Spokane Riverkeeper files notice to sue Washington Department of Transportation over polluted stormwater from highway construction.
On behalf of Spokane Riverkeeper, the Gonzaga University Environmental Law Clinic has filed notice with the Washington Department of Transportation that it intends to file a Clean Water Act lawsuit to stop illegal stormwater discharges to two Spokane River tributaries. Specifically, the notice alleges that WDOT has “failed to take adequate steps” to prevent pollution-laden stormwater (draining from land that has been disturbed for construction of the U.S. 395 North Spokane Corridor Project) from entering and visibly polluting Deadman Creek and the Little Spokane River. Deadman Creek is a tributary to the Little Spokane River in north Spokane, and the Little Spokane River is a tributary to the Spokane River.
“Just to be clear,” said Spokane Riverkeeper Rick Eichstaedt, “this is not a suit to try to stop or otherwise impede construction of the new highway. The problem is that WDOT and its contractors have clear legal duties under the Clean Water Act to prevent sediments and other pollutants from spewing into these streams, and they’re not doing it. Deadman Creek and the Little Spokane are not Third World drainage ditches. These are streams that contribute to the aesthetic and ecological values that recreational users and property owners in Spokane have every right to expect, by law.”
Both Deadman Creek and the Little Spokane are currently listed as out of compliance with state water quality standards.
“The fact that both streams are subject to water quality remediation plans is all the more reason WDOT and its contractors should have been paying attention to prevent polluted stormwater from pouring into these waterways,” Eichstaedt said. “Of course, any pollution dumped into Deadman Creek and the Little Spokane just heads downstream to the Spokane River, which is also subject to stringent water quality remediation plans.”
Among other things, the notice letter alleges the WSDOT and its contractors have violated the project’s construction permit by failing to employ best management practices and install adequate control measures to mitigate stormwater pollution.
“BMP’s [Best Management Practices] have not been put in place on downward slopes along the Road Project to provide proper sediment control,” the notice states. “The slopes are either completely uncovered, or inadequately covered, and therefore during storm events water easily flows down the slopes carrying sediment and discharges into Deadman Creek and/or the Little Spokane river. Additionally, vegetation has been removed from the slopes without any alternative sediment control measures put in place.”
The notice includes photographs of drainage piping apparently used to route stormwater directly into streams, and eye-witness accounts of stormwater events during which citizens reported that stream water turned “dark brown” or “bright green” as a result of pollution. One of the eye witness accounts comes from Spokane Riverkeeper member and former County Plan Commission chairwoman Lindell Haggin who contacted Eichstaedt after she observed dark brown water in Deadman Creek in early January. Haggin does volunteer water quality sampling for the Spokane County Conservation district on both Deadman Creek and the Little Spokane River.
“At least two areas of concern have been identified by Riverkeeper along the 10-mile road project,” the notice reports. The first is at a newly constructed culvert where the project encounters Deadman Creek in the “US 2 Section.” The second is at the “Wandermere Section” of the project where the Wandermere golf course abuts the Little Spokane River where the road project “features significant grading on a steep de-vegetated slope.”
Both Eichstaedt and Mike Chappell, the law clinics director, say they’re especially disappointed in the extent of the observed violations given how much public money is involved.
“This is a high profile project that has sufficient funding to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act,” says Chappell. “The project recently received a substantial amount [$35 million] of stimulus money from the federal government, so the Department of Transportation has no excuses for not complying with environmental laws and protecting our natural resources.”
Eichstaedt and Chappell noted that the investigations leading to the notice letter are part of the Spokane Riverkeeper and the law clinic’s emphasis on detecting and correcting industrial and construction stormwater pollution in the Spokane River basin.
“The Washington Department of Ecology has only issued four permits for industrial stormwater in Spokane County,” Eichstaedt noted. “But we estimate they’re at least dozens and possibly hundreds of sources that should be subject to permits.”
–CFJ
Editor’s note: the pdf copy of the NOI provided in the story excludes photos in the official version, on account of file size restrictions associated with our server.
