The Washington department of Ecology has been looking at a draft rule to change the fish consumption rates for state residents. Now the Governor is chiming in. Governor Inslee is proposing standards that mirror Ecology’s draft rule and is tying it to a toxics reduction plan.
Rob Duff of the Governors office says the plan will look at ways to get to the actual source of chemicals that pose a threat to human health from getting into state waterways.
Duff: “This state was one for the first to tackle the problem of copper on brake pads. There’s a source that’s widely distributed, copper comes off the brakes it hits the road, and rolls into the water an impacts salmon.”
Currently the state standard regulates dischargers based on a fish consumption rate of about one meal of fish per month. The new standards would raise that to a level of one meal per day.
The Toxic Reductions initiative will go before Washington lawmakers for approval.
