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For Immediate Release – May 15, 2002
02 -- 07
Contact:
Mary Getchell, Puget Sound Action Team, (360) 407-7312, Pager: (360) 534-4161
Heidi Siegelbaum, Washington Department of Ecology (360) 407-6988
Mark MacIntyre, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (206) 553-7302
OLYMPIA – In an environmental indicators, or trends, report issued today, the United States and Canadian governments point to the number of people and what they do to natural resources as the primary environmental challenge facing the Puget Sound and Georgia Basin region.
The Transboundary Georgia Basin-Puget Sound Environmental Indicators Working Group released the first indicators report for the region, Georgia-Basin-Puget Sound Ecosystem Indicators Report.
"The natural ecosystem of the Georgia Basin and Puget Sound does not stop at international boundaries," said L. John Iani, a regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “We all share the environmental, social and economic challenges of the region."
The report examined six trends for the Puget Sound-Georgia Basin region, both in terms of population and its stresses on the environment.
Regional population – census data show that between 1991 and 2000, the region’s population grew by approximately 20 percent, for a total of 7 million people. Most of the growth has been in urban areas. By 2020, the population is projected to increase by another 32 percent to more than 9 million people. Most of the growth is predicted to occur in more rural areas.
Air pollution – in the past decade, the quality of air has improved, but significant health risks remain. Tiny, microscopic particulate matter (dust, soot and other particles) can harm people's breathing, damage lung tissue, exacerbate chronic health problems related to breathing and respiratory problems and contribute to premature death. In Puget Sound, the levels of this pollution have declined since 1994.
Solid wastes – even though the region’s population grew by 1 million in the last decade, both the amount of solid waste created by each person and the amount of waste that was recycled remained nearly the same. In 1999, residents in the Georgia Basin generated 3.4 million tons of solid waste and Puget Sound residents generated 5.4 million tons. That’s enough waste to cover four lanes of I-90 (60 feet wide), at a depth of 18 feet, for about 240 miles. In the Georgia Basin, residents recycle 43 percent of those wastes, and in the Puget Sound, people recycle 33 percent of those wastes.
Animals and plants at risk of extinction – many plants and animals are at a high risk of becoming extinct. For example, in the Georgia Basin, almost 35 percent of the freshwater fish are at risk of extinction compared to 18 percent of the freshwater fish in Puget Sound. Also, 12 percent of the reptiles in Georgia Basin may become extinct compared to 25 percent at risk of extinction in the Puget Sound. The development of houses and businesses along streams and shorelines has taken away the natural habitat for many of these animals and patterns of extinction follows the lands. The most notable patterns of extinction are in the lowlands that have less protection from development.
Protected areas – some areas are being protected from development and kept as preserved or open space areas under international guidelines, but most of those places are in upland areas, such as the slopes of the Cascades and Mt. Rainier. As of 2000, 1.75 million acres of land were protected in Georgia Basin and 2.45 million acres of land in the Puget Sound. Only one percent of the land that is less than 3,000 feet above sea level is protected. That is the area where most people live.
Harbor seals -- some harbor seals are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are highly persistent organic chemicals used primarily in electrical equipment (e.g. transformers). The U.S. and Canadian governments banned the use of PCBs in the mid-1970s. PCBs can harm aquatic organisms and accumulate in fish tissue. Puget Sound harbor seals have up to eight times the contamination of PCBs as their relatives to the north, in the Strait of Georgia. Scientists believe the difference between the levels of contamination in the seals is probably due to the higher levels of Puget Sound industrial discharges of PCBs prior to the ban on their use. Unfortunately, the PCB levels have remained constant for more than 14 years despite aggressive cleanup efforts.
“We need to change how we use land, energy, water and other natural resources to sustain our environment and economy," said Scott Redman, acting chair of the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team (Action Team). “With local communities we need to do a better job of planning on how we intend to use our land and natural resources more efficiently, while continuing to monitor our environment."
Governments in Canada and the U.S. plan to continue working together to address problems pointed out in the Ecosystem Indicators Report and examine other environmental aspects common to the region.
“Regulatory authority over fish, wildlife, air, water, soil, and public lands all tends to be assigned to separate agencies – which makes it too easy to lose sight of the big picture," said Linda Hoffman, deputy director of the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). “By coming together and sharing information, we now have a better picture of what’s going on in a very unique area of our region, and we can work together to make a difference."
The agencies involved in the report want to engage people and businesses in more meaningful ways to find solutions to environmental problems. The U.S. EPA, Ecology, Action Team, Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, British Columbia ministries of Water, Land and Air Protection and Sustainable Resource Management collaborated on the report.
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For more information: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/spd/docs/gbpsei.pdf or (800) 54-SOUND
Government agencies in the U.S. and Canada released a first-ever report on environmental indicators or trends in the Puget Sound and Georgia Basin.
The Georgia-Basin-Puget Sound Ecosystem Indicators Report examined six trends that affect the environmental, economic and social health of the region.
The report pointed to the increased people population that is threatening the region’s ecosystem.
For more information, contact the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team at 800-54-SOUND.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
