Ban The Boom? Cities, Facing Cleanup Crunch, Want To Know If Log Storage Contributes To Phosphorus In Lakes, Rivers

Are logs stored on Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River a threat to water quality downstream in Washington?

Sid Fredrickson, Coeur d’Alene’s wastewater superintendent, is itching to find out. Federal scientists want to research the question.

But they’re barking up the wrong tree as far as a timber industry spokesman is concerned.

“Those logs are every bit as natural as the water they’re floating in,” said Ken Kohli of the Intermountain Forest Industry Association. “I think somebody’s really reaching and maybe has other motives in mind when they suggest that logs are any kind of measurable contributor to phosphorus in the river system.”

For cities such as Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Spokane, the motive clearly is financial. They must pay dearly to filter 85 percent of phosphorus - which acts as a fertilizer - out of their wastewater. The goal is keep Long Lake, a Spokane River reservoir, free of algae blooms.

Removing those final pounds of phosphorus from their sewage effluent will be even more expensive for cities. Yet, they may be forced to do so. Because of population growth in the region, the amount of phosphorus going into Long Lake is expected to exceed the federal limit within 10 years.

So, wastewater officials are eager to see reductions in other sources of phosphorus, such as leaking septic tanks, runoff from shoreline development and erosion from logging and farming.

If log storage turns out to be a contributor, said Fredrickson, it’s only fair that the timber industry look for ways to limit the problem. It also might help pay for phosphorus removal, he said.

Phosphorus levels are lower in the main part of Lake Coeur d’Alene than at the point where the Spokane River flows from the lake.

That could be because strong currents there stir up sediment and organic matter, according to a 1993 report by Eastern Washington University researcher Ray Soltero.

It’s also likely, Soltero wrote, that logs stored at Cougar Bay near the outlet and in the river “contribute to the phosphorus-loading by direct leaching from exposed log surfaces as well as decaying bark and log deposits.”

There’s been limited research on the relationship between log storage and phosphorus, according to Soltero.

Roger Tinkey, a scientist with the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality, thinks it’s worth identifying the amount of phosphorus that the logs contribute. But “it’s one element of the big picture,” he said, not a major concern.

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey have proposed a thorough study of the river in Idaho, including more sampling for phosphorus. They’ve already found a spot at the bottom of Cougar Bay that’s completely lacking in oxygen in late summer - possibly because of rapid growth of aquatic weeds fertilized by phosphorus.

There are about 63 acres of log storage on Lake Coeur d’Alene, according to the state Department of Lands. The logs are destined for the Crown Pacific and Idaho Forest Industries sawmills. Louisiana-Pacific Corp. also stores logs along the Spokane River next to its Post Falls plant.

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