Officials with the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) delivered the final Duckabush River citation to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) this month, …
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Officials with the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) delivered the final Duckabush River citation to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) this month, and according to L&I officials the WDFW has 30 days to make corrections to ensure employee safety.
The citation is linked to the death early this year of a WDFW employee working on the Duckabush River.
Mary Valentine, 49, a seasonal scientific technician with the department’s Fish Program’s Science Division, was working a smolt trap on the river on Tuesday, Jan. 23. She did not check in with team members that evening. The following morning, she was reported missing and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded along with WDFW Officers. Her body was discovered in the water. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office led the initial investigation.
The findings of the Duckabush River L&I citation require WDFW to pay a $114,000 penalty to L&I within 15 days and to make a number of corrections by Aug. 21.
Specifically, the agency is required to develop, supervise and implement safety programs and provide training records for personnel working on water and with the public. They are also to develop a formal, written accident prevention program for all water-based work activities. In addition, staff are required to use U.S. Coast Guard commercially-rated personal flotation devices and know how to wear and inspect them. Lastly, they are to ensure slings, fish traps, wire ropes, and wire rope thimbles are inspected and installed properly before use.
“We have been working diligently over the past seven months to update our safety protocols for all staff,” said WDFW Director Kelly Susewind. “Of these violations, we have corrected seven, and we are working quickly to correct the remaining two. Our safety vision is that every staff member has the equipment and training to mitigate the risks inherent to their jobs.”
Trapping of downstream migrating juvenile salmon in freshwater is conducted seasonally in watersheds statewide to count smolts migrating out of river systems, as part of monitoring status and trends of salmon and steelhead populations. WDFW has temporarily suspended smolt trap activities at the Duckabush River.
