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toxics

Wash. Environmental Coalition Says Progress Made, Despite Failure Of Key Climate Policies

By • Mar 12, 2018
Ted S. Warren / AP Photo

Environmental groups had high hopes going into the special legislative session that ended Thursday in Olympia. But even with Democratic majorities in both chambers of the legislature, passage of critical climate policies did not happen.

Tacoma’s Cleaned Up Waterways Need Legislative Attention, Advocates Say

By • Jun 13, 2017
Bellamy Pailthorp / KNKX

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent over the last few decades to clean up toxic pollution from the region’s industrial past.

In Tacoma, a prime spot for manufacturing and processing is the waterfront area in the center of town.

The City of Destiny no longer suffers from the notorious “Tacoma aroma” of its past. But some of the less-visible cleanup work is vulnerable because of budget cuts before the state legislature.

Washington Environmental Groups Set Legislative Agenda For 2017 Session

By • Jan 23, 2017
Leonel I. Mallari / AP Photo / file

Each year, as lawmakers get to work in Olympia, the state’s largest environmental groups agree on legislative priorities. This session, the Washington Environmental Council and the Washington Conservation Voters are focused on water rights, oil transportation safety and cleaning up toxics.   

Lawmakers Reach A Deal To Expand Regulation Of Toxic Chemicals

By • May 20, 2016

House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a plan to update a 40-year-old law regulating the safety of chemicals.

Inslee Pushes Toxics Reduction Bill As Wash. Proposes Updated Fish Consumption Rate

By • Jan 12, 2015
Elaine Thompson / AP Photo

Eating too many fish from Washington state waters can make you sick. That’s the idea behind the updated fish consumption rule that has been formally proposed after two years of heated debate.

The new fish consumption rule will require dischargers to keep local waters clean enough that people can safely eat a serving of fish a day, rather than just one per month. 

EPA Orders Navy To Fix Gorst Creek Landfill

By • Oct 16, 2014

The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the U.S. Navy to reroute a creek and clean up a decades-old dump in Kitsap County.

The EPA says contamination from the Gorst Creek Landfill is posing risks to public health and salmon habitat.

NW states released more toxics in 2010

By • Jan 5, 2012

Industrial facilities in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho released more toxic material in 2010 than the year before, according to the federal toxics inventory out today.

The three Northwest states had seen declines in toxic releases before 2010. But that year, the releases started to climb. Washington released 27 percent more than in 2009.