Conflict continues over Puget Sound waste discharge regulations

Joe Teehan

KGMIAP Photo/Ted S. WarrenMaia Bellon, director of the Washington state Department of Ecology, talks to reporters at the Des Moines Marina in 2016. Washington state officials said that they have petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to designate the waters of Puget Sound a "no discharge zone," which would mean boaters and vessel operators would not be able to release sewage, treated or untreated, into Puget Sound.

2-19-2019

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Several environmental groups are joining the EPA in fighting a lawsuit that challenges rules against boats dumping human waste into Puget Sound.

The Department of Ecology last year declared much of the Puget Sound a No Discharge Zone, and the EPA has found that there are enough pump-out stations around the sound to accommodate the rule.

But KING 5 reports some tugboat companies are suing over the rule, saying it’ll increase their costs without much benefit.

One of the environmental groups, Puget Soundkeeper, says discharges make shellfish unsafe to eat and beaches unsafe to swim in.