Olympic Peninsula Environmental News

The Olympic Environmental Council (OEC) and Tyler Ahlgren, with 30 years experience working on sewage and storm water management system designs, have appealed the City of Port Angeles Planning Commission shoreline conditional use permit (SCUP) and the City’s determination of non significance (DNS) for a “pipe and treat” sewage-storm water collection system along the Strait of Juan de Fuca shoreline to minimize combined sewer overflows (CSO). The City was formally informed of the appeal on Tuesday, January 25, 2011.

The SCUP approved at the January 12th Port Angeles Planning Commission meeting allows the construction of pipes from downtown to the waste water treatment plant (WWTP) and the newly acquired 4.8 million gallon tank, located on the former Rayonier Mill site. These facilities are designed to hold peak system flows during heavy rain periods, to prevent most sewage overflows into public waters.

The appellants, who were present and provided testimony during the Planning Commission hearing, believe the Commissioners were not provided accurate information about the project, it’s goals and impacts. During the deliberations, the Commissioners themselves complained of the complexity of what they were told, complained that the project was being presented ” ..in bits and bites,” and by their questions and comments, made it clear they did not understand what they were voting on.

“We agree that the overflow problem is serious, ” said Darlene Schanfald, representing the OEC. “However, we are disappointed and chagrined that the City and the WA State Department of Ecology have agreed to spend taxpayer dollars to fund a 19th-early 20th century approach and build it in a designated flood-tsunami zone.”

The City of Port Angeles has termed their pipe and treat approach “fastest, cheapest.” However, the nearly $50M project is not being built as the “best, safest, and long term” system. It’s not credible environmentally or economically.

The City recognizes the overflow problem is because storm water is getting into the sewage collection system, mostly due to “Inflow and Infiltration” (I&I), seepage into sewer pipes through holes, cracks, joint failures, and faulty connections. Virtually every city experiences this problem, and most have ongoing budgeted programs to fix the leaks.

Port Angeles has been required by the WA State Department of Ecology through its NPDES permit to identify and fix all sources of I&I. The appellants believe Port Angeles has not complied with these existing permit requirements, resulting in the current CSO issues.

“The City can solve these overflow problems without the huge, budget busting project it currently is pursuing,” said Tyler Ahlgren. “The I&I sources need to be identified, prioritized for inflow volumes, and fixed. This would save big money.”

“The City should hire staff to permanently fix the problem and not create a scenario that will allow continued overflows,” said Schanfald, noting that the current City project anticipates continuing overflows. “Closure of the downtown trail would then not be necessary. And overflows would cease, as would alerts to stop fishing, swimming and other recreation.”

Ahlgren added, “The solution is simple. Stop the stormwater from getting into the sewage lines and there will be no more waste water overflows into the Strait. No one disputes this.”

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Filed under: Port Angeles | Tagged: Clallam County, Port Angeles | 2 Comments »

11/7 Peninsula Daily NewsDAVID G. SELLARS

GARTH FOSS, THE green and white tug that is as common a sight in the Strait of Juan de Fuca as the pilot boats, oil tankers and cargo ships, is one of the most powerful tugs in the world. Known within the industry as an enhanced tractor tug, she was designed and built to be primarily responsible for providing escort and vessel assist services to oil tankers as they transit Puget Sound. She is 155 feet long and has a 46-foot beam.

More at http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101107/news/311079986/david-g-sellars-on-the-waterfront-garth-foss-helps-guard-strait-of

Filed under: Port Angeles | Tagged: Clallam County, Port Angeles | Comments Off on Garth Foss helps guard Strait of Juan de Fuca -PDN

Environmental Coalition challenges Nippon’s proposed biomass incinerator on Port Angeles waterfront

Seven environmental groups, including the Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club, have filed a legal appeal of the City of Port Angeles’ approval of permit to allow Nippon Paper to build a biomass incinerator at its shoreline plant on the popular Waterfront Trail along Ediz Hook.

No Biomass Burn, Port Townsend Air Watchers, the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, the World Temperate Rainforest Network, the Olympic Forest Coalition, the Olympic Environmental Council and the Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club have joined together to take this legal action, filed October 6, 2010. 

The appeal disputes many aspects of Port Angeles’ approval of the Nippon permit, including:

*          The impact of many millions of gallons of additional water being removed by Nippon from the Elwha River each day.

*          The impact on fresh water and salt water fish, shellfish, crustaceans and other aquatic life when the river flow is reduced.

*          The impact across the North Olympic Peninsula on human health and the environmental effects of pollutants from Nippon’s proposed incinerator.

*          The climate impact of hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases emitted each year by the proposed Nippon incinerator.

*            The impact on the long-term sustainability of our forests that provide clean water, wildlife habitat, and support jobs in our local economy.

Unlike power plants that burn coal or oil or gas, biomass burning poses new threats to the health of our residents, our rivers, forests and oceans.

The Nippon incinerator is one of five biomass incinerators currently proposed for the Olympic Peninsula. Their cumulative impact raises the specter of scouring the forests clean of woody debris that naturally contribute to a healthy forest environment able to sustain wildlife, absorb rainfall and help mitigate flooding.

And it isn’t just the depletion of forest resources that has the groups concerned.

"The Elwha River needs water to support the return of the salmon," said Dr. John Osborn, Board President of the Center for Environmental Law & Policy.  "The permit we are challenging allows millions of gallons of water a day to be taken from the River for the Nippon incinerator.  Spending hundreds of millions of dollars to remove dams and then dewatering the Elwha River makes no sense."

Nippon’s smokestacks emit plumes that can be seen for miles. Local residents will be impacted and the toxic pollutants those stacks release will be carried by prevailing winds and the notoriously strong currents of the Strait of Juan de Fuca far beyond the city limits of Port Angeles.

Major increases in diesel truck traffic to and from the plant will also extend the air, water and noise pollution experienced by local residents to people and wildlife far beyond the Nippon site.

The coalition of environmental groups share a commitment to protecting our environment, including its impact on human health. The coalition’s appeal insists that Port Angeles overturn its approval of the Nippon incinerator and that Port Angeles correct many defects in its analysis of the Nippon incinerator proposal.

Filed under: Port Angeles | Tagged: Clallam County, Port Angeles | 2 Comments »

If you live in Port Angeles and are concerned about the proposal by Nippon to build a biomass electrical generation facility at their plant, now is the time to come out and hear the latest, get updated, and express your concerns, if you have them.

The meeting will be held at the City Council Chambers, 321 E. Fifth St.

http://www.ci.port-angeles.wa.us/publicNotice.htm is the public notice. It seems like the only consideration at this meeting is to allow it to have a height variance…? Or is this just one item to be discussed?

The biggest concern I’ve heard is that the assumptions of biomass fuel availability  do not match up with demand from the facilities. Apparently, according to the EIS by Nippon,  the requirement for the biomass facility is 90,000 bone dry tons (BDT) and the current slash volume burned in Clallam county is only 30,000 BDT. Add to that the demand from the Port Townsend mill biomass project (some will have to come from Clallam because much of the pulp today comes from Clallam), and there is an apparent need to harvest a great deal more trees on the Olympic Peninsula than we are today. This is not addressed by Nippon in their EIS, but  punted to DNR. I have not heard of a response to this from DNR at this point. It seems a major issue worth addressing. Do they expect to harvest 3 times the trees (or more) to feed the electrical generation demands of Nippon and PT Paper?  Is this all really carbon neutral? Or is this simply a way to allow industry to neutralize their costs of electrical generation? I don’t know the answer, and am unsure who does at this point, as this is all very experimental.  I don’t doubt it will create much needed jobs here. I don’t doubt that it will generate electricity, and I don’t clearly understand if the community benefits from that at all (they are stating they will sell the electricity to Bonneville, which means that this will be sold to California, which has never been in doubt). Does Port Angeles or Port Townsend really benefit from the generation of electricity at these plants, other than a few jobs? It’s really not clear at this point. But what is clear, is that it appears they will need to cut way more wood to make this work.

Filed under: Port Angeles | Tagged: Clallam County, Port Angeles | 1 Comment »