Navy Agrees to Reduce Copper Discharges into Puget Sound
Under an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) is required to take action to reduce the amount of copper in its wastewater and comply with its federal Clean Water Act permit requirements. According to the Navy's own discharge reports, from May 2003 to July 2008, PSNS frequently violated its federal wastewater permit by discharging copper in excess of allowable levels. The shipyard's wastewater is discharged into Sinclair Inlet.
PSNS is the largest naval shipyard on the west coast. According to EPA, the copper in its wastewater comes from sandblasting and painting of vessels in dry dock at the shipyard. The shipyard is allowed to discharge its wastewater into Sinclair Inlet, but only if it complies with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by EPA.
Edward Kowalski, EPA's regional head of Compliance and Enforcement, said federal facilities must do their part to protect Puget Sound, just like everyone else. "The health of Puget Sound depends on everyone doing their part, beginning with complying with their permits," Kowalski said. "Under this agreement, the Navy has committed to coming into compliance and bringing their copper levels down. They are complying with the Clean Water Act and doing the right thing for Puget Sound."
According to EPA, the Navy already has begun taking action to lessen the copper in the wastewater from PSNS including:
- Increasing the effectiveness of their process water collection system;
- Upgrading their sewer system;
- Improving control of on-going sources of copper to the waste water (reducing paint overspray); and
- Improving their dry dock cleaning processes.
As a result of this work, the Navy reports it has been in compliance with its current discharge permit for the past several months. In addition, over the past few years, PSNS has been working with other federal, state, and local agencies to better understand and reduce sources of fecal coliform in Puget Sound. As a result of this work, the agencies have been able to reopen several shellfish beds in the area.
EPA is in the process of updating the shipyard's NPDES permit. A draft permit is expected to be available this summer and a final permit issued by the end of the year.