Olympic Peninsula Environmental News

OLYMPIA – Sunshine is making many of us feel happier in the Northwest, but it’s also causing algae blooms in Western Washington waters.

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and many other jurisdictions are currently monitoring algae concentrations in both fresh and marine waters.

Blooms are occurring in lakes in Jefferson, Mason and Thurston counties.Jefferson County’s Anderson Lake is currently closed to use because of a toxic algae bloom. Local health officials advise people to stay out of and off the lake.

Marine water algae blooms are rearing up in Puget Sound’s Budd Inlet, in Sinclair Inlet and in the central Sound north of Vashon Island. Ecology’s Marine Monitoring Program displays recent aerial photos of Puget Sound online. Many of the photos are showing algae blooms. See the images atEyes Over Puget Sound.

An algae bloom is the visible appearance of millions of tiny plant-like organisms in the water. As spring and summer weather commences, people may encounter waters with visible algae blooms while they are enjoying the outdoors. Blooms are naturally occurring and common during sunny weather.

Some types of blooms can produce toxins that can make people sick if they are exposed to the toxins. This is especially true for small children and the elderly. Pets can die after drinking water with a toxic bloom.

Toxins also affect shellfish. Know before you dig. Call the Shellfish Safety Hotline, 1-800-562-5632 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-562-5632 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, to find out which recreational shellfish beaches are closed.

Other types of blooms may not be toxic, but can be an environmental concern because when algae die, they sink and decay, which strips oxygen from the water. Aquatic life needs oxygen to survive.

Sometimes algae blooms look like spilled paint, oil or sewage. The public canreport any suspected spill or algae bloom to the state at Ecology’s website, or by calling 800-OILS-911 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 800-OILS-911 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

You can also learn more about lake algae and sign up to receive emails about lake algae blooms by visiting Ecology’s Freshwater Algae Control Program website or visitKing County’s lakes website.

Nutrients that get into our waters feed algae blooms. Nutrients, which are substances that contain nitrogen and/or phosphorus, come from a complex variety of natural and human sources and pathways, including wastewater treatment plants, septic systems, groundwater, rivers, fertilizers and polluted runoff.

People can help keep nutrients out of Washington waters.

• Your yard – Reduce the use of fertilizers and don’t overwater.
• Your dog – Scoop, bag and trash dog poop.
• Your home septic tank – Check it, fix it, maintain it.
• Your baby – Keep dirty diapers out of the water.
• Your automatic dishwasher – Use low or no-phosphate soaps, especially if you live on a lake and you use a home septic system.
• Your car – Don’t feed soap to the storm drain. Wash your car on the lawn or at a commercial car wash.

To learn more about what you can do to keep our waters clean, visit Ecology’s water education website, Washington Waters – Ours to Protect.

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SEATAC, Wash. — State and federal wildlife officers spent Thursday doing what most of them dread most.
Pressure from poachers is threatening the survival of the giant clams in the wild. The busy cargo operations at Sea-Tac Airport don’t seem like the normal beat for fish and wildlife enforcement officers. But they were there gearing up for a day of activity most of these officers try to avoid. “We are up to our necks in paperwork,” said Washington State Fish & Wildlife Officer Tylar Stephenson

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Laura James has donated footage to “Voices of the Strait” and to People For Puget Sound’s “Sound and Vision” video (Both are well worth seeing!). While not directly a Peninsula news piece, maybe we can see if other dive teams can start a contest to see who can clean up the most underwater junk off our shores!

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Laura James loves Puget Sound. She’s an avid diver but was disgusted by what she saw beneath the surface. James took it upon herself to become a one woman clean-up crew.  "I’ve been able to remove about 1,100 pounds of lead from the Sound," she says proudly.

Half a ton of junk removed from Elliott Bay by West Seattle diver http://www.king5.com/community/making-a-difference/Sea-garbage-removed-from-Elliott-Bay-by-West-Seattle-woman-142869095.html

Check out Laura’s project at http://beneaththelookingglass.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/the-visibility-project/

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People For Puget Sound has chosen to reduce staff during the incredibly difficult fundraising year that all non-profits are facing. The 20 year old organization, which recently saw the retirement  of one of the founders, Kathy Fletcher, now faces the loss of Mike Sato, a co-founder and communications director. Also Policy people Dave Peeler and Bruce Wishart’s positions have been eliminated, with no announcement of how those key positions will be filled, or how the efforts to do lobbying and policy on behalf of the Sound will continue.  Additional staff cuts in web design and other functions have been announced.

People For Puget Sound has been the largest non-profit environmental organization working solely on protecting the entire Sound. They manage a number of educational and restoration projects around the Sound, and these positions, according to new Executive Director Tom Bancroft, will continue. The staff is now at 19.

People For Puget Sound were at the core of many environmental efforts over the last ten years. They run Environmental Lobbying Day in Olympia each January, a consortium of many other groups. They also pushed for 10 years for the Neah Bay rescue tug, which was passed last year. Many of their staff and members were involved in the Critical Areas Ordinances and Shoreline Master Programs in many counties.  Additionally, they wrote the proposals for creating Aquatic Reserves around Smith & Minor and Protection Islands, which resulted in nearly 64000 acres of seabed being protected from commercial exploitation. How these activities will continue was not specified in email sent out by Mr. Bancroft.

Bancroft did state that:

Many decisions are yet to be made, but high-impact investments this year will include restoring clean water in Puget Sound by reducing toxic pollutants and nutrients, helping with implementation of the new Oil Preparedness Bill; and continuing our successful habitat restoration programs at more than a dozen sites across Puget Sound.

People For Puget Sound must be able to get its message out, respond quickly to changing policies in Olympia and get the most benefit out of every restoration project.

It was not specified how he intended to do that, especially with the elimination of the communications and policy positions.

Bancroft, recently on the Pacific Northwest scene from a career with Audubon on the east coast, was on vacation this week and unavailable for comment. All of us who have been deeply involved in many projects with People For Puget Sound await some comment by Tom about how he intends to maintain the position of this premiere independent non profit given what seems like the end of core functions and people with deep experience in Olympia.  

Of course, the best thing any of us can do for People For Puget Sound to help restore these cuts is to donate something to their cause. As funding gets back to better levels, it is hoped that Mr. Bancroft will restore their Olympia positions.

You can donate by going to their web site, www.pugetsound.org.

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