Puget Sound
Troubled Waters
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Now, More than Ever, We are Called to Make a Difference
Puget Sound is known for its splendid orca whales, Chinook salmon, Dungeness crab, and recreational delights. It is also known as a bathtub of pollution, including sewage, agricultural runoff, industrial waste, and stormwater.
Discover more about the issues impacting your Puget Sound and what you can do to help.
Protect Chinook & Orcas from Toxics
Endangered species suffering from toxic chemicals in the Sound include Chinook salmon and resident orcas. NWEA’s lawsuits have forced Washington and EPA to establish allowable levels based on science and demand modern sewage treatment to remove pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and metals from sewage.
Read MoreProtect Salmon Spawning
The Sound’s Chinook salmon health depends on clean, oxygen-filled water for eggs and juveniles to hatch and grow. NWEA’s lawsuits have forced Washington to adopt new rules to protect salmon from being smothered by sediment from logging and farming, and to ensure that state logging and farming practices protect salmon in the Sound.
Read MoreModern Sewage Treatment Now
Over 100 sewage treatment plants discharge toxics and nutrient pollution into the Sound. NWEA advocates for Puget Sound sewage treatment to comply with Washington law that requires the use of modern treatment technology to reduce nutrient pollution and remove pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and other chemicals.
Read moreWashington Ignores Clean Water Act
Water pollution in the Sound requires Washington and EPA to identify waters with unsafe pollution levels and to issue pollution diets to clean up those waters to protect endangered species and human health. But the agencies ignore these requirements. NWEA’s lawsuits enforce the Clean Water Act to clean up the Sound.
Read moreTake Action
Now is the time for meaningful action to save Puget Sound. Make your voice heard!
Nutrient Pollution & Algae
Inadequate sewage treatment discharges nutrient pollution that sucks oxygen from water, causes massive algae blooms, increases jellyfish populations, and changes the Sound’s food web. NWEA’s lawsuits target Washington’s refusal to address the Sound’s sewage and develop required clean-up plans for the Sound.
Read MoreToxics in Puget Sound
Toxics in the Sound come from sewage, stormwater, logging, farming, and industrial dumping. Toxic pollution including heavy metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products enters the Sound’s food web, harming Chinook salmon and orcas. NWEA lawsuits seek to reduce levels of toxics in the Sound’s waters
Read morePuget Sound & Climate Change
Climate change is measurably raising the temperature of Washington’s waters. Yet the state continues to underregulate logging runoff in Puget Sound and ignores the need to protect and restore the streamside trees that provide shade. NWEA is targeting temperature pollution in Washington state waters from logging and farming.
Read moreLogging & Agriculture
Water pollution in the Sound includes nutrient pollution from logging runoff that increases algal blooms. Logging and farming also raise temperatures in streams that are essential to Chinook salmon health as well as frogs and salamanders. NWEA’s legal settlements require agencies to control polluted runoff from these sources.
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Victory for Puget Sound
EPA Must Act on Toxics, Court Orders
