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Aquaculture Wastewater Discharge Permit in Idaho

Release Date: 4/10/1998
Contact Information: Carla Fromm
fromm.carla@epamail.epa.gov
(208) 378-5755

April 10, 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 98-15


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A wastewater discharge permit for the aquaculture industry throughout Idaho was proposed today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a move that has special relevance for ongoing efforts to reduce the amount of phosphorous in the Middle Snake River.

The proposed permit was announced today by Bob Robichaud, manager of EPA's permits unit at the agency's Northwest regional headquarters in Seattle.

Because most of Idaho's commercial trout hatcheries are clustered around Twin Falls, Robichaud said the effect of the proposed aquaculture permit will be felt most heavily in the mid-Snake watershed where EPA wastewater discharge permits are pending for eight other dischargers whose wastewater includes phosphorous.

Attempts to reduce phosphorous loadings in the Middle Snake watershed are intended to improve water quality, Robichaud declared. As things stand now, the phosphorous entering the river is one of the major nutrients that promotes the growth of vegetation. Often, Robichaud said, the vegetation is so heavy that it turns some reaches along the mid-Snake into a bog, and drives up water temperatures and reduces oxygen levels, with lethal results for aquatic life.

According to estimates by Idaho state officials, the trout hatcheries and other aquaculture operations discharge about 1600 pounds of phosphorous into the mid-Snake each day.

"The intent of the mid-Snake aquaculture permit is to control pollution with good management practices," Robichaud said. "It is more efficient and cost effective to reduce the discharge of nutrients than to clean up the damage caused by uncontrolled discharges of pollutants to the river."

Robichaud said the aquaculture permits stem from efforts of a citizens's advisory group and state and federal agencies that have worked together since 1991 to develop a nutrient reduction plan for the Middle Snake watershed. EPA's proposed permits reflect the plan which was approved by EPA last April as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The allocations in the TMDL, Robichaud explained, set the phosphorous limits in the permits.

Doug Howard, Twin Falls regional administrator of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality, responded to the news of the EPA permit proposal with this comment:

• "The proposed permit is one of the first big steps toward implementing the state's TMDL. Developing the permit has been a collaborative effort between the agencies and we are looking forward to receiving input from the public."

In preparing the proposed permit, EPA distinguished between large and small aquaculture facilities. EPA proposed classifying them into four categories, the largest for those that produce more than a million pounds of fish each year, and the smallest for those operations with an annual fish production of between 20,000 and 100,000 pounds.

According to information available to EPA, the 13 facilities that produce more than one million pounds of fish a year account for more than 60 percent of the total production in Idaho.

The proposed EPA permit would require those 13 producers to monitor their discharges to the Middle Snake more frequently than the small dischargers. Purpose of the monitoring would be to quantify how much phosphorous or other nutrients, as well as other potentially damaging substances were being discharged as waste into the river. For example, where the largest dischargers would be required to conduct monitoring once a week, the smallest dischargers would be required to monitor once a year.

The wastewater discharge permit being proposed for the aquaculture industry along the mid-Snake is part of the overall effort to implement the Middle Snake TMDL -- modifying the permits of all dischargers to the river.

Last September, EPA proposed permits for the J. R. Simplot and the McCain Foodservice potato processing plants in Burley, and to municipal sewage treatment plants that serve Twin Falls, Jerome, Buhl, Filer, Hagerman and Hansen. Effluent limits proposed by those permits would cut phosphorous concentrations in the Simplot and McCain Foodservice discharges by 20 percent, and would require a 34 percent decrease in phosphorous discharged from the municipal treatment plants.

All permits -- for the potato processors, municipal treatment plants and aquaculture facilities -- have requirements that the permit holder must adhere to the five year compliance schedule to meet phosphorous limits and must also adopt a Best Management Practices plan that will include prescribed monitoring. The aquaculture permit being proposed today is a general permit that would replace existing wastewater discharge permits for individual hatcheries and other facilities.

Robichaud said EPA will accept public comment on the proposed permit until June 9. The permit will be the subject of public discussion during the afternoon and evening of May 12 at the offices of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality (601 Pole Line Road) in Twin Falls. From 1:30 to 5 p.m., EPA will conduct a workshop for individuals where EPA and state officials will explain the purpose and requirements of the permit. From 7 to 9 p.m., EPA will hold a public hearing to take testimony from interested parties.

Copies of the proposed aquaculture permit are available on EPA's Internet Home Page at the following address:

Requests for copies can be made by telephone to EPA's office in Boise --- (208) 378-5755 -- or from the agency's regional headquarters in Seattle --- (800) 424-4372.

The proposed permits contain instructions on how written comments are to be submitted.