LUMMI NATION, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The Lummi Tribal Sewer and Water District was presented with a national award on Tuesday, July 21 following upgrades it made to a nearby wastewater treatment plant.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s PISCES program recognized the Gooseberry Point Wastewater Treatment Plant for its effort in environmental and public health protection.

Members of the Sewer and Water District, the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department of Ecology met at the Wex’liem Community Hall on the Lummi Nation for an award ceremony.

Group of Indigenous dancers indoors, wearing regalia and feathered headdresses, some with drums, performing in a gym-like hall with wooden walls and stairs in the background.
The Blue Lightning Canoe Family performs a tribal song and dance at the PISCES Award Ceremony held in the Wex’liem Community Hall on the Lummi Nation.
Speaker at a wooden podium giving a presentation in a large wood-paneled hall with a projected aerial image on screen to the left.
Councilman Vendean “Jim” Washington speaks at the PISCES Award Ceremony held in the Wex’liem Community Hall on the Lummi Nation.

Spokesperson from the EPA Region 10 Emma Pokon congratulated the Sewer and Water district on its upgrades to the plant which will result in reduced pollution and restored protection for tribal shellfish beds.

Lummi Indian Business Council Vice-Chairman Terrence Adams addressed the significance of the hard work done to upgrade the plant in his speech.

Two people on a stage during an award ceremony: a woman in a light suit speaks into a microphone while a man in a blue shirt holds a plaque in front of wooden walls and totems.
EPA Region 10 Regional Administrator Emma Pokon presents an EPA PISCES Award to Lummi Indian Business Council Vice-Chair Terrence Adams. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker

“This project reflects the Nation’s commitment to protecting our people [and] our natural resources. Clean water is essential to public health in our environment and in our way of life,” Adams said. “Protecting our water also protects the salmon, the shellfish, our treaty resources that have sustained our people for generations.”

Prior to its renovations, the plant’s outdated technology was underperforming in its treatment of wastewater. High tides and weather events would cause partially treated effluent to back up into the plant’s disinfection system.

The wastewater would then need to be diverted over nearby land next to the Hale Passage waterway: a shellfish habitat, salmon fishing area and popular location for the endangered southern resident orca pod.

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With a $15 million loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the facility saw improvements to its activated sludge process, pump station and extreme weather event measures.

The Gooseberry Point plant was recognized by the PISCES program as one of five ‘Exceptional Projects’ chosen this year from around the country.