Commissioners, DOE discuss water rights, biosolids

Wahkiakum County commissioners and officials from the state Department of Ecology discussed a variety of issues ranging from water rights to biosolids management in a meeting Tuesday.

Salley Toteff, Ecology's regional director for southwestern Washington, visited the commissioners to talk about hot local issues.

--The department is going to re-design proposals that have generated controversy in planning to manage watershed in the Grays, Elochoman and Cowlitz river basins.

--The department is preparing to act on an application to apply a type of biosolid on a Grays River ranch even as county commissioners prepare for a public hearing on a new ordinance to control application of the biosolids.

--The state agency continues to offer funding for county programs such as recycling even as it cuts services because of state budget problems.

Toteff said the department is going to review data and assumptions used in proposing minimum stream flows in the river basins.

Western water law complicates the issues, with older water rights having seniority over new rights, she said. A balance is needed to maintain stream flows and still allow for domestic and commercial water use and overall development, she said.

The commission and the Town of Cathlamet have had representatives on the regional board working on the issues. David Vik, town representative, said the town's rights are in good condition.

Toteff said the department is no longer proposing that meters be installed on private wells in the region, a proposal that drew fire from property rights activists.

There is a law that allows the department to do that, she said, and the department does require meters for wells serving irrigators, industry and so on.

Ecology staff should act in the next week on the permit to dispose septage biosolids on a Grays River Ranch, said Toteff and regional solid waste manager Peter Lyon.

Septage is human waste from septic tanks. It is treated with industrial lime to kill pathogens and can be used as a fertilizer under permitted circumstances. Class B biosolids receive more treatment and may be applied in permitted circumstances. Class A biosolids have the most treatment and may be applied without a permit.

The proposed county ordinance would restrict where septage biosolids could be applied.

No sewage sludge or septage not meeting the definition of Class A or Class B biosolids could be applied to any land in the county unless it is licensed by the state, it is applied in areas more than 1000 feet from real property belonging to any person without control over authority to which the sewage sludge or septage is being applied, and it is not in an area of special flood hazard.

Toteff and Lyon said they would have staff review the proposed ordinance and submit written comments. They added that scientific research has shown that biosolids ares a safe, effective fertilizer when handled properly.

Commissioner Dan Cothren commented that there are still some unknowns, such as how game animals such as deer and elk might fare on ground treated with septage. It is possible there could be some contamination that could affect humans, he said.

"Class A, okay; Class B, no," he said. "There are too many unknowns; that's my concern. I don't want to be responsible for someone's illness or death."

Westend resident and candidate for commissioner Lori Scott asked about the possibility of septage being swept down stream in a flood and contaminating an organic farm or other human endeavor.

Lyon replied that septage is applied as a liquid and is absorbed quickly into the ground and vegetation. Application isn't allowed near bodies of water and in flood zones, he added.

In other issues, Toteff reported that Ecology had written the US Bankruptcy Court in Houston to announce it has denied the Bradwood Landing pipeline water quality certification.

NorthernStar Natural Gas, which has filed for bankruptcy in Houston, proposed building a receiving plant for liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments at Bradwood, Ore., near Puget Island, operating as Bradwood Landing. It then proposed construction of a pipeline that would have crossed part of Cowlitz County to take the gas to market.

Toteff said the action means that anyone purchasing NorthernStar assets will have to go through the permitting process again. Bradwood Landing hadn't completed the permitting, the letter said.