Permit Hearing: 1 p.m. August 9 at 411 N. 5th Street in Shelton

Floating Oyster Farm Hearing in Mason County's Oakland Bay, WA

50 acres of navigable water and tidelands is needed for a 9 acre floating oyster farm.

[Article on citizen concerns here: https://www.masoncounty.com/.../oakland-bay.../2967.html

August 9 a permit hearing on a proposal by Taylor Shellfish to create a 9 acre floating oyster farm requiring a 50 acre lease in south Puget Sound's Oakland Bay will occur. While presented as "only" 9 acres, Taylor Shellfish has said due to drifting of the structure, lines and anchors, a 50 acre area of public subtidal tidelands and navigable waters is required.

To date, 49 comments have been received with 43 of those being opposed. Impacts to native marine life, the public's use of navigable waters, and plastic pollution are only a few of the concerns expressed.

On Mason County's web site, Taylor's response to those comments has been a litany of past studies used to support a variety of industrial shellfish farms, dismissal of others as not being important (e.g., Friends of Burley Lagoon don't know anything about Oakland Bay, so their concerns are not relevant), and the belief that giving access to 16 acres tidelands in other parts of Oakland Bay, only exposed during a small portion of the day, is sufficient mitigation to offset the loss of the 50 acres of navigable waters Taylor needs.

[See Mason County's web site and permit documents here: https://masoncountywa.gov/hear.../Taylor-Shellfish/index.php ]

In addition to attending in person, the hearing will also be available on Mason WebTV.

[Find Mason WebTV here: https://masonwebtv.com/ ]

Through a series of delays, Taylor Shellfish has had ample opportunity to review concerns submitted and develop what they feel are sufficient responses to them. Coupled with time spent developing shoreline regulations which are favorable to industrial shellfish farm development, citizens who are concerned have an uphill climb.

Shellfish Grower Threatens Lawsuit, Commissioner Asks, "What's the shellfish industry doing to help pay for all this?"

Put your hand back in your pocket

and stop threatening us with lawsuits.

Just re-engineer the plant for us...

At the April 25 Mason County Commissioners meeting the shellfish Hansen family spoke about illnesses from norovirus in shellfish harvested from Hammersley Inlet impacting their profits and that of others. It is their belief the source of norovirus, and other human fecal related risks, is the City of Shelton's waste water treatment plant. Mr. Hansen suggested the plant be re-engineered and that waste water be discharged and absorbed on the land instead of being discharged into Hammersley Inlet. It was his belief the ongoing discharge was illegal and a threat to his and others business profits. Not mentioned was who would pay for it and it was pointed out the county has no role in the City's treatment facility.

... or lawyer up. 

In a not so veiled threat, Mr. Hansen reminded Mason County they had been sued once by shellfish growers for what he perceived as being a similar set of issues. In that case, it was felt by shellfish growers that the county's lack of oversight resulted in a septic tank pumper discharging his truckloads of sewage onto a field near Oakland Bay, closing or threatening to close shellfish beds. Out of that threat evolved the Oakland Bay Clean Water District which has resulted in cleaner water for shellfish growers to profit from. How much money has been spent in the form of grants and upgrades to the City of Shelton's wastewater treatment plant is unknown.

People who profit from others expense do not gain social goodwill.

In response to the Hansen family's presentation, Commission Jeffreys acknowledged shellfish are important. She also agreed clean water was important. But in recognition of something many have been asking for a long time, she asked what the shellfish industry is doing to help pay for clean water. She reminded all that shellfish are sold at wholesale and therefor little tax revenue is generated for Mason County. Not mentioned were geoduck are exported, avoiding virtually all taxes. Also not mentioned was that tidelands converted from the equivalent of open space to an industrial activity with structures needed to grow shellfish pay virtually nothing in the form of property tax. The suggestion that all property owners with onsite septic systems are by default the problem and therefor should be required to pay an annual fee to fund clean water programs for the shellfish industry to profit from has not and will not go over well. Especially with those who live miles away from any shellfish beds.

Handful of gimme and a mouthfull of much obliged

Commissioner Jeffreys has asked the question everyone should be asking: Why does the industry who profits so much from everyone else's efforts and expense pay so little? At what point does the threat of a lawsuit stop carrying any weight? Fred Neil's "Handful of gimme" is a fitting song.

Vibriosis Contracted from South Puget Sound Oysters Becoming a Well Established Pattern

Update 8/10

Forecast:

Sunday, -2.5 tide, temperatures climbing to 90 degrees.

Monday, -2.1 tide, temperatures climbing to 98 degrees.

Two weeks away, increase in reported cases of vibriosis followed by additional after the fact closures.

_______________________________________________________________
The Department of Health needs to become

proactive in dealing with Vibrio.

 

A reactive strategy is not helping.

Annual closures in south Puget Sound

due to reported cases of vibriosis

traced to oysters harvested from the area.

 

Waiting for people to become ill is a failure in oversight

Despite numerous attempts at trying to control disease spread from the consumption of raw or undercooked oysters from south Puget Sound, reported cases of vibriosis continue to result in after-the-fact closures of south Puget Sound growing areas. Attempts to educate the public, implement tighter controls over cooling, and testing the waters for the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) have all apparently failed in preventing reported cases of vibriosis traced to oysters from this area of Puget Sound from occurring.

 

We're back!

Like an unwelcome relative

returning for a summer visit.

 

Why is disease from Vp still occurring?

Unlike fecal coliform from human impacts, Vp is a naturally occurring bacterium which each summer blooms in the warming waters of south Puget Sound. Oyster's filtering the waters capture this bacterium internally. During the oysters' exposure to warm temperatures out of water, it multiplies internally. When raw or undercooked oysters are consumed, the population of bacteria enters the digestive system and vibriosis begins with varying degrees of intensity. It is this bacterium which DOH seems unable to prevent from entering the food chain with reported illnesses from Washington oysters predictably occurring each summer. While opening areas with lower fecal coliform levels is great, closing larger areas each summer due to vibrio is not.

 

What does testing the waters show?

If Vp levels are high, you've most likely

missed the opportunity to prevent illness.

 

Totten Inlet - Close it, open it, close it again

Unlike fecal coliform testing, testing for Vp is apparently not a successful means of preventing Vp from entering the food stream. Instead it only appears that testing predicts the inevitable - cases of vibriosis will be traced back to that growing area. As an example, Totten Inlet was tested in mid-July and found to have levels of Vp over the threshold level of 10,000 mpn/gram. Commercial harvesting at that point was halted. After two weekly subsequent samples tested below the threshold level it was re-opened July 31, only to have reported illnesses close the area again on August 7. It will remain closed through September 30.

 

Or does testing show anything?

On the other side of testing the water for Vp, it may be that it is simply not much help at all. Oakland Bay had waters tested for Vp with levels falling below the threshold number. Yet Oakland Bay is now closed due to vibrios from oysters harvested there. What is predicable is that vibriosis will be contracted from Puget Sound's shellfish every summer.

 

The summer visitor

nobody wants in Puget Sound.

 

 

Vp's cousin Vibrio vulnificus - why being proactive instead of reactive is important

Warming air and water temperatures, from whatever cause, will inevitably lead to Vp's more virulent cousin Vibrio vulnificus being found in Puget Sound waters. Vv, also a natural bacterium, is prevalent in the Gulf Coast waters and is also now found in Chesapeake Bay. It is expected to continue to be found in waters further north as they warm. Vv is far more virulent than Vp, causing death in 50% of those who contract it, primarily through raw oysters. It is why the Department of Health needs to become proactive instead of reactive to this naturally occurring bacteria found in Puget Sound.

 

The world is not a safe place

Consuming any food has a risk. Consuming raw oysters harvested in the summer is only one of many things to be aware of.

 

 



Chinese to Audit Shellfish Testing and Informs NOAA Chinese Eat the Outer Skin/Gutball of Geoduck

[Update 2/1: EarthFix has posted the January 23 letter detailing the concerns China has over how testing of shellfish for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (PSP) and arsenic is implemented. Not mentioned but of probable concern is the Department of Health's reactive system to vibriosis which relies largely on the number of people contracting vibriosis from shellfish before an area is closed or shellfish are recalled. The bi-annual International Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) meeting through which the National Shellfish Sanitary Program (NSSP) is implemented ended January 31. It is through the policies developed at the ISSC meeting that each state creates its own safety and testing program. To date, heavy lobbying by the shellfish industry has helped to minimize oversight of shellfish safety. It can be expected there will be heavy lobbying by the Chinese to improve those policies.]

Ban On Importing Geoduck to Continue

Dioxins in Oakland Bay Shellfish Next?

The Chinese have informed NOAA they wish to send a team to audit how shellfish are tested. In addition, in a letter dated January 23, they have also informed NOAA that Chinese consumers do in fact eat the skin and gutball of geoduck where elevated levels of arsenic were found. (Seattle Times, January 31, 2014)

All skin samples tested higher than .5ppm







EarthFix/Anthony Schick

As seen in the graph above from EarthFix, DOH testing of geoduck harvested from Poverty Bay showed levels of arsenic in the outer skin of all geoduck tested to be higher than the level Chinese consider safe (.5ppm). In some samples, levels over 3 times higher were detected in the skin. The response by DOH to these higher levels was to simply say to peel the skin off and do not eat it, something the Chinese have not found to be very comforting.

Dioxin levels found in various shellfish

harvested from Oakland Bay

(from Evaluation of Dioxins in Shellfish

from the Oakland Bay Site, July 27, 2010, p. 12)

 



Dioxins in Oakland Bay Shellfish
Another area the Chinese may wish to focus their auditing efforts on is Oakland Bay's shellfish where DOH testing confirmed elevated levels of dioxins exist in Manila calms and oysters. There, testing for dioxins in shellfish was triggered when testing of deeper sediments confirmed elevated levels of dioxins and other chemicals existed. The resulting tests of shellfish showed average (mean) levels ranging from .11 ppt in Manila clams to .45 ppt in Kumo oysters. Why oysters were over 4 times higher was not addressed.

Is this really safe to eat?

DOH Analysis: Eat Manila Clams, Not Oysters
In the analysis performed on possible effects from dioxins, the Department of Health made an assumption that  heavy consumers of seafood have 50% of their diet consisting of Manila clams and 1% oysters and mussels. In other words, the shellfish with the highest levels of dioxins were minimized in their model. Test results under another scenario, where consumption was instead 50% Kumo oysters whose mean dioxin levels were four times higher than Manila clams were not performed, nor was a model tested using the highest levels of dioxins found, only the mean (average).

"Ingestion rates – This scenario assumed that manila clams from Oakland Bay are consumed 50% of the time from total seafood, and oysters and mussels from Oakland Bay are consumed 1% of the time from total seafood." (page 30)

Oakland Bay's Past not a Mystery
Unlike the tidelands of Poverty Bay, Oakland Bay's tidelands are clearly known to have risk. In fact, many of the tideland deeds in Oakland Bay contain a specific condition about past pollution, many reading:

"Releasing and discharging Rayonier Incorporated, its successors and assigns, from any and all claims or causes of action whether in law or equity, due to acts or operations preceding and including the date of release, it might have against Rayonier, incorporated, with respect to ... past maintenance and operation of a pulp mill and manufacturing plant."

Intensity of the Chinese audit is unknown
Shellfish growers in Oakland Bay were fully aware of the business risk they took on when they began growing shellfish in sediments which for decades had been impacted by industrial operation of a pulp mill. The Department of Health is aware of the elevated levels of dioxins in shellfish harvested from those tidelands. Whether the Chinese will be concerned over assumptions used in the model for testing and include shellfish from Oakland Bay in their audit remains to be seen.

 

 

Vibriosis Traced to Washington Oysters from Totten Inlet, Oakland Bay, and Willapa Bay

Vibriosis traced to oysters harvested from Totten Inlet, Oakland Bay and Willapa Bay in Washington state within the last 30 days has initiated a decrease in the harvest-to-temperature times. This step is part of the Washington Vibrio Control Plan designed to prevent outbreaks caused by the naturally occurring bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp). If additional cases are reported closure of commercial harvesting may result. Additional consumer information is located on the DOH website.

Vibriosis traced to oysters harvested in July and August by Drakes Bay Oyster Company last year resulted in a recall of oysters from that operation. California currently regulates oysters from the Gulf Coast states harvested during the warmer summer months due to concerns over the more deadly species of Vibrio, Vibrio vulnificus. That ban has all but eliminated the disease, deadly to 50% of those who contract it.

Consumption of any food carries risks. In the case of oysters, that risk is increased greatly if they are consumed raw during the summer months. Minus tides and increasing temperatures over the coming week will most likely increase that risk.

March 29, 2PM: Is this Oyster Really Safe?

City of Shelton Public Hearing March 29, 2PM

525 West Cota Street, Shelton

Email comments to: Jason Dose - jasond@ci.shelton.wa.us

Reference: SSDP 01-13 and SCUP 01-13

 



Dioxin and cPAH levels in Shelton Harbor's

upper sediments (0-10cm).

Is this really a good idea?
The City of Shelton will hold a public hearing March 29 at 2PM on a proposal by Chelsea Farms to place a shellfish nursery in the Oakland Bay Marina, on the shores of Shelton. Shelton Harbor's waters are currently classified by the Department of Health as "Prohibited." The upper sediments in Shelton Harbor contain elevated levels of Dioxins and cPAH  which at low tide are easily churned by prop wash from boats launched or in the marina (see table above, click here for DOH report). Boats currently moored at the marina are painted with antifouling paint which is designed to slough off to prevent barnacle and algae from growing, with these chemicals entering the water. A boat launch and well used parking lot are immediately adjacent to the facility. Fueling of boats and discharges from bilges is routine, as in any marina.

Location of Chelsea Farms

proposed shellfish nursery.



But one of many.
In addition to Chelsea Farms, Hamma Hamma oyster is also reported to have an operating nursery in the marina. More importantly, Chelsea Farms' current proposal is only one of a number of nurseries reported to be planned for other marinas throughout Puget Sound.

Is this what a marina is for?
Is a marina really where a shellfish nursery should be located? Isn't a location away from contamination, out of harms way, a better idea? And what of the public's access to the marina's facilities if shellfish nurseries proliferate? Related, will the shellfish industry be idle if their "seed" is found to retain the myriad of chemicals found in any marina or near any large parking lot along the shoreline and be unusable?

A better suggestion.
As noted in the application, there is an existing nursery facility located 1/2 mile east. Wouldn't it be smarter to expand the existing facility which is out of harms way instead of putting shellfish in the cross hairs of a chemical soup?

 

Existing nursery facility.

 And, by the way, where are all those shellfish going to go?
Chelsea Farms states that by utilizing nurseries, hatchery production will be able to increase 10 fold, stating "if a hatchery could produce 70 million 6mm oysters a season, by outsourcing the nursery phase to growers that same hatchery could produce 700 million 2mm oysters." (Note: Using Chelsea Farms' numbers, put another way, at 250 oysters per grow-out bag, the number of grow-out bags used would increase from 280,000 to 2.8 million.)

Where would 2.8 million extra grow out bags go?

Is this oyster really safe?
"The Department of Health Office of Shellfish and Water Protection recommends that people not harvest or eat fish or shellfish from Shelton Harbor and/or other areas that are prohibited for harvest because of bacterial pollution. If you’re concerned about contact with sediments, the Department of Health recommends that you rinse your hands and feet with clean, potable water after recreational contact with the sand, sediment, and water from this area." [click here]

Oakland Bay Closed to Commercial Harvesting of Oysters

The naturally occurring bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus has again caused Oakland Bay to be closed to commercial harvesting of oysters. This is in addition to Hammersley Inlet, Pickering Passage, Totten Inlet, Little Skookum Inlet in south Puget Sound and Samish Bay near Anacortes which have also been closed due to illnesses contracted from oysters harvested from those areas.

The Washington Department of Health notes 2006 was most likely the year that an environmental threshold was crossed.

Vibrio Testing Closes Oakland Bay to Commercial Oyster Harvesting, Drakes Bay Oysters Recalled

The Department of Health has told shellfish farmers in Oakland Bay (Shelton) to stop harvesting oysters due to the naturally occurring bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp). A pilot program's testing for tlh (an indicator of how much Vp is present) resulted in 9,300 MPN/gram (most probable number), far above the action number of 100 MPN/gram.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vp is present in Puget Sound waters year round, but warm summer months, salinity and turbidity all increase its numbers within the water column dramatically. Oysters, being filter feeders, accumulate this bacteria which is then consumed by humans, causing vibriosis [read here about Vp]. During the winter months it is found concentrated in the sediments and may be introduced into the water column through sediment disturbance.

As of yet no recalls of oysters harvested from Oakland Bay, Totten Inlet, and, Hood Canal area #8 have been issued. Illnesses traced back to oysters harvested, or testing from these areas, have indicated elevated levels of Vp to be present. The coming warm days are expected to increase the risk further.

Drakes Bay Oyster Company

Issues Recall for Infected Oysters

In the past, "after-the-fact" recalls were initiated only after an indeterminate number of people became sick.  In California, after illnesses of vibriosis were reported, the source was tracked back to oysters harvested by Drakes Bay Oyster Company between July 17 and August 8.  [read here for Drakes Bay Oyster Company recall] Washington's Department of Health is trying to be more pro-active by requiring harvesting to stop, before infected oysters enter the food stream.

Until prevented from entering into the food stream perhaps legislators and the FDA should simply require post harvest processing of oysters harvested where Vp is known to occur. The expense to the state from testing would be lessened and the economic hardships brought on by illnesses contracted from infected oysters would be minimized.