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Eric Urban, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Qual- ity Planning Bureau chief, said the state agency is collaborating with numerous regulatory agencies, stakeholders and researchers to develop a numeric protec- tive water quality standard for selenium that is speci c to Lake Koocanusa and its particular suite of aquatic species.
The trouble with regulating selenium isn’t that it’s di cult to measure, he said, but that its behavior varies wildly depending on whether it’s in a river or lake, while its e ects on sh and bird spe- cies also depend on a variety of factors.
Under the new EPA rule, that means researchers and regulators are faced not just with designing and adopting an aquatic standard for selenium, but designing that standard based on model- ing that accounts for the entire ecological food web to determine how the aquatic levels of selenium translate to the bioac- cumulation in the muscle and egg tissue of birds and eggs.
“This process involves cutting-edge science with regard to water quality cri- teria, so I would expect every state out there to take a very careful look at this,” Urban said. “Fortunately, we have solic- ited the best experts in the nation to work on this.”
According to the EPA, the new stan- dards re ect “the latest scienti c infor- mation” indicating that selenium toxic- ity is primarily based on sh and other aquatic life consuming tainted food rather than on the metallic compound dissolving in the water.
The agency recommended that states include four elements in their standards but give priority to sh tissue concentra- tions over water requirements. The 1999 criteria was only water-based.
The new standards drew mixed responses from industry and environ- mental groups.
The National Mining Association said it supported EPA’s “emphasis on a sh tis- sue standard, since sh after all are the point of the standards in the rst place.”
But the group is “troubled” by the agency’s new water guidelines, which could preclude companies from mining in certain areas, particularly ones where natural selenium levels are elevated.
The EPA guidelines do not go as far as environmental groups wanted.
The Center for Biological Diversity criticized the new water restrictions as not stringent enough. It accused EPA of relying on 30-year-old guidelines and said the agency had proposed tighter lim- its in 2010.
“These selenium standards are a step backward for water quality and little more than a green light for industry to keep polluting our rivers and streams,” said Brett Hartl, endangered species pol- icy director at the center.
The Sierra Club criticized EPA for leaving standards up to state regulators “who have already established that they will not miss an opportunity to aid their polluter friends in the mining industry.”
Hauer, the UM professor, is part of the research and monitoring group respon- sible for informing and coordinating
e orts between agencies in the U.S. and Canada as they grapple with adopting the new standard.
The group includes representatives from the EPA, DEQ, FWP, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, University of Montana, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and the Ktunaxa Nation of B.C., as well as Canada’s Ministry of Environment.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Confeder- ated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are push- ing the government to refer the impaired watershed surrounding Lake Koocanusa to the International Joint Commission.
In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry sent earlier this year, CSKT Chair- man Vernon Finley requested that the IJC establish an International Water- shed Board to examine and report on
the existing water quality in the Elk and Kootenai River watersheds, with equal representation across the international boundary from tribes, rst nations, agen- cies, and stakeholders.
The tribes made the request for bi-na- tional oversight pursuant to the Bound- ary Waters Treaty of 1909, which estab- lished the IJC to help prevent and resolve disputes about the use and quality of transboundary water resources.
Rich Janssen, director of CSKT’s Nat- ural Resources Department, said the CSKT council joined with the Ktunaxa National Council and the Council of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho in making the request.
“Our concern is that the risk to sh and wildlife, to cultural resources and to species important to human health is not being looked after,” Janssen said.
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
The Elk River near Sparwood, B.C. BEACON FILE PHOTO
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