Gregoire announces 280 additional acres of Hood Canal now open for shellfish harvest – Bremerton Patriot

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Al Bergstein

Little by little, with enforcement of septic tank inspection and upgrade, and adding of wastewater treatment, we are getting back our shores to where they need to be. A little good news…

Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced that an additional 280 acres of Hood Canal shellfish beds in Mason County have been upgraded by the state Department of Health from “prohibited” to ”approved” for commercial harvest. With this upgrade, the region is 51 percent of the way toward reaching the goal to reopen 7,000 acres of shellfish beds between 2007 and 2020, a vision outlined in the Puget Sound Partnership’s Action Agenda.</blockquote

Read the rest of the story at
http://www.bremertonpatriot.com/news/182088581.html

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Obama Administration pulls fast one on Supreme Court re:case on salmon protection

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Al Bergstein

A most astonishing gambit was played in Washington at the Supreme Court yesterday, as the Obama administration changed a rule in the EPA, apparently to get out of having the Supreme Court rule on whether the Clean Water Act should be applied to logging roads. It seems to be a give away to the logging industry to allow them to continue creating logging roads without significant environmental review. The EPA came out of left field yesterday, as the court was hearing the case (!), to say that they no longer would consider logging road runoff as “industrial waste” though it’s creation is clearly caused by industrial activity. Whether or not this runoff would or should be considered as covered by the Clean Water Act is now moot.

This is interesting in many ways, as the ruling was apparently held until the last minute, maybe until after the election, on purpose, by the administration. They had warned the Justices back in the spring that there was new rules coming that could affect the case, but chose to wait until now to roll them out. One can assume so as not anger their environmental supporters prior to election day. An explanation by the EPA and the Administration would seem in order.

Once again, those who are trying to protect the salmon habitat from ongoing destruction, find that even our ‘friends’ in Washington DC can decide to change the rules to favor the ongoing logging practices. These industrial made culverts have been the reason for hundreds of thousands of miles of sediment runoff, over many decades, that many people have considered to be one of the primary reasons that salmon numbers have fallen so much since the 60s. It is certainly questionable, given the court’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act in previous rulings, whether it would have found in favor of the environmental side, but this now forces a rethink of the tactic, let alone of Administration motives. I would assume additional lawsuits against the runoff rule, will be forthcoming. A good guess would be that this could trigger tribal interests to weigh in. They have been very vocal that the government is not helping to protect watersheds. This should provide fuel to their argument, and might get them to invoke Treaty protections. Just last month, at the NW Straits Marine Resources Committees Annual Meeting, Billy Frank Jr. was telling people that after his trip back to meet with President Obama and others in the administration and Congress, that he felt that “no one is in charge” of salmon recovery. Now it seems that the administration could be pushing Billy and the NW Indian Fisheries Coalition to weigh in and take action in the courts.

Read the interesting back and forth between an astonished Chief Justice Roberts and the government side lawyers, who can’t even agree among themselves as to the proper course of action after this ‘rabbit out of the hat’ move.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/us/epa-rule-complicates-supreme-court-case-on-logging-runoff.html?_r=0

and

http://earthfix.kcts9.org/water/article/epa-rule-on-logging-road-runoff-throws-curveball-a/

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Nov 5: Jefferson County Dept. of Community Development Public Meeting

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Al Bergstein

Jeff County DCD Director Carl Smith Discusses Departmental Improvement
Monday
Nov. 5, 7:30pm
Quimper Grange
1219 Corona Street (End of Sheridan)

On Monday, November 5, Quimper Grange will host a talk by Jefferson County Department of Community Development Director Carl Smith, who will discuss the ongoing improvement program in the Department of Community Development (building & development permits). Smith will address the need for changes in the department with an overview of the DCD including staff, budget and recent years of permitting activity. He will also cover the process, elements and results of the improvement efforts. Attendees will learn how and why DCD is working toward providing improved service, the ways in which DCD will track performance over time and inform the community, and the preliminary signs of the improvement.

Carl Smith’s background includes more than 20 years experience as a land use planner, including more than ten years of senior management experience directing community development departments for local governments in Alaska and Washington State.

He was most recently the Lands Manager for a Native village corporation and also served as Planning Director for Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska. He previously held a management position with the Port of Tacoma, and before that, directed planning and permitting for the cities of Fife, Woodinville, and Mountlake Terrace. Smith holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Planning, a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Science, a certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners, is a LEED Accredited Professional, and holds numerous other professional certifications. Because of his affection for the area, he has owned 5 acres of property in Quilcene since the late 1990s where he built a house in 2006 and now resides.

The program starts at 7:30 pm and is preceded by a potluck dessert/fingerfood social half-hour from 7pm to 7:30pm. Suggested donation: $5-$10. For further information contact: Charlotte Goldman at 385-3455

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Pesticide protections for Pacific salmon head to court. – KPLU Pesticide protections for Pacific salmon head to court.

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Al Bergstein

An East Coast court case could have big impacts on West Coast fish, and farmers too. Chemical manufacturers are suing the federal government to get a rule restricting pesticide use wiped off the books. In 2008 the National Marine Fisheries Service ruled a certain class of pesticides is a mortal threat to salmon and steelhead populations. Organophosphates are common on farms, and used to be widely used in gardens before regulators phased them out. Gabriel Spitzer reports.

http://kplu.org/post/pesticide-protections-pacific-salmon-head-court

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Permit fee added for construction near state waters – Kitsap Sun

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Al Bergstein

If people won’t approve new taxes, and the job of permitting needs, by law to be done, we best expect and get used to higher fees for everything. Welcome to the future that so many anti-tax people were selling us. (and this happening under a mostly Democratic legislature!) You thought that being anti tax would reduce your costs? Certain laws of nature are not going to go away.

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A permit for construction in and around state waters — free of charge since the program started in 1943 — will now cost $150 for processing. The permit, called a hydraulic project approval, or HPA, is used to ensure that construction projects adequately protect fish and shellfish. Christopher Dunagan reports.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/jun/13/permit-fee-added-for-construction-near-state/

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EPA Agreeing to Hold Seattle Bristol Bay Hearing on May 31

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Al Bergstein

Seattle hearing requested by Cantwell will outline how the Pebble Mine would impact Bristol Bay salmon and WA state jobs, maritime economy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement that the agency will hold a public hearing in Seattle next week to discuss how large scale development in Bristol Bay, Alaska – like the Pebble Mine proposal – could hurt salmon and Washington state jobs. The hearing will be held on Thursday, May 31st, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time at the Federal Building in Seattle.

Earlier in May, Cantwell had asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to hold this Seattle hearing following the agency’s release of its draft watershed assessment, which itmade public last week. The EPA is also holding public hearings in Alaska June 4th-7th.

“I’m glad that Washington state voices will be heard as EPA works to finalize its scientific watershed assessment,” Cantwell said. “This public hearing is a critical step in ensuring Washingtonians’ livelihoods are protected. With thousands of Washington state jobs dependent on healthy, sustainable Bristol Bay salmon, I will continue fighting to ensure a final decision is based on sound science.”

Thousands of Washington state jobs – including commercial and recreational fishing, processing, shipbuilding and the restaurant industry – depend on Bristol Bay’s healthy, sustainable wild salmon populations. Nearly 1,000 Washingtonians hold commercial fishing permits in Bristol Bay. In 2008, Bristol Bay yielded over $113 million dollars in total value for Washington state commercial fishers. Recreational salmon fishers yielded an additional $75 million for Washington state businesses alone.

Bristol Bay is the most productive salmon run in the world, generating a total value of approximately $500 million dollars each year and supporting 14,000 full and part-time jobs.

In a September letter to Jackson, Cantwell became the first U.S. Senator to call on the EPA to use its Clean Water Act 404(c) authority to block any large development project in Bristol Bay if science determined that the project would “have unacceptable adverse impacts on water quality and the fish stocks that depend on it.”

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US Halts Makah Whaling Study After Seven Years – PDN

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Al Bergstein

A 7-year-old study on the potential environmental impact of Makah whaling is being ditched, the federal government announced. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service and Department of Commerce issued a “notice to terminate” the draft environmental impact statement Monday. This is the latest development in lengthy legal battles over the Makah tribe’s treaty right to hunt whales — and comes only days after the 13th anniversary of a Makah whaling crew legally killing a gray whale off Neah Bay. U.S. halts Makah whaling study after seven years over ‘new scientific information’

Whaling Study for Makah by Feds Stopped

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June 4th: Silence is not an option in Canada

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Al Bergstein

Things are not going well for environmental protection on the north side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Since Canadian voters elected a majority conservative government and PM, an all out slashing of social and environmental programs is underway. Programs that have long supported environmental protection and science are falling away. The most immediate concern for those of us on this side of the Strait, is the removal of tanker monitoring to somewhere near Ottawa. This would be like moving our Coast Guard monitoring to Chicago. When governments let their guards down, is usually when mistakes happen, and get compounded. Given the ease by which oil spreads on water. We must be helping our friends on the other side to restore these disastrous cuts before we are cleaning up a mess that will be “our” mess too. Letting federal officials, like Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, and others, know that you are concerned about this, would be a good start. On June 4th, Canadian environmental groups and others are planning a ‘black out’ day to alert the public to the threat.
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Georgia Strait Alliance writes: ‘In recent memory, there has never been such an open attack by our federal government on our environment and the civil society that is its voice. And that is why there has never been a more important time for us to speak up. So on June 4th Georgia Strait Alliance is joining organizations, businesses, unions, bloggers and individuals from across the country to “Black Out, Speak Out”.’

http://georgiastraitalliance.blogspot.ca/2012/05/june-4th-silence-is-not-option.html

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Gov. Gregoire appoints Gerry O’Keefe as executive director of Puget Sound Partnership

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Al Bergstein

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced she has appointed Gerry O’Keefe as executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership. O’Keefe is currently the interim executive director of PSP, and replaces David Dicks, who resigned in December to accept a position at the University of Washington.

“Even during these tough economic times, we need to invest in the health of our Puget Sound,” Gregoire said. “Our economy depends on it – whether that’s our seafood industry, our tourism industry, even our shipping industry. Gerry’s unique experience gives him a strong understanding of how critically important it is to restore our waters. I know under his leadership, the Puget Sound Partnership will continue to successfully carry out its mission.”

“I am honored by Governor Gregoire’s confidence in me,” O’Keefe said. “Her vision and tireless support for the work of this Partnership have positioned the region to restore our precious resource to health. It’s now our task, as an agency and as a people blessed by the beauty of this place, to make this vision a reality. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”

O’Keefe joined the Puget Sound Partnership last March as deputy director of the agency. Prior to his work at PSP, he spent more than 8 years working at the Department of Ecology, capped by the establishment of the Columbia River Water Supply Program in 2007 and related water supply agreements with tribal governments in 2008. After leaving Ecology O’Keefe joined the
Grant County Public Utility District as its director of natural resources, where he led a large-scale environmental mitigation program.

The Puget Sound Partnership was created in 2007 to pull together citizens, governments, tribes, scientists and businesses to restore and protect Puget Sound to ensure both a thriving Puget Sound economy and a clean and healthy ecosystem.

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