Olympic Peninsula Environmental News

6/23 NYTimes
EPA Warns House Bill Would ‘Overturn’ Clean Water Law
By PAUL QUINLAN

U.S. EPA warned of the potential dire consequences of legislation being fast-tracked through the House that would give states final say on rules concerning water, wetlands and mountaintop-removal mining.

In a four-page legal analysis (pdf), EPA said the measure (H.R. 2018 (pdf)) sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and ranking member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) “would overturn almost 40 years of federal legislation by preventing EPA from protecting public health and water quality.”

GOP House leaders expect to bring the bill to a floor vote this summer.

More at
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/06/23/23greenwire-epa-warns-house-bill-would-overturn-clean-wate-63901.html

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6/23 Green Acre Radio
Sampling for Toxic Contamination in Puget Sound’s Muddy Bottom
Martha Baskin

Can muddy waters provide answers to understanding what toxic contamination is polluting Puget Sound waters? Marine scientists with the Department of Ecology hope so. The scientists are engaged in a multi-year study to collect sediment or mud from the bottom of urban bays. Sampling in Elliott Bay and Commencement Bay found most contaminants come from storm run off. Some like lead are on the wane, while others like phthlates, the key ingredient added to plastic to make it flexible, remain steady. Green Acre Radio joined ecologists in South Puget Sound’s Oakland Bay and has our report.

Listen at
http://greenacreradio.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-23-2011-sampling-for-toxic.html

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The National Ocean Council is hosting a public listening session in Ocean Shores on Monday June 27th. At one of a dozen Regional Listening Sessions, experts from the National Ocean Council’s 27 Federal agencies and offices will be collecting the public’s input in developing strategic action plans to achieve the priority objectives of the National Ocean Policy (NOP).

Rep. Norm Dicks will be in attendance, as will National Ocean Council members Washington State Senator Kevin Ranker and Makah Tribal Chairman Micah McCarty.

The listening session will be held at the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino on State Route 115 from 9 AM to 5 PM.

“The health of Puget Sound is directly linked to the health of the Pacific Ocean,” said Rein Attemann, People For Puget Sound field director. “Increased ocean acidification puts Puget Sound’s shellfish industry at great risk. Oceans also support endangered Chinook salmon, the primary food source for Puget Sound’s endangered resident orca whales.”

According to Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish, shellfish growers contributed $107 million a year to Washington’s economy and provided thousands of family-wage jobs in coastal communities in 2010.

“Our economy and our quality of life are intertwined with the health of our ocean and coast,” said Jody Kennedy, Washington Policy Manager for the Surfrider Foundation.

“Through the establishment of a National Ocean Policy, the Obama Administration has taken a major step in ensuring the continued health of oceans and waterways such as Puget Sound,” added Kennedy. “Now we need to put this policy into action so that we can continue to enjoy our ocean and coast.”

The draft strategic action plans of the National Ocean Policy identify specific and measurable near-, mid- and long-term actions, with appropriate milestones, performance measures, and outcomes to meet each priority objective.

“Regionally, we have established a Puget Sound Action Agenda to recover Puget Sound’s health by 2020,” said Attemann. “Nation Ocean Policy must be integrated with and supportive of our regional recovery plan with specific science-based actions and targets.”

President Obama established an integrated National Ocean Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and Great Lakes last July. The NOP identifies nine national priorities, addressing the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes. Now the public have a unique opportunity to help shape those plans and tailor them to meet the local needs in Washington.

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A great time was had by all. I think it was one of the best parties for the environmental community I’ve been to in years. No big agenda, just getting together a lot of great folks who rarely are able to, with the main purpose of saying goodbye to one of the great leaders of protecting Puget Sound as she steps down. And a chance to meet Tom Bancroft.  It also allows me to re-acquaint myself with the faces that go along with so many of the names that I interact with on email!   We had a great mix of elected officials, environmental leaders and people who just have been doing this work without taking on leadership roles, but care deeply about the Sound, Strait and general Salish Sea.

Anyway, again, thanks to the great crowd, we understand if some of you wanted to come and couldn’t make it, I apologize if somehow I missed someone (everyone I could possibly invite I invited), and hope we see you all again down the road. We’ll try and do this again as we role out the new Eric Becker video “Sound and Vision” this fall.

Special thanks to the volunteers who helped us get setup, including Caroline Gibson, Pat Pearson, Darcy McNamara, Rob & Sally Garratt, Mike & David Sato, Rein Attemann and of course, Megan Bergstein. Thanks also to Panne D’Amore for their donation of the bread, and the Food Coop of PT and Safeway.

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*6/16/11 Crosscut
By Robert McClure/InvestigateWest
How far should Washington go to rein in the largest source of water pollution fouling Puget Sound and many other water bodies in the state?
A proposal by the Washington state Ecology Department is drawing fire from environmentalists as being too lax and from builders as being potentially super-costly.
…For environmentalists, the proposed regulations seem likely to allow far too many developments to exit the stormwater-cleanup highway.
“This proposal is a disappointment in its current form,” said Bruce Wishart, lobbyist for the environmental group People for Puget Sound. “It needs a lot of work. It’s a small step forward but the department (of Ecology) has really failed to take advantage of the opportunity that was presented.”
Wishart said the rules should seek to maintain green spaces and minimize the amount of hard surfaces such as roofs and concrete that shed rainwater rapidly, “and Ecology has really dropped the ball in that area with this initial proposal.”
“In addition, I would say the proposal is riddled with loopholes and it would be very difficult to enforce in its current form, so there needs to be some improvement in that area as well,” Wishart said.
One of the harshest critics of Ecology’s stormwater-cleanup efforts is Tom Holz, an engineer and planner, who charges that the regulations Ecology is advancing “will preserve no forest, will not limit hardened surfaces, and will not limit discharge of rainfall to surface waters. “
More at
http://crosscut.com/2011/06/16/puget-sound/21028/State-caught-in-crossfire-on-proposed-new-urban-runoff-rules/

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North Olympic Land Trust, Clallam County’s only local land conservation non-profit, will hold the grand opening of its public Elk Creek Conservation Area property outside of Forks beginning Saturday, June 18, at 9am. The Land Trust, which manages and conserves thousands of acres of ecologically and economically vital habitat in the Olympic Peninsula, has made the 255-acre Elk Creek Conservation Area its first ever public recreation and education property which will be free and open to the public. 

Shuttles to the conservation area will leave from and return to Forks Tilicum Park every 10-15 minutes beginning at 9am Saturday morning and ending at noon that day. Parking will not be available on-site at the day of the grand opening. North Olympic Land Trust advises those attending the grand opening to bring hiking attire and a raincoat to enjoy the gentle 2.5 mile round-trip hike.

More info at

http://nolt.org/News/elkcreekjune.html

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From Ginnie Broadhurst, the Director of the NW Straits Commission.

“Today we learned officially through Senator Murray’s office that there is no funding provided for the Northwest Straits Initiative in NOAA’s FY 2011 spending plan that was submitted to Appropriations Committee this afternoon.  This is deeply disappointing for all of us and will certainly have significant implications for our organization. 
 
We’ve been preparing for a number of scenarios, including this one.   I am working to raise other funding sources to cover Commission and MRC costs into 2012 and we are using our Foundation staff to leverage additional funding to make sure that some projects can be funded in the coming year. 
 
I know this is going to be a lean and challenging time, but all of us at the Commission are ready to rally and look forward to finding creative solutions and keep things going. Our work is important and well respected by our partners and communities.”

The NW Straits Commission has been responsible for numerous significant efforts to support the Sound and Straits. They have funded the Marine Resource Committees (MRCs) that act as de facto local community subject matter experts on shoreline and water issues to the County Commissioners of 10 counties along the Strait, San Juan’s and other communities. They have funded efforts to protect eel grass, Olympia Oysters and most significantly, the Derelict Net and Fishing Gear program, that is responsible for pulling up hundreds of miles of nets and gear.

This is a  blow to recovery efforts in the Straits and North Sound. We hope that they will find a way to fund this critical efforts to save the NWC. To be clear, the reason this happened is because the Obama administration and Congress  has stopped the process of ‘earmarking’ funds for projects like this. We hope you call your representatives and let them know what you think of this issue. And that you hope that funding will be found elsewhere.

UPDATE: For clarity, there is action in the Senate to create a re-authorization of the NWSC Initiative. More information on this process will be updated in this column in the future, as I get it.

Full Disclosure: I am a member of the Jefferson County MRC, but receive no pay for my efforts. It is a volunteer effort on my part.

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 1 Comment »

(Seattle WA)            The conservation group People For Puget Sound today urged the Puget Sound Leadership Council to adopt meaningful recovery goals when it meets this week in Seattle. These goals will be the basis of the Partnership’s revised Action Agenda to recover the health of the Sound by the year 2020.

“We need to base these goals on what best available science tells us a healthy Puget Sound needs and what can be technically attained,” said Tom Bancroft, executive director of People For Puget Sound. “Goals should be what’s good for Puget Sound, and should not be based on current levels of funding or existing government programs.”

According to Bancroft, the Partnership should first determine what needs to be achieved for a healthy Sound, then decide what actions to adopt and how to fund what needs to be done. Degradation of the Sound, in any case, should not be allowed to continue.

The problems facing Puget Sound are interconnected and interdependent, and specific goals for recovery have to take that into account, Bancroft said. For example, Orca whales eat Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon eat herring that lay eggs on eelgrass. The Partnership’s goals must reflect this interconnectedness if the Action Agenda is to truly address Puget Sound recovery.

The Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council meets at the Seattle Aquarium on June 16 from 9 AM to 5 PM and on June 17 from 8:30 AM to 4 PM. The Council will adopt recovery goals and 2020 targets at this meeting.

The Partnership will subsequently revise its Action Agenda to incorporate the goals and 2020 targets, and the actions needed to attain them.  The Partnership is scheduled to adopt its revisions to the Action Agenda in December 2011.

A copy of People For Puget Sound’s letter to the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council is found at http://pugetsound.org/programs/policy/comment_letters/060911PSPltr/

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6/5 Peninsula Daily News
Pollution threatens shellfish-rich south shore of Port Townsend Bay
By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News

PORT HADLOCK — Jefferson County leaders said they would work toward keeping commercial shellfish beds open after the state Department of Health last week announced that pollution from nearby boats was threatening the Broders Seafood clam farm at the southern shores of Port Townsend Bay with closure.

…The threat covers about a third of a mile of shoreline adjacent to the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding and is within eyeshot across the water from the Port Hadlock Marina.

More at
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20110605/news/306059984/pollution-threatens-shellfish-rich-south-shore-of-port-townsend-bay

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Director Kathy Fletcher’s Exit Interview

Steve Scher
06/06/2011 at 9:00 a.m. ShareThis
Kathy Fletcher has spent 20 years as the executive director of People for Puget Sound. She created the group to ensure governments and corporations are doing their best to keep Puget Sound clean. Before that she worked for the state trying to develop policies to clean up the Sound. Now she’s retiring, and it’s a chance to reflect on what’s been accomplished during the years she’s focused on the issue. People for Puget Sound has helped pass laws regarding copper brake pads, storm water standards and shoreline restoration. What effect have they had? What does Fletcher want to see from her successor? Steve Scher conducts Kathy Fletcher’s exit interview on June 6 at 9:00 a.m.

http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=23593

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Photographer/Filmmaker John Gussman sent me a few photos from this week’s shutdown of the dam. Enjoy. Next up, the tear down will begin this summer.

The press and engineers gather.

The computer tells the tale. 0 output.

And the final log entry.

This marks a significant milestone in the work to re-establish the Elwha as a major salmon stream. The reasoning is simple yet the work hard and expensive: The government is doing this because the dam produces a small amount of electricity, it was built with no way to allow the migrating salmon to bypass the dam, and the river has a short run from the Straits into a major wilderness area, which will give the salmon a strong chance to survive and thrive.

Hopefully, we will be seeing wind and water turbines that can out produce this dam get setup over the next few years.

To purchase these or any of the other photos that John is taking, go to his web site:

https://www5843.ssldomain.com/elwhaimagebank/store/index.php?p=home

All photos are the property of John Gussman and cannot be reproduced beyond this blog without his written permission. Thanks John!

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So here we go…a larger gamble on saving and restoring one of the great salmon runs of the west coast.

5/28 Associated Press
Dams power down in the largest US dam removal
PHUONG LE, Associated Press

PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — The Elwha River on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula once teemed with legendary salmon runs before two towering concrete dams built nearly a century ago cut off fish access to upstream habitat, diminished their runs and altered the ecosystem.

On June 1, nearly two decades after Congress called for full restoration of the river and its fish runs, federal workers will turn off the generators at the 1913 dam powerhouse and set in motion the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.

Contractors will begin dismantling the dams this fall, a $324.7 million project that will take about three years and eventually will allow the 45-mile Elwha River to run free as it courses from the Olympic Mountains through old-growth forests into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

More at
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Dams-power-down-in-the-largest-US-dam-removal-1399989.php

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5/28/11 Seattle Times
Pollution lower, risks remain for marine life
By Craig Welch
Seattle Times environment reporter

It can happen almost immediately.

Copper dust from car brakes gets flushed into a stream by storms. Inside half an hour, the ability of nearby baby salmon to interpret smells can get thrown out of whack. When a predator approaches, the fish don’t flee, increasing the odds they’ll be gobbled up.

This potentially deadly change in fish behavior can happen at extremely low levels of pollution, the same levels washing into Puget Sound during heavy rain. It’s one of the many ways stormwater runoff still presents trouble for Puget Sound.

More at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015176223_stormwater29m.html

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5/27 Vancouver Sun
Shell says it’s looking at B.C. Coast for new LNG terminal
By GORDON HAMILTON, Vancouver Sun

Shell Canada says it is investigating the potential for a new liquid natural gas terminal to be located on the B.C. coast.

Shell “is interested in, and currently exploring LNG opportunities along the B.C. coast,” Stephen Doolan, of Shell’s media relations department said in an email to The Sun.

“We are early in the evaluation process so do not have specific details but are pursuing opportunities,” he said. “Natural gas is a key area of growth for Shell. In terms of LNG, we will continue to invest in our global leadership position as demand continues to grow.”

More at
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Shell+says+looking+Coast+terminal/4853663/story.html

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Not sure how an amphitheater at  a creek’s mouth is an appropriate use. Do you? – Editor

5/26 Peninsula Daily News
By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Paul Cronauer has plans to change the appearance of the shoreline near his waterfront building, The Landing mall.
He has filed for a shoreline substantial development permit with the city to install three mooring buoys north of his building, artificial tide pools and expand public access to the mouth of Peabody Creek.
The first two proposals will be heard at the city Planning Commission’s June 8 meeting, when it meets at 6 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
More at
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20110526/NEWS/305269983/tidepools-and-mooring-buoys-changes-proposed-for-the-landing

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