October 16, 2024 — Federal officials have agreed to take another look at how Washington state regulates a deadly poison — cyanide.
The lethal substance is often used to make metals, plastics, dyes, and pesticides and to extract gold and silver from mineral ores.
The concern is that legal levels of cyanide winding up in Washington waters may be harming wildlife, including orcas and other endangered species.
In 2010, National Marine Fisheries Service biologists concluded that concentrations of cyanide allowed under existing regulations were enough to kill salmon and sturgeon in large numbers and would reduce the prey base for endangered killer whales.