Retired expert questions Clallam plan to clean bay

By Ken Short/Peninsula Daily News

A retired Sequim resident with 30 years experience as a watershed and river basin planner says bacterial pollution in Dungeness Bay appears to be caused my marine mammal and bird waste- not septic systems.

Milton Griffing, who retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that based on his "casual observations," the plan to create a clean water district is a waste of resources.

But County Commissioner Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim, said state law is mandating the creation of a shellfish protection area.  "We're behind and we're not doing as much as we can," Tharinger said.

Despite the mandate, Griffing said the planned clean water district is not needed.  

"If you clean the Dungeness River down to where you have zero pollution at the mouth, you would still have a very large pollution problem in the bay,"  Griffing told county commissioners during a workshop Monday.

Marine life, birds to blame?

"From my casual observations, the pollution is probably caused by marine mammals and birds," Griffing said.

A large number of seals and sea lions reportedly live in the bay, and many of them have been spotted on beaches at the tip of Dungeness Spit.  The spit is also a federal sanctuary for thousands of birds.

Tharinger said state law required the formation of a shellfish protection district but that commissioners plan to extend its boundaries to create a clean water district.

The district will be funded by state grants, he said.

"Right now, we don't have a smoking gun," Tharinger said of the non-point pollution that has closed commercial shellfish harvesting in Dungeness Bay.

The district, if approved, would include Strait of Juan de Fuca tributaries from Bagley Creek east to the Sequim Bay watershed.  Other bodies of water within the district are the Dungeness and Greywolf rivers and McDonald, Matriotti, Meadowbrook, Cooper, Cassalery, Gierin, Bell, Johnson, Dean and Jimmycomelately creeks.

County commissioners are planning a May 8 public hearing on the proposed Sequim Bay-Dungeness Clean Watershed Water District.  

Public hearing set today

Commissioners are expected to officially set the public hearing date at their regular meeting today.  The meeting is set to begin at 10 a.m. in Clallam County Courthouse Room 160, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

Tharinger said the county will rely on grants, loans and volunteers to fund and implement clean water programs.

To counter possible tax proposals, the city of Sequim and county agreed to work together on pollution control programs.

Under the agreement, the city reserves the right to reject any clean water fees, rates or charges affecting Sequim residents.  

Still, Griffing said the county should commission a thorough scientific study to determine whether the district is necessary.

Griffing also accused county officials of making the proposed district too large.

"They should not impose all this additional bureaucracy in the east county that is not really involved in it," he said. "Why set up something requiring manpower and taxes that will not work."

from Peninsula Daily News

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