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For immediate release: May 13, 2004 (04-054)
Contacts: Donn Moyer, Dept. of Health communications office 360-236-4076
Mary Getchell, Puget Sound Action Team communications 360-407-7312
Whatcom County shellfish area reclassified due to improved water quality
OLYMPIA ¾ Improvements in water quality in a Whatcom County shellfish area have cleared the way for shellfish harvesting to resume. The Washington State Department of Health announced its plan to upgrade the shellfish classification in the central portion of Drayton Harbor, near the Canadian border in the northwest corner of Whatcom County.
"It’s good news when conditions improve enough to reopen an area to shellfish harvest," said Jennifer Tebaldi, director of the Food Safety and Shellfish program. "Of course, there’s still more work to do in Drayton Harbor, and we’re committed to working with local and state authorities to continue this progress."
This is the first time shellfish harvesting has been allowed in the area since 1999. The upgrade is possible because fecal coliform bacteria levels now comply with national water quality standards in the central portion of Drayton Harbor. About 575 acres in the central portion of Drayton Harbor will be upgraded from "prohibited" to "conditionally approved." The remainder of the harbor will remain in "prohibited" status.
The conditional approval in central Drayton Harbor is based on rainfall. A rainfall of one-half inch or greater in a 24-hour period will close the area for five days because the resulting storm water causes water quality standards to be temporarily violated.
"This upgrade is a new chapter in the continuing story of shellfish restoration in the Puget Sound region," said Brad Ack, director of the Puget Sound Action Team. "The moral of the Drayton Harbor story is how persistence, commitment and the vision and effort of the local citizens, organizations and agencies paid off in the reopening of the harbor area."
Ack stressed that the challenge will now focus on maintaining this momentum and preserving and building on this significant gain.
Following successive years of water pollution problems, the Department of Health completely closed Drayton Harbor to shellfish harvesting in 1999 because pollution problems violated the standards of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. Significant improvements have been made to several of the pollution sources — leaking sewer lines in Blaine have been fixed, failing on-site septic systems have been repaired, and all 20 commercial dairy farms in the watershed now control pollution from manure.
The hard work and dedication of the Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District Committee, along with contributions from numerous state agencies, tribal and local governments and other organizations and businesses, all combined to make the water healthy to harvest shellfish.
A community celebration is tentatively scheduled for June, and harvest of the oysters from the Drayton Harbor community shellfish farm is expected to occur later this year.
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