In 2020, after years of legislative advocacy, WCTU and others were successful in convincing the Washington legislature to enact a state law that banned suction dredge mining (SDM) in ESA-designated critical habitat for threatened or endangered salmon, steelhead, and bull trout. Background on this effort is described in numerous TU articles and press releases. See, e.g., Win for Washington waters: What it took (2020). Yet, in 2023, we learned that several small-scale miners had applied for hydraulic project approvals (HPAs) to resume mining in ESA-designated streams in the Peshastin Creek watershed.
WDFW Photo of small-scale motorized mining.
The miners propose to mine by pumping creek water to lined ponds above the ordinary high water level. The WCTU is challenging one of those HPAs by filing a formal appeal with the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB). WCTU is challenging the HPA on several grounds, including (1) whether WDFW failed to consider how the proposed activity would impact the amount of water in the streams and if it would cause direct or indirect harm to ESA-listed salmon and trout, (2) whether the proposal to discharge process water to the adjacent gravels triggers the requirement to obtain an NPDES permit, and (3) whether WDFW failed to undertake an environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act. The Cascadia Law Group represents WCTU pro bono. A huge thanks!