The agreement was announced today by three of its major sponsors, the Washington Department of Ecology, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Puyallup Indian Tribe.
Ammonia can have a toxic effect on fish and other aquatic wildlife.
Although the Puyallup River currently meets state water quality standards for dissolved oxygen and ammonia, a 1994 Ecology water quality study of the river identified the potential for future problems. As a result, Ecology set limits on the river's ''reserve capacity'' for handling BOD and ammonia. The agreement sets forth a plan for allocating the reserve capacity so it will never be exhausted and the river's health will be protected well into the future. Participants in the agreement represent a broad cross-section of interests. Cities have a stake because their wastewater treatment plants' discharges and runoff from their streets affect the river.