f 

## SEP2199 TUE 

### 1016 AM 

## PENUMUT 

# WAN NATiON n11 lit 

## uini 117 r



### UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEDTION 

## AGENCY REGION I 

### JOHN 

## P KENNEDY FEDERAL BUiLDING 

## BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS 04020001 

# May31 1996 

## Honorable Richard Hamilton Penobscot Nation 

## Community Building Indian Island 

## Old

# Town 

# ME 04468 COF204OP 7116 RECEOIAL ARMINESTWOR



## Dear Governor 

## Hamilton
This is in

### response to 

### your letter 

### ofFebruary

## 29 1996 requesting that

# EPA begin the 

### process of establishing federally 

### promulgated water quality criteria for certain 

### organochlorides which contribute tothe 

### contamination offish in the 

### Penobscot River 

## and result in a health 

### advisory

I share 

### yourgoal 

### ofreducing the level 

### oftodcs in fish so that 

### they 

## may be 

## consumed safely 

### without the 

### need for 

### a health 

### advisory I believe the

## mostpromising approach to 

### achieving our mutual objective is 

### through thoughtfully 

### applying the current 

### standards carefully permitting 

### sources consistently 

### monitoringfish tissue ascontrols are 

## implementedand adjusting those controls accordingly as

## we learn 

## More from fish tissue 

### monitoring This strategy will 

### be mostsuccessful if

## we enlistthe 

### cooperation ofall 

### ofthe stakeholders in the 

### watershed Through this 

### type ofan effort 

## we should strive for elinaination 

### ofthe fish 

### advisory as 

### soon as 

### possible 

## The crrganochloride 

### causing afish advisory in the 

### Penobscot River is 

### dioxin in 

## 1990 Maine amended its 

### water quality statute to require that 

# EPAs national criterion for 

### dioxin 

## would apply in

## Maine if the 

### Maine Board ofEnvironmental Protection failed to 

### adopt its 

## own criterion 

## by Tune 

## 1991 The Board did 

### not adopt an alternative 

### dioxin criterion 

### nor did it select 

### acancer risk level for 

### applying 

# EPAs criterion In 

## 1993 Maine amended its 

### water quality statute to prohibit the 

## Board from adopting anynumeijc water quality criterion 

### for är setting a 

### cancer risk level 

### from exposure to dioxin prior to 

### January 

## 1994 The Board has not yet 

### adopted its 

## own alternative 

### dioxin criterion 

### nor has it selected a risk level for 

### implementing 

# EPAs dioxin Criterion

Re4yobtReayalabip Printed itath VegecIbleO OStxfMks on 

### 100 Recycled Paper

# 40 Foitconstimer 

### SEP211999 1524 

## P 03

## SEP2199 TUE 

### 1017 AM PENOBSCOT INDIAN NATION FAX NO 207 827 1137 Y 4 

## rt



# EPA interprets the current 

## Maine water quality statute to 

## mean that 

### a state dioxin criterion

### based on

# EPAs national criterion 

### remains in effect but there is 

### no risk level established 

## by the State for 

### dioxin In the 

### absence of an explicit risk level 

### designation but in consideration 

### ofother provisions 

### ofthe 

## Maine standards 

## EPA generally implements the state 

### dioxin criterion 

### using a 

### 106 level 

### of risk

## one in a million risk

### ofan additional 

## cancer 

## When this risklevel is factored in 

### with the other 

### elements of

# EPAs dioxin criterion that are in effect in

## Maine this yields 

### an in

### stream dioxin level 

### of

## 0013ppq In the 

### case ofthe 

### Lincoln Pulp and Paper draft 

### permit

## EPA proposed to establish 

### an effluent limit for

### dioxin based 

## on an ambient concentration 

### of dioxin 

## of00078 

## ppq This concentration reflects 

### a risk level that takes into 

### account that the 

### 50th percentile level 

### offish 

### consumption in the tribe is greater

### than the 

### 50th percentile level 

### offish 

### consumption in the general 

### population 

# We believe that the current 

### dioxin criterion 

### which applies in

## Maine is 

### capable of being implemented in the individual permitting context to protect the 

### uses including fish

## consumption ofthe waters affecting the 

### Penobscot Indian Nations reservation Prior to 

## making a final decision 

## on the 

### Lincoln Pulp and Paper permit 

# EPA will carefully evaluate the 

### impact ofpermitted dioxin levels 

## on the tribe 

### and respond to 

## comments 

## we have received from the tribe including those 

### regarding fish 

### consumption levels 

## and other parties 

## on this issue 

# EPA expects to 

### receive a final biological opinion 

## on the effects 

### of the 

### proposed reissuance 

### ofthe 

### Lincoln Pulp 

## and Paper

## NPDES permiton the threatened 

### bald eagle 

## from the

# US Fish 

## and Wildlife Service within the 

### next 

## two months Once we receive the 

### opinion 

## we plan to issue a final discharge 

### permitwithin several 

## months The permit will 

### include provisions 

### designed to address the tribes fishing rights 

### and the fish 

### ccinsumption advisory 

## problem 

# We believe that the 

## most efficient 

### and effective 

## way to 

### address the tribes 

### concern at this 

### time is 

### through the 

### permit process rather 

### than through a separate federal 

### promulgation of a 

### dioxin criterion 

### Promulgation ofa 

### dioxin criterion for

### waters adjacent to the 

### Penobscot reservation 

## would not necessarily 

### yield different 

### or

## more stringent effluent limitations for the 

### Lincoln Mill as

## would an effluent limit 

### based on

## EPAs implementation ofthe current 

## Maine criterion yet

### promulgation 

## would require a longer 

### and 

## more resource 

### intensive administrative 

### process Therefore 

# EPA intends to 

### continue to 

### focus its attention 

### on completing the 

### Lincoln permit at this 

## time

SEP211999 1025 

## 93 P04

## SEP2199 TUE 

### 1017 AM PENOBSCOT DIAN NATION PAX NO 207 827 1137 P 5

1 

## Asyou

## may be 

## aware the state 

### of

## Maine has recently 

### expressed interest in

### examining
its 

### dioxincriterion 

# EPA is 

### ready to 

## mirkwith the tribe 

### and 

## Dgp to 

### develop asound 

## longterm strategy for dealing 

### with dioxin in the 

### Penobscot I share 

### yOur goal 

### of reducing the levels 

### oftoxics in fish so that there is 

### no need for

### a health 

### advisory I 

### look forward to 

### working 

## withyou to achieve this objective as 

### soon as 

### possible Sincerely 

# JL

John

# P DeVillars Regional Administrator



## Edward Sullivan 

## Maine 

## DEP JosephTorres Lincoln Pulp and Paper Michael Bartlett 

## US Fishand Wildlife Service 

## 40


# 10LLA 

# 4wNAdo0

dippe



### SEP211999 1026 

## 33 PJD5