Puget Sound struggles against tide of toxins

Every day, industry and municipal sewage treatment plants dump 1 billion gallons of wastewater tainted with toxic chemicals and oxygen-robbing nutrients into Puget Sound and its tributaries.

And it’s all perfectly legal.

The steady stream of wastewater from nearly 1,000 sources — ranging from giant oil refineries to boatyards — is allowed under a federal permitting system created with the passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act. These National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits, as they are called, are described by many as licenses to pollute.

For 150 years, Puget Sound has been a dumping ground for the commerce and communities that have grown up on its shores. While the wastewater generated by industry and people receives far better treatment today than it did even 20 years ago, it continues as a major contributor to the pollution problems that plague Puget Sound.

“Puget Sound is our front yard and our backyard and it’s being poisoned every day,” said Billy Frank Jr., a tribal leader and member of the Puget Sound Leadership Council charged with crafting a new Puget Sound cleanup plan by September 2008.
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