In brief: EPA faults draft discharge permits

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency objects to portions of draft pollution discharge permits that the state Department of Ecology issued for cities and mills on the Spokane River, but neither agency expects the issues to take long to resolve.

The EPA Office of Water and Watersheds in Seattle wrote this week that the draft permits do not go far enough to limit pollutants, such as phosphorus.

In September, Ecology issued a draft water-quality cleanup plan and four draft water-quality permits governing the release of pollutants for the next 20 years. The permits cover the cities of Spokane and Liberty Lake, plus Kaiser Aluminum’s Trentwood rolling mill and the Inland Empire Paper Co. mill.

Ecology spokeswoman Jani Gilbert said the agency hopes to issue final permits by the end of the year.

Rick Eichstaedt, a Center for Justice lawyer, said the EPA letter “confirms several of the concerns that the Sierra Club has raised throughout this long process.”

– Associated Press

Pullman

WSU freshmen can return to frat

Freshmen will return to one of two Washington State University fraternities involved in a series of brawls this fall, including an assault that left one student seriously injured and five others facing criminal charges.

Freshmen had been moved from the fraternities into dorms as a sanction against the houses. WSU announced Thursday that freshmen could return to Theta Chi, which was found by the Student Conduct Board to have committed one violation of the state administrative code.

The sanction remains in place at Delta Chi, which had three violations and was criticized in a university report for a “propensity for violence” and a failure to cooperate with investigators. The investigator wrote that the fraternity committed the “most egregious sorts of violations of the WSU Code of Conduct for Students.”

The decision follows an investigation into a series of altercations between members of the fraternities this fall. Last month, WSU moved nine freshmen from Delta Chi and 24 from Theta Chi into residence halls, citing safety concerns.

Student Conduct Board reports detail assaults committed by members of both houses this fall, concluding with an “unprovoked attack” on a member of Theta Chi by several members of Delta Chi. The victim suffered a broken jaw and possible nerve damage.

Five members of Delta Chi were arrested, and three face felony charges.

– Shawn Vestal

Stevens County

Panel OKs sales of state trust land

Washington’s Board of Natural Resources on Tuesday approved selling 160 acres of state trust land to Stevens County Public Utility District No. 1 for $568,000.

Although zoned for agriculture, the parcel has become surrounded by homes in the area off Staley Road, three miles north of Suncrest.

The state is also selling two parcels – a total of 79 acres – in the Bellingham area to Whatcom County, announced Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland. One will be designated for salmon habitat and the other for flood control.

– Rich Landers