Latest from The Spokesman-Review

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  Spokane River Cleanup yields heaps of trash

  September 27, 2009 in City on Page B1 Santa, someone found your key. Volunteer Russ Posten was scouring the banks of Latah Creek near High Bridge Park Saturday as part of the annual Spokane River Cleanup when he …

• Volunteers find river of trash

  September 26, 2009 in City Santa, someone found your key. Volunteer Russ Posten was scouring the banks of Latah Creek near High Bridge Park Saturday as part of the annual Spokane River Cleanup when he … 1

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  State releases clean river plan

  September 16, 2009 in Idaho on Page A1 The Washington Department of Ecology unveiled a plan Tuesday to curtail algae-producing phosphorus in the Spokane River and improve dissolved oxygen levels for fish. Under the plan, which needs state … 2

• Where the Spokane River’s pollution comes from

  September 16, 2009 in City on Page A12 Municipal and industrial

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  Phosphate detergent ban seems to be working

  August 16, 2009 in City on Page A1 The storyline of the near-ban on phosphorus in dish detergent in Spokane County has focused on scofflaws sneaking Cascade across the state line in a dogged attempt to keep their … 9

• Low phosphates helping, official says

  May 16, 2009 in Washington Voices on Page V1 It’s the ruling that made a typically domestic operation take on tones of a back-ally smuggler’s ring. Since the ban on selling high-phosphate dishwater detergent in Spokane County went into …

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  Law extends time limit for Spokane River cleanup

  May 12, 2009 in Business on Page A1 OLYMPIA – A new law will relax the deadline for cleaning up the Spokane River and other waterways, allowing more time for some measures to take effect. Without the change, … 1

• Spokane River cleanup could take longer

  February 20, 2009 in Idaho on Page A7 A proposal in the Washington Legislature would relax the deadline for cleaning up the Spokane River and other state waterways, allowing wastewater dischargers up to 20 years to meet stringent …

• EPA, Ecology delay permits

  December 12, 2008 in Idaho on Page B2 New permits to reduce the flow of phosphorus into the Spokane River are still at least a year away, federal officials reiterated Thursday. “We are mindful of the urgency factor,” …

• Plant bid choice disputed

  December 6, 2008 in City on Page A1 New questions are emerging over Spokane County’s desire to build a $142 million sewage treatment plant that would remove less pollution but cost about the same to operate as another …

• Discharge rules still unclear for new facility

  November 16, 2008 in City on Page A1 Spokane County is on the verge of signing what’s believed to be its biggest contract ever to build a wastewater treatment plant, even though no one knows yet whether environmental …

• Our View: Public should speak up on facility contract

  November 9, 2008 in Opinion on Page B8 The draft service contract for a proposed Regional Water Reclamation Facility is 219 pages long. The contract, if approved, will be between Spokane County and CH2M HILL, the company the …

• Spokane Valley faces rough treatment

  October 30, 2008 in Voices on Page V1 Spokane Valley residents may pay dearly for a federal mistake and stringent Washington water quality standards, city officials were told Tuesday. An economy-wrenching moratorium on new construction is a possibility, …

• Our View: EPA error shouldn’t deter work for a cleaner river

  October 2, 2008 in Opinion on Page B6 The Environmental Protection Agency is sorry. Sorry it didn’t approach the cleanup of the Spokane River in a regional way from the very start of the TMDL process. TMDL (for …

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  Phosphorus permits a year off

  September 27, 2008 in Idaho on Page A1 Crafting a new plan to limit phosphorus discharges into the Spokane River will take at least another year, state and federal officials announced Friday. Phosphorus is harmful to the river’s …

• Miscalculation by EPA will set back river cleanup

  September 5, 2008 in Idaho on Page A1 A multiyear effort to lower phosphorus levels in the Spokane River – and reduce algae blooms and improve water quality in the reservoir behind Long Lake Dam – has hit …

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  Water quality remains issue

  July 22, 2008 in City, Idaho on Page A1 Getting tangled in water lilies is a hazard of kayaking at Long Lake. The reservoir’s upper end sports a luxuriant growth, and as I paddled I periodically flung tendrils of …

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  Spokane River reflecting a new image

  July 13, 2008 in Idaho on Page A1 Don’t go down to the river. Generations of local kids heard that warning. Parents didn’t want their children playing on the Spokane River’s polluted banks. Chris Donley’s dad was one …

• Avista’s river-use conditions challenged

  July 9, 2008 in Idaho on Page B3 Avista Corp. should do more to protect the Spokane River in return for harnessing its water for hydropower generation, two environmental groups say. The Sierra Club and the Center for …

• Editorial: Compliance, please

  April 5, 2008 in Opinion on Page B4 Don’t worry, the soap police will not appear at your door July 1. That’s the date Spokane County will become the first and only Washington county to require ultra-low phosphate …

• Lawmakers curtail phosphate ban

  March 15, 2008 in City on Page B1 State legislators want Spokane to go it alone this year in enforcing groundbreaking limits on phosphates in dish detergent. The state Senate this week approved a House bill that eliminates …

• Bill would delay phosphate ban in two counties

  March 2, 2008 in City on Page A1 With just four months until strict limits on phosphates in dishwasher detergents take effect in three Washington counties, legislation is on the move in Olympia that some fear could delay …

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  Discharge permits on hold

  January 15, 2008 in City on Page A1 Five years past due, it will be at least six more months before pollution discharge permits will be issued for cities and businesses on the Spokane River because of objections …

• River cleanup plan has many players

  September 30, 2007 in City on Page B1 Phosphorus not only helps turn lawns green, it’s also responsible for turning portions of Long Lake into a pea-green soup of algae. A massive cleanup is being launched to restore …

• Our View: Time is wasting

  September 12, 2007 in Opinion on Page B6 When a 20-year Spokane River cleanup plan was announced last March, the stakeholders involved in the collaboration – environmentalists, dischargers and government officials – celebrated with cake and congratulations. Dozens …

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  Scientist’s departure taints river cleanup plan

  September 9, 2007 in City on Page A1 A multihundred-million-dollar plan aimed at cleaning up the Spokane River and returning life to vast dead zones deep in Long Lake will be unveiled Wednesday. But the Washington Department of …

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  New sewage plant tanks more efficient, safer

  June 28, 2007 in Voices on Page N1 The death of a sewage plant maintenance worker in 2004 set the stage for a multimillion dollar project to build two egg-shaped sewage “digesters” at Spokane’s wastewater treatment plant on …

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  River plan draws fire

  May 31, 2007 in City on Page A1 The federal government is being accused of conducting a magic trick in its efforts to make pollution disappear from the Spokane River. Companies and cities along the river are expected …

• Wastewater option awaits OK

  April 6, 2007 in Idaho on Page B1 To help clean up the Spokane River and nip summertime algae blooms on Long Lake, communities in Kootenai County must clean up their wastewater. Really clean it up. Within a …

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  New sewage rules among nation’s toughest

  February 16, 2007 in Idaho on Page B1 Sewage treatment plants in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden are facing some of the strictest water quality standards in the nation under new requirements proposed Thursday by the federal …