Read the entire piece, but here’s a good start:
Do you like to eat local fish and shellfish? If so, you should know that right now Gov. Jay Inslee is deciding how much pollution can be dumped in our waters under water quality regulations that are being updated.
There are two important numbers that go into making the decision. One is our fish consumption rate. At 6.5 grams per day — about one eight-ounce seafood meal per month — we have one of the lowest rates in the United States. That is shocking when you realize we have one of the highest populations of fish and shellfish eaters in the country.
The other number is our cancer risk rate from exposure to pollutants in our waters. Today that rate is calculated at one in a million. But the governor is considering a change that would decrease that protection rate to one in 100,000.
Why? Because business is telling the governor that any meaningful change in water quality standards will increase their cost of business and hurt the economy.