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Pollution
Chemical pollution
in the air and in the water is a huge problem all over
the world.
Unfortunately, Orcas today are
still being harmed by chemical pollutants that were
banned from use years ago. Although no longer in use in
most products, PCB’s remain a major toxin in some
coastal waters. Leaking out from waste dumps, PCB’s
accumulate in higher and higher concentrations as they
work their way up the food chain. As a result, they tend
to adversely affect top predators like orcas the most.
Necropsies of some recently deceased orcas that have
washed on shore have revealed high very high
concentrations of these dangerous chemicals in their
tissue.
What is Being Done
Salmon are deeply intertwined in
the geography, history and culture of the Pacific
Northwest. In the last decades, however, wild salmon
runs have declined sharply as a result of a many
factors, including water pollution.
Luckily, restoration is happening
in urban areas like Seattle. Actions such as planting
trees to prevent heat pollution of a creek and
performing DNA tests on fecal coliform to determine
whether pets are the cause of unhealthy waters are
currently taking place throughout the city. Restoration
also means visiting businesses with advice on stormwater
pollution prevention. It involves collecting household
hazardous waste and being careful of what enters storm
drains.
All of these steps are being taken
in Seattle. Some address the few streams within city
limits that still have, or could have, salmon runs.
Others address the waterways that pass through Seattle.
Additional water pollution is
created at shipyards. Currently, shipyards are regulated
by the Clean Water Act and in Washington by the State
Water Pollution Control Act, both of which are carried
out by the state Department of Ecology. The department
operates a waste discharge permit program for discharges
to surface and groundwater, sewers and storm drains, and
issues both state permits and National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Such
permits help to keep the emissions of shipyards under
check.
What You Can Do
We can avoid further contamination of the environment
by first being aware of what we put down the drain. Many
communities have alternative dumping sites for toxic
chemicals like oil, bleach, batteries, and others. If
your community doesn’t have these options, you can
always write a letter to an area representative voicing
your concerns. After all, pollution doesn’t just affect
marine animals, it affects all of us. The air we
breathe, food we eat, water we drink, and even the
noises we hear are all affected by pollution. Like
anything else, education is the first step.
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