Washington Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-3rd district) has written to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to voice what she calls “deep concerns” over the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s possible plans to build a deep-well injection sewer system on its reservation land near La Center.
In her letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Rep. Herrera Beutler says she is concerned that the tribe’s plan to dispose of wastewater from its planned casino-resort via deep-well injection sites could pose a potential threat to the groundwater resources in Clark County.
“I am troubled that the tribe’s proposal may be inconsistent with underground injection control (UIC) regulations authorizing Class V wells, which could endanger the critically important Troutdale Sole Source Aquifer (which provides 99 percent of the available drinking water to people living in the western part of Clark County), and seriously jeopardize the public health, safety and environment of Clark County,” writes Rep. Herrera Beutler. “Due to the critical importance of the aquifer, it is imperative for the Cowlitz Tribe mega casino’s wastewater treatment proposal to be consistent with UIC regulations.”
Considered by many federal regulators and geologists to be a safe and effective means of disposing of wastewater, deep well injection is a method of disposing of liquid — in this case, treated wastewater — by injecting it into rock layers located deep beneath the earth’s surface.
According to a 2012 Propublica article, “The Poison Beneath Us,” (www.propublica.org/article/injection-wells-the-poison-beneath-us) that investigated the safety of these deep well injection sites, there are more than 680,000 underground waste and injection wells in the United States. The article points out that the long-term safety of these wells is unknown.
“Records from disparate corners of the United States show that wells drilled to bury this waste deep beneath the ground have repeatedly leaked, sending dangerous chemicals and waste gurgling to the surface or, on occasion, seeping into shallow aquifers that store a significant portion of the nation's drinking water,” the article states. “In 2010, contaminants from such a well bubbled up in a west Los Angeles dog park. Within the past three years, similar fountains of oil and gas drilling waste have appeared in Oklahoma and Louisiana. In South Florida, 20 of the nation's most stringently regulated disposal wells failed in the early 1990s, releasing partly treated sewage into aquifers that may one day be needed to supply Miami's drinking water.”
In her letter, sent Jan. 20, Rep. Herrera Beutler asks the EPA administrator if there are “plans to give impacted members of the community meaningful input into this proposal that would impact the water they drink” and says it is her understanding that the Cowlitz Indian Tribe “is requesting approval under the Authorization by Rule, which would allow the construction to proceed without the normally required permits.”
She ends her letter by saying that the project’s potential impact deserves a full review, “including public involvement and National Environmental Policy Act compliance” and says “it is important that both the EPA and the people of Southwest Washington fully understand the proposal and its potential impacts.”
