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Whidbey Island waters dyed red for shellfish health

Department of Health to study wastewater movement

By Julia Lerner Staff Reporter

The waters around Whidbey Island will be dyed red Monday, Sept. 12, to allow the state Department of Health (DOH) to study wastewater movement in the region. 

DOH will be working in the waters beginning Friday and will remain until Sept. 14 to analyze wastewater movement near the Oak Harbor Clean Water Facility (CWF). Waters around the facility, which opened its doors in 2019, were supposed to be evaluated three years ago, but technology issues and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed studies.

The red dye, rhodamine, is fluorescent and non-toxic, and will allow the department to understand where treated wastewater flows after it leaves the CWF. 

Scientists from the DOH and the Food and Drug Administration will add the dye to treated wastewater before it leaves the facility to track movement. The primary goal of the study is to understand the plant’s potential impact on the Saratoga Passage and the Penn Cove growing areas, according to a DOH press release. 

Several areas around Whidbey Island are currently closed to shellfish harvests due to unsafe waters, including Saratoga Pass and Hidden Beach. Saratoga Pass is closed for butter clam and varnish clam harvest due to high levels of biotoxin, though mussel and oyster harvest is still open, according to the Shellfish Safety Information map published by the DOH

The red dye will be visible near Oak Harbor for 24 hours. 

For information on current advisories, visit the Washington Shellfish Safety Map, which is updated daily.

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