EPA requiring Alaska to update its water quality standards due to higher state fish consumption

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska has up to 12 months to restructure or create new water quality standards after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Thursday that the current standards needed to be adjusted to match the accurate amount of fish consumption in the state.

“This Determination stems from long-standing concerns that the fish consumption rate used in Alaska’s existing human health criteria does not reflect the fish consumption patterns of Alaska residents, including rural and Tribal consumers,” a press release from the EPA released on Thursday, stated.

The news comes as no surprise, the Alaska Division of Water told Alaska’s News Source on Friday. According to Gene McCabe, director of the division, his team has been working on an update for some time.

“We had been working on human health criteria diligently with many of the stakeholders in Alaska for years now in developing a set of data that we need to develop the human health criteria,” McCabe said.

For the past 10 years, McCabe says, his team has been working on data collection and having stakeholder meetings, a process he said that takes time to do.

“Having everybody agree on ... how much fish they consume is a really personal issue with a lot of folks,” McCabe said. “You get a lot of varying opinions, ranging from none to, you know, it is the staple of our diet.”

The agency says the current water quality standards are using fish consumption rates that do not reflect the accurate amount of fish Alaskans consume. According to a 2019 Alaska Department of Fish and Game study, it showed that the average urban Alaskan eats 8.9 grams of fish per day.

Meanwhile, in rural areas of the state, that number was significantly higher, compared to the 6.5 grams per day database that the state was going off of.

“The data is out there. Alaskans eat more salmon and other fish and shellfish than the average American, and it’s really important that we work to update these standards, so they protect Alaskans,” Caleb Shaffer, EPA Water Division of the Pacific Northwest acting director, said.

According to the state, pollutants in the water can be absorbed by fish and remain in them. When people consume fish, those pollutants can then be transferred to them.

“Human Health Criteria help ensure that discharges to the waters of Alaska that contain the specific pollutants are at levels that provide health protection at the levels of consumption the criteria are based on,” McCabe said.

According to the EPA, Alaska has not had an update to its standards since 2003. McCabe said his team currently has a water quality standard package in the process and does not have concerns about making the EPA year deadline. The EPA adds that it has a good working relationship with the state, adding that if the state struggles to produce a plan, it will step in to provide one.

“If we were to do that, we would have a comprehensive public comment period, we would consult with any tribes that are interested in entering into tribal consultation. So it will be a very public process, we would take public comment,” Shaffer said.

Currently, the EPA says there is no immediate concern about safety regarding fish consumption.

Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.