 1950.
Klikitat basket of berries. Photo by
W.T. Schlick
Klikitat baskets at Maryhill. Photo by Mary Schlick
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September 2010
Unity
By Dave Dens more
As I looked out across our quiet, sparkling river
I remembered the sound of engines in the past,
And the sight of the water born lights twinkling
Signs of a profession, we thought would forever last.
Columbia... river of light and sound, teeming with life,
As harvesters rendezvoused with fish,
So those not so fortunate to harvest their own,
Could still have this beautiful, bounty on their dish.
These men continue to do the work they love,
Although there are so many trying to shut them down.
Doesn't it seem counterproductive to eliminate
The strongest advocates, the river has ever found.
We've been divided, and almost conquered,
By industry's, self interested, hype.
Forgetting we're all on the same page.
No matter the reason, or fishing gear type.
But now we've all stood united,
Sports, Commercial fishermen, and guides,
Protecting something precious we all love,
Refusing the wool pulled over our eyes.
We're holding off LNG and wet land dredging,
Showing the impact of united voice,
Joining hands and making a difference,
Refusing to surrender our right of choice.
Ahh, wouldn't it be great to continue
To show this vigilant united might?
We CAN, because sport AND commercial
Are actually, BOTH on the side of right.
We're all striving for a clean healthy river,
And strong plentiful runs of fish,
We ALL want the same damn thing!
So what could be more right than this?
I say to all, we are not each others enemy,
And common sense must prevail,
Or we could still, all end up losers,
The struggles and fighting.. .to no avail.
Whither fisherman, boater, or simply,
Someone who loves the river, for beauty's sake,
Let's quit fighting each other, unite and STOP,
Those who, just come here to take.
This river and strong fish runs, our heritage,
To harvest however we each may choose.
But we must stand strong.. .TOGETHER,
There is far too much to lose.
We are all the people of the river,
Responsible for her continued recovery and health,
With clean water and plentiful fish runs,
THAT, is our true heritage, our great Northwest wealth.
Dave Densmore
http://www.davedensmorefishermanpoet.com/
March 30, 2009
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Columbia River Toxics Reduction Newsletter
Pharmaceuticals: Out of Water, Out of the Medicine Cabinet, Off the Streets
By Susan Hess
My dental surgeon gave me a
prescription for 20 oxycontin
tablets when he put in a dental
implant two years ago. Having
little pain, I only took two pills.
Six months later, I had to get two
more implants. The office gave me
a handful of prescriptions. One of
which, it turns out, was another
20 oxycontin. But I didn't find that
out until I got home from the drug
store and compared bottles. Again
used two. I don't want to trouble
you with the whole story, but a
year later one of the implants had
to be replaced. Surgery. Left office
with fistful of prescriptions. Used
one pill.
The handful of prescriptions the
dentist had given me also included
an antibiotic, which I quickly
found out I was allergic to, and
I was left with an almost full
bottle of clindamycin. Luckily my
insurance covered the cost, but
I didn't want the remaining pills
in the house. It didn't seem like a
good idea to put them in the trash
and certainly not flush them down
the toilet.
Studies around the country
confirmed the fear that all the
Pharmaceuticals entering our rivers
and lakes were harming fish and
other aquatic life. Pharmaceuticals
are designed to alter biological
processes. People use more and
more drugs every year.
Spring 2009 when I was looking
for a way to dispose of my
medications, I read about an
Oregon statewide Drug Turn-In
Day http://www.orpartnership.
org/web/CARSA/drug.take.back.
program.asp planned for March 13.
Thirty-one Oregon communities
would be holding collection
events. I took all the oxycontin, the
clindamycin, and some other no
longer needed pills and over-the-
counter medications to The Dalles,
the site nearest us.
In that one day, almost 2400
people across Oregon turned in
two tons of medications, said
Leanna Lindquist, President,
Oregon Medical Association
Alliance http://www.theoma.org/
Page.asp?NavID=40, one of the
event sponsors. People brought
all types of Pharmaceuticals:
antibiotics, allergy medications,
pain control meds, heart meds,
blood pressure, etc. The police
were a key element of the program,
because only law enforcement
officials can handle the returned
narcotics, like oxycontin. The
drugs were taken to Albany and
incinerated.
continued on page 5
National Take Back Initiative: Saturday, September 25, 2010. The
DBA coordinating with state and local law enforcement agencies
is holding collection events from 10:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. at
sites throughout the country. To find a site near you: http://www.
deadiversion.usdoi.gov/takeback/
The following places do not take controlled substances:
• Metro: Portland, Oregon
• Some Safeways in Portland and Vancouver, Washington
• Newberg, Oregon is working with the long term care facilities in
a medication take back program.
• disposemymeds.org http://www.disposemymeds.org/ lists
pharmacies around the country that take unwanted consumer
medications
• If there is not a disposal site or event near you, the website Smart
Disposal http://www.smarxtdisposal.net/ shows how to dispose
of medicines that protect you and the environment.
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September 2010
Pharmaceuticals: Out of Water, Out of the
Medicine Cabinet, Off the Streets, continued
A number of turn-in programs have recently
started, driven by the fact that for diverse
interest groups they solve problems: social and
environmental. For example, in Astoria, Oregon,
The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership
http://www.lcrep.org/about-us received a $40,000
grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. The grant funds a one year medication
turn-in program. Hospice patients are given
envelopes to put medications in that they no
longer need; the envelopes go to the Astoria Police
Department.
The program combines the needs of hospice, the
police department and the Estuary Partnership,
said Debrah Marriott, the Estuary Partnership's
Executive Director. The Estuary Partnership's
mission is preserving and enhancing the Columbia
River estuary's water quality for its biological and
human communities. This program offers a way to
keep Pharmaceuticals from getting into the river.
The police want to reduce street use of
Pharmaceuticals. For hospice patients and their
families, the program provides a way to safely
dispose of medications. At the end of life, patients'
medications change quickly, a patient can easily
take the wrong medication and families can be left
with many unused medications. Lindquist adds
another reason families should get rid of unused
medications, "We explain to some people: You
know, the reason your teenage nephew wants to
use your upstairs bathroom is the vicodin in that
medicine cabinet."
The take-back programs will solve only part of the
problem. Pharmaceuticals get into our rivers and
lakes because our bodies excrete them. At this time
waste water treatment plants don't filter them out.
Farm animals also excrete them, if fed hormones
and antibiotics. A hospital nurse who asked to
remain anonymous says some nurses put narcotics
down the drain, because they don't want 'the
patients licking the trash.'
What do we do with our medications so that
we don't give them to the fish or to our teenage
nephews? So far, turn-in programs are rare (see box
for one coming up). But these programs' ability
to solve problems for many people as well as the
public participation in them may encourage more to
start up.
Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction
Action Plan
EPA will be releasing the Final Columbia River Toxics
Reduction Action Plan on September 23, 2010, at the
Umatilla Indian Reservation, Pendleton, OR, in a
collaborative press event with EPA Region 10 Regional
Administrator Dennis McLerran and the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation who have
provided national leadership on human health protection
and toxics reduction. This collaborative action plan,
developed over the past 2 years by the Columbia River
Toxics Reduction Working Group, is a follow up the
Columbia River Basin State of the River Report for Toxics
and includes 5 initiatives and over 60 actions to reduce
toxics in the Columbia River Basin. Thanks to all who
have worked hard for the past couple of years to make this
report a reality. After the official release, the Action Plan
will be found on the EPA's Columbia River website: www.
epa.gov/regionlO/columbia and printed copies will be
available by contacting Mary Lou Soscia or Deb Sherbina.
Columbia River Restoration Act of
2010
The Columbia River Restoration Act was
introduced in the U.S. Congress earlier this year
(HR 4652 and S 3055) to provide Congressional
authorization for a collaborative toxics reduction
work effort in the Columbia River Basin. The bill
builds upon and works with the Lower Columbia
River National Estuary Program. The bill was
first introduced in the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee and Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee on February 24,
2010. On June 29, 2010, the Senate Committee
approved the proposed legislation.
In the Congressional process, the next steps for
this proposed legislation would be action by
the full Senate, action by the House Committee
and action by the full House for final passage of
the Bill. Find the Senate version at: http://www.
govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=sl 11-3550; and
the House version can be found at: http://www.
govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hl 11-4652.
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Columbia River Toxics Reduction Newsletter
Places of the Columbia River Basin -
The Salmon River
Despite taking up only six percent of the land area of the
Columbia River Basin, the Salmon River basin provides
more anadromous fish spawning area than any other
subbasin in the Columbia River Basin. The Salmon River
basin encompasses a rich network of tributaries: East Fork,
Pahsimeroi, Lemhi, North Fork, Middle Fork, South Fork
and Little Salmon Rivers; and Valley, Yankee Fork, Panther,
Chamberlain, Slate and Allison Creeks.
The Salmon River is the greatest of Snake River tributaries
and a crown jewel in the Columbia River ecosystem. It is
America's longest undammed river outside Alaska that
flows without major diversions. The river originates in the
Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho near 12,662 foot high
Mount Borah and flows 410 miles north and west. After
flowing west through the River of No Return Wilderness, it
enters the Snake River in the Hells Canyon Reach. At just
over 14,000 square miles, the Salmon River subbasin is the
largest in the Columbia River system, excluding the Snake
River. Public lands account for over 90 percent of the land
area of the subbasin, and the Frank Church-River of No
Return Wilderness Area—one of the five wilderness areas
within the basin—is the largest in the contiguous United
States. These large protected areas not only provide refuge
for wild salmon, but serve as habitat strongholds for wildlife,
some imperiled or absent across much of their historic range.
The watershed produces 39 percent of the spring Chinook
salmon, 45 percent of the summer Chinook salmon, and
25 percent of summer steelhead. Historically, anadromous
fish were significant sources of nutrients for other fish
species and wildlife in the subbasin. Many resident salmon
populations in the Salmon subbasin's undeveloped areas
are recognized as some of the strongest in the region. Yet
the salmon and steelhead trout in these areas are listed
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as a result of the
impact of their migration through the eight hydroelectric
dams on the mainstem Columbia and Lower Snake Rivers
(part of the Federal Columbia River Power System) and
other habitat impacts from mining, grazing, irrigation, road
building and logging. High sedimentation is the major water
quality impact in the Salmon River. Snake River Sockeye
are listed as Endangered under the ESA and Spring/Summer
Chinook, Fall Chinook, and Summer Steelhead are listed as
Threatened.
The Salmon River watershed is yet another reminder of the
magnificence and diversity of the Columbia River Basin.
Johnson Creek, a tributary to the South Fork Salmon
River Subbasin, is important to the Nez Perce Tribe for
Summer Chinook Salmon
^B Salmon Suobaiir
I 1 Co ^r,za R'»erBasin
Location of the Salmon subbasin, Idaho, within the
Columbia River basin.
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September 2010
Washington State Moving Forward With Monitoring
for Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics
The Washington Department of Ecology initiated the
Washington State Toxics Monitoring Program in 2000
to investigate the occurrence and concentrations of toxic
chemicals in the State's waterbodies. One objective of the
Monitoring Program is to conduct trend monitoring for
persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBT). PBTs are compounds
that degrade slowly, travel long distances, and tend to build
up in tissue. They can have adverse health effects on humans,
fish, and wildlife. Ecology identified 27 substances on their
PBT list www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/pbt/.
Ecology began trend monitoring for mercury (Hg) in 2005. In
2007, PBT trend monitoring was expanded to include organic
compounds, including chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and lead were
added to the program in 2008. Evaluating trends in chemical
concentrations over time is important in determining
whether we're reducing toxics and helps us prioritize where
reduction actions may be of most benefit. Find more detailed
information on the program at www.ecy.wa .gov/program s/eap/
toxics/wstmp.htm.
Sampling for organic compounds was done at 12 sites during
the spring and fall of 2007 and 2008. Eight of the monitoring
sites were in the Columbia River Basin: 5 rivers (Okanogan
River, Spokane River, Wenatchee River, Yakima, and Walla
Walla) and 3 on the Main Stem of the Columbia (near Rock
Island Dam, near McNary Dam, and near Clatskanie, OR).
The analyses for temporal trends in organic compounds will
not occur until after the fourth year of sampling (2011).
The study evaluated the data looking at several areas:
frequency of chemical detections; spatial patterns; seasonal
patterns; comparison with water quality standards; and a site
scoring index developed by Ecology. This article only reports
the frequency of detection; number of sites above EPA human
health criteria; and Ecology site scoring.
Conclusions
• The widest varieties of chemicals were detected in the
Lower Columbia and Walla Walla Rivers.
Similar seasonal variations were seen in both 2007 and
2008, with more chemicals detected in the spring than in
the fall -- except PBDEs.
• The highest concentrations of chemicals were found in the
same waterbodies in both 2007 and 2008.
Only four chemicals exceeded EPA's national
recommended human health based criteria; PCBs in all
water bodies except the Queets; Dieldrin in the Yakima;
Toxaphene in the Walla Walla; and DDE at Rock Island
Dam (2007), Okanogan (2008), Yakima (2007), and Walla
Walla (2008).
Detection Frequency for Chemicals
100% -i
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Total
PCBs
Total
DDTs
Total
PBDEs
PAHs
Number of Sites Above EPA Human
Health Criteria
2008 Ecology Site Contaminant Score
Spokane
Walla Walla
McNary Dam
Lake Washington
Clatskanie
Okanogan
Yakima
Rock Island Dam
Duwamish
Wenatchee
Snohomish
Queets
0 5 10
Contaminant Score
15
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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 10
1200 6th Avenue, Suite 900
Seattle, Washington 98101
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