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Seafood processors seek limited mixing zones for bacteria limits; DEQ says dash-1 narrows pathway, conservation groups urge safeguards
Summary
House Bill 3,814 (dash-1) would allow DEQ and the Environmental Quality Commission to authorize a mixing zone for bacteria criteria when seafood processors discharge effluent from cold-blooded sources; industry and DEQ said the amendment narrows the request, while conservation groups called for additional safeguards.
House Bill 3,814, as amended (dash-1), would require the Environmental Quality Commission and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to allow a portion of a receiving water body to be treated as a mixing zone for bacteria criteria in permits for seafood processors. The issue centers on how bacteria indicators established to protect recreational contact and shellfish harvesting are applied where the effluent originates from processing cold‑blooded seafood rather than warm‑blooded sources.
Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, told the committee processors are not seeking an exemption from bacteria limits but are seeking a reasonable permitting pathway that accounts for the lower human-health risk associated with bacteria from nonhuman sources. "By not differentiating…
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