Doesn’t add up

“8 + 10 = 8.” I did a double-take at this math since learning that Spokane County’s pollution numbers don’t add up. Their plan to divert 8 million gallons per day from the city of Spokane’s sewage treatment facility located along the banks of the Spokane River, to the county’s newly constructed facility, includes the promise that it will reduce PCB-loading in our river.

The county intends to expand back into its original discharge allotment at the city facility while keeping its own numbers up by river-dumping 8 + 10 = 18 mgd of effluent and its accompanying PCBs.

The expansion is not in the original plan, nor is it in the best interest of our community. PCBs harm infant development, and cause changes in blood, liver and immune functions in adults. They are enough reason to do the math right and keep the additional pollutant out of the river.

Mathematics is based on principle. “He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal” (Rev 22:1). We can expect – insist on – the same purity (and honesty) for the Spokane River. It is not a dump. We must not be victims of the county’s miscalculation.

Tina Wynecoop

Colbert