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Spokane River PCB Water Quality Improvement Project
Spokane
River Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB)
Water Quality Improvement Project
(also known as TMDL)
The Spokane River flows from its source at Lake Coeur
d’Alene, Idaho to the city of Spokane, Washington.
It then flows northwesterly through Lake Spokane and the Spokane
Tribe of Indian’s reservation to its confluence with the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake impoundment of the Columbia River.
The river drains an area of about 6,640 square miles in two
states. Approximately 2,295 square miles are within Washington
with the remainder of the watershed in Idaho.
The Spokane River contains elevated levels of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) in surface water, sediments, fish tissue,
and in effluents being discharged to the river. The Washington
State Department of Ecology (Ecology) first documented PCB
contamination in fish tissue two decades ago, and numerous
investigations by Ecology and others have been conducted to
evaluate the extent of the contamination.
Most of the Spokane River fish analyzed for PCBs fail to
meet state surface water quality standards that were
established to protect beneficial uses of surface waters, such
as fish consumption. Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water
Act (CWA) requires Washington to periodically prepare a list of
all surface waters in the state for which beneficial uses are
impaired by pollutants.
Waters placed on the 303(d) list require the development of
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), a key tool in the work to
clean up polluted waters.
The Problem
Why PCBs are a concern in the Spokane River.
The Solution
How a total maximum daily load (TMDL) study will help with the PCB issue.
The Status
What is being done to reduce PCB levels in the Spokane River.
Technical
Information
Tools being used in the TMDL process.
Upcoming Events
none at this time
Related
Links
Information related to the Spokane River PCB cleanup project.