Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
National Park Service closes fishing stations while evaluating necessary changes
COULEE DAM—Workers at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area have been tasked with a smelly dilemma: what to do about the fish cleaning stations throughout the park?
Various fish cleaning stations have been closed due to several issues at Lake Roosevelt. Fish cleaning stations are located at boat launches at Fort Spokane, Spring Canyon, Evans and Kettle Falls and day-use areas at Porcupine Bay and Hunters.
“While evaluating and trying to repair the Fort Spokane fish cleaning station and associated septic system, it was discovered that the accumulated oil from the fish remains have coated the sand in the drain field so thoroughly that water can no longer filter through the sand and instead, sits on top and clogs the septic system,” Lake Roosevelt Public Information Officer Denise Bausch said in a press release. “Water can no longer filter through the sand and instead, sits on top and clogs the septic system.”
“To keep the existing fish cleaning station operational, the entire septic system would need to be redesigned, including electrical engineering, more powerful motor, and installing a new drain field. This is the third drain field at Fort Spokane destroyed by the fish oils in the past 30 years and there is no available space for a fourth,” the release continued.
This week, superintendent Dan Foster showed the Lincoln County Commissioners one potential model for an improved fish cleaning system wherein the fish would be deposited back into deep waters through a pipe using a vacuum-like suction to avoid clogging. But unless the National Park Service can procure permits to build a new septic system on private lands near Fort Spokane, that area’s septic capabilities are shot, he said.
Federal regulations prohibit dumping fish remains on land or in the water within 200 feet of boat docks or swimming beaches.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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