Fish Caught For Heavy Metals Tests Scientists Check For Mining-Related Pollution

As children stripped to their swimsuits at Plantes Ferry Park, four government scientists donned heavy boots, waders and thick rubber gloves for their mission.

The kids were in the Spokane River Wednesday afternoon trying to beat the heat - oblivious to a sign, posted only 15 feet away, warning them of heavy metals pollution.

The scientists were there because of the heavy metals.

Their goal: Catch fish and invertebrates and check them for signs of lead and other pollution.

The U.S. Geological Survey is leading the weeklong expedition on the river, working in cooperation with the Washington Department of Ecology.

The work is part of a larger effort to determine the downstream damage to Washington state resources from Idaho’s historic mining pollution and to determine the Spokane River’s overall health.

Last fall and again in February, another USGS team sampled sediment along the shoreline of the upper Spokane, finding extremely high lead levels at several places.

As a result, the Spokane Regional Health District posted heavy metals advisories earlier this month.

On Wednesday, the four USGS scientists from Boise, Tacoma, Sandpoint and Helena drew curious stares from swimmers and waders at Plantes Ferry Park.

Moving a safe distance upstream from the popular beach off Upriver Drive, Mike Beckwith flipped a switch on the team’s jet boat.

A 1,000-volt current surged between two electrodes extending into the water beyond the boat’s bow. The crew, decked out in full protective gear, was ready for “electrofishing.”

Biologists Terry Maret of Boise and Doreen McCoy of Tacoma leaned over a railing on the bow of the flat boat, fishing nets at the ready.

A rainbow trout, stunned by the electrical charge, rolled to the surface, its pale belly flashing.

McCoy deftly caught the trout and placed it in a large cooler behind her.

The duo quickly netted several more, then grabbed another species they’re eager to study: a large-scale sucker, a slimy, yellow bottom-feeder.

“He’ll be the most exposed to the sediments because he feeds on the bottom,” Maret said.

The scientists also observed other sources of Spokane River pollution unrelated to mining.

Most notable along this stretch of the river: two large outfall pipes from Kaiser Aluminum’s Trentwood plant, pumping a 20-foot plume of milky-white pollutants into the river near the rainbow trout.

Kaiser Trentwood has a discharge permit and is a major source of river pollution, including PCBs, according to Ecology Department reports.

Working methodically from Post Falls to Greene Street, the USGS crew has collected about a dozen fish a day this week for its study. They’re also hunting for invertebrates in the river, such as caddis flies.

The fish feed on the flies, an important part of the food chain and the river’s ecosystem, Maret said.

The USGS biologists will look at the fish bodies for organic pollutants and check their livers for trace elements, including heavy metals.

Study results are expected within six to eight months, Maret said.

In a related development, Washington has joined seven other states in a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the U.S. Justice Department’s legal push for an expanded Superfund cleanup of mining pollution along the Spokane River.

Next week in Spokane, the public will have a chance to learn more about efforts to curb the heavy metals pollution.

The newly formed Washington Citizens Advisory Committee advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the Coeur d’Alene River basin cleanup is holding a public meeting to discuss a proposed plan to reduce metals in the river.

The plan, called a total maximum daily load, sets the amounts of lead, cadmium and zinc that can go into the river without violating water quality standards.

Washington’s standards are currently being violated before the Spokane River crosses the state line.

Regional environmental groups want strict daily loads that require Idaho mining companies to clean up their pollution upstream to the most stringent national standards.

The mining companies are arguing for “site specific” standards that are more lax. They say they need regulatory leeway to continue mining activities in Idaho.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Basin cleanup Meeting The Washington Citizens Advisory Committee advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the Coeur d’Alene River basin cleanup will conduct a public meeting on a proposed plan to reduce metals in the river. The forum will be Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Spokane City Council Chambers, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.