TMDL COMMENTS DRAYTON HARBOR CLEANUP

Jay Taber to Department of Ecology  (submit your comments on Drayton Harbor cleanup here)

Blaine Water Coalition, waterplanningmatters.org, is working on cleaning up Drayton Harbor through SEPA appeals, Growth Management challenges, and filing ERTS reports of SMP violations unenforced by Blaine Code Enforcement. Unfortunately, the state regulatory gap in forcing municipal compliance with the Clean Water Act or State Environmental Policy Act places that burden on citizens, whose only recourse is to hire a lawyer. Not exactly what the legislature had in mind for public participation.

You as scientists and educators don't set state enforcement policy, but it needs to be communicated to management in Olympia that this regulatory gap is contributing to the Drayton Harbor TMDL/303 problem, and the City of Blaine is now 14 months overdue in adopting the mandated 2024 Department of Ecology Stormwater Management Manual.

Hopefully, the 22 SMP violations sent to DOE by Water Planning Matters will compel DOE management to protect our harbor from this onslaught. While the City of Blaine has betrayed the public trust, I am hoping the state won't. Thanks again for educating us.

Glossary of Acronyms


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