Lake risks being superfund site

Our beautiful Lake Roosevelt that is Lincoln County's northern border, is at risk of being designated as a Superfund Site! On March 4th the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a rule in the Federal Register, proposing to add a portion of the Upper Columbia River to the National Priorities List (NPL). The EPA proposes 150 miles of river (which includes Lake Roosevelt) from Grand Coulee Dam to the US – Canadian border. If approved, Lake Roosevelt would be listed as a Superfund site, which would classify it as an uncontrolled hazardous waste site.

Governor Inslee, and the local tribes support the listing, while Lincoln County Commissioners oppose listing Lake Roosevelt on the NPL. We as a community have an opportunity to voice our opposition to this listing, and I encourage you all to take the time to comment. A 60-day public comment period from March 7th – May 6th is open now.

All comments regarding the proposed EPA listing must be submitted on or before May 6, 2024. Here are some facts and things to consider as you provide comments to the EPA:

• Request that the EPA complete the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) with time to review prior to any consideration of NPL listing.

• Remind the EPA that over 20 years ago, local citizens, local county commissioners and others joined to fully support the protection of public health and safety to support the RI/FS analysis being complete prior to any decision to list this very important water body on the NPL for cleanup. We were promised by the EPA and others that the RI/FS study would be completed, reviewed, and released prior to any attempt to list this area or specific subareas of the Columbia River and uplands as a Superfund Cleanup site. The proposed listing is inconsistent with this promise and plan.

• The EPA has indicated that the listing will help bring additional cleanup funding but until the RI/FS is completed and results evaluated, it is uncertain whether this funding is even needed. The Human Health assessment shows no areas of high concern.

• It doesn't appear EPA has fully considered the potential negative effects of the proposed NPL listing, including the threat to agriculture and global trade markets. Foreign governments are not necessarily going to look at the complete picture before buying Washington food products. Thousands of acres of wheat, potatoes, apples, cherries, and other crops are irrigated out of the Columbia River. If buyers question the safety of these foods, they could stop trade, and markets and our Northeast Washington economy may not recover.

• Please stop the NPL listing at this time and focus on finishing the RI/FS studies as soon as possible. Let's continue to work together to complete the studies and find solutions to any public health and safety and ecological concerns that may exist.

You may send comments, identified by docket number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2024-0068, by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ (our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.

• Agency Website: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/current-npl- updates-new-proposed-npl-sites-and- new-npl-sites; scroll down to the site for which you would like to submit comments and click the ''Comment Now'' link.

• Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Superfund Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,

Comment before May 6th. Be the voice of Lake Roosevelt. We have over 1.5 million visitors recreate on Lake Roosevelt every year. Boating, fishing, swimming, property values, and the threat to irrigated crops are all at risk if the EPA is successful in this request.