"Oregon Adopts Strictest Standards in US for Toxic Water Pollution"

"Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission [Thursday] adopted the strictest standards for toxic water pollution in the United States.

The new rules, adopted on a 4-1 vote, are designed to protect tribal members and others who eat large amounts of contaminated fish.

Oregon's current water quality standards are built on an assumption that people eat 17.5 grams of fish a day, about a cracker's worth and typical of most states. The proposed standard boosts that to 175 grams a day, just shy of an 8-ounce meal.

The change, proposed in January, dramatically tightens Oregon's human health criteria for a host of pollutants, including mercury, flame retardants, PCBs, dioxins, plasticizers and pesticides."

Scott Learn reports for the Portland Oregonian June 16, 2011.