Mar 16, 1999

Where to put nasty mud?

SEATTLE -- Over the next 15 years, dredging and port development in Puget Sound is expected to generate between 6 million and 14 million cubic yards of sediments containing heavy metals, organic chemicals and other pollutants. The problem, of course, is what to do with it. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a Puget Sound Confined Disposal Study in an attempt to find answers. Study director Stephen Martin said a variety of options are under consideration, including disposal in deep Puget Sound waters with a clean fill cap; disposal near shore with a cap; and upland disposal. Treatment is also an option. Last month the Corps and the state Department of Ecology released a draft programmatic environmental impact statement on the study, which is also known as the Multi-User Disposal Site project (MUDS). The agencies will hold a public meeting on it tomorrow, March 16. The purpose of the meeting is to gather public comments and suggestions on the alternatives. The meeting will start with an information workshop from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., followed by a formal public hearing from 7 to 9:30. Both will be held in the Federal Center South, 4735 E. Marginal Way S., Galaxy Room, Seattle. Written comments will be accepted through April 12. Send them to: Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Environmental Resources Section, P.O. Box 3755, Seattle, WA 998124-3755. A final PEIS will be issued after the public comment period. For more information, contact Stephen Martin at the Corps, (206) 764-3631. Or contact Tom Gries at Ecology, (360) 407-7536. Further information is available on the Web.

EPA brownfield grant for Port Quendall

RENTON -- The city of Renton will receive a $200,000 Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which the city will use to perform additional testing and investigation of cleanup methodology for the Port Quendall property. Port Quendall is a contaminated former mill site on the east side of Lake Washington in Renton. The city has spent nearly four years investigating cleanup and redevelopment of the site. Brownfields funds from the EPA will help those efforts. The grants are designed to assist cities, states, communities and others in redevelopment to promote the sustainable reuse of brownfields. Aberdeen, in Grays Harbor County, also has receive a $200,000 brownfields grant from the EPA. In that city a 625-acre parcel, containing 300 contaminated acres, will be targeted for a demonstration pilot.

Mar 15, 1999

Daigle Design

Daigle Design, a Bainbridge Island-based marketing communications firm, recently added Jim Rynearson. Rynearson formerly worked at Best Consulting, a regional computer consulting firm.

Mar 12, 1999

Subert-Gregory & Woodstrom

Subert-Gregory & Woodstrom, a Mercer Island advertising firm that specializes in marketing masterplanned communities, won the top marketing awards at the National Home Builders International Show in Dallas earlier this year. It won the Gold Award for Best Logo Design, Best Brochure and Best Sales Office as well as regional finalist awards for Best Signage and Best Website. The crowning glory was Masterplanned Community of Year Award. The awards were for work done on Orenco Station in East Hillsboro, Ore., adjacent to Portland's new Westside light rail line.

Mar 11, 1999

Pacific Studio

Pacific Studio, a Seattle-based design and fabrication studio, recently hired Desiree Stein as national sales manager. Stein formerly served as executive director of sales and marketing with ETS, a Seattle-based installation and dismantle company.

Mar 10, 1999

Parametrix

John McIntyre was recently named chief technology officer at Parametrix. He will oversee computer and technology systems company-wide. McIntyre has been with Parametrix since 1987 when he was hired as civil/municipal group manager. He has been a member of the company's executive committee since 1991, and became Sumner office manager in 1992. Gerry Jones was hired to manage the company's Sumner and Bremerton offices, responsible for operations and marketing in both offices. He also joins the company's executive committee. Jones previously served as senior vice president at KCM. John Kalvelage and Michelle Eccleston have joined the Portland office of Parametrix. Kalvelage is a senior transportation engineer specializing in bridge design. He is currently working on a Kelso access study. Eccleston, an environmental scientist, specializes in wetlands and wildlife assessments. She is currently preparing a wetland evaluation report for a large road project in Washington County.

Mar 09, 1999

...so is Streambank Stabilization Handbook

VICKSBURG, Mo. -- The U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station has compiled a unique reference CD-ROM on streambank stabilization techniques. Covering geomorphology, geology, geotechnical engineering, hydrology and hydrodynamics, the compendium is intended for consulting firms, libraries, universities, government agencies and construction contractors. The disc is published by Veri-Tech, Inc. (http://www.veritechinc.com). It is written in Visual C++. Cost of the disc is $149 for U.S. federal government agencies and U.S. universities, and $199 for everyone else. For more information, call (601) 638-5641 or email veritech@magnolia.net.

Ship's lost cargo may hold erosion clues

WILLAPA BAY (AP) -- Numerous logs which have been appearing on Washington's ocean beaches the past two months may help map erosion patterns in the area. Knowing the location of the beached logs would determine the movement of sand and sediments, where erosion may occur, said Vladimir Shepsis, principal engineer with Pacific International Engineering of Edmonds. The logs, 20 to 40 feet long and square cut at 24-by-24 inches, have been appearing on beaches from Westport to Grayland, in Willapa Bay and on Long Beach. They are believed to be from the cargo steamship Canadian Explorer, which ran into the sand bar at Willapa Bay in the fog and sank in 1919 while on its way to Portland from British Columbia. The logs are believed to have been preserved by sand in the bay, which is shifted significantly by currents. Shepsis suspects a $17 million underwater dike project he and his firm designed for the state Department of Transportation may have changed the dynamics of the currents and movement of sediments in the bay. DOT officials hope the dike will save state Route 105 at what is called Washaway Beach on Willapa Bay. Shepsis said the project may have scoured sand from the buried Canadian Explorer, releasing the logs, the first of which appeared on a beach in mid-January. On the end of each one is stamped the letters: HRM, the same as on the logs on the sunken ship.

A crust grows in nukewaste

RICHLAND (AP) -- Plans are being made to pump out and dilute 100,000 gallons of highly concentrated radioactive waste from tank SY-101, the once-notorious "burping" tank at Hanford nuclear reservation. The waste level in the 1.16-million gallon, double-shell underground storage tank has risen more than 2 feet to almost 36 feet in the last two years. Tank SY-101 will be pumped out into another nearby double-shell tank this fall, Fluor Daniel Hanford, which manages the U.S. Department of Energy site, said last week. The rising waste level in the tank had puzzled Hanford scientists and engineers. They have now determined that the increase was caused by growth of the 6-foot-thick crust atop the liquid waste, said Rick Raymond, a project manager with Lockheed Martin Hanford Corp., one of Fluor's subcontractors. Gas bubbles from the liquid waste are being trapped in the meringue-like crust, causing it to swell. The tank contains decaying organic materials that generate such gases as hydrogen, nitrogen, nitrous oxide and ammonia. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the flammable gases would build up in the tank and escape in periodic "burps." A mixer pump installed in 1993 took care of the problem by allowing the continuous release of small amounts of gas.

ScottishPower gains enviro allies

PORTLAND (AP) -- ScottishPower, the embattled bidder for PacifiCorp, has found unlikely support from environmentalists in an attempt to buy the Portland-based utility. They support a ScottishPower proposal to boost PacifiCorp's investment in renewable resources such as wind, solar and geothermal energy. They also like the idea of a "green tariff" allowing customers to pay slightly more to support alternative energy production. Another plan that appeals to environmentalists is a proposal to boost PacifiCorp's investment in counseling low-income customers on their bills and help them weatherize their homes. "It's a lot more likely that they will do this with ScottishPower than without," said Rachel Shimshak, director of the Renewable Northwest Project, an organization that includes environmental and consumer groups as well as energy companies. "It's an encouraging first step." But other groups, including taxpayer advocates and industrial electricity customers, have doubts about the proposed $7.8 billion deal, which would be the first takeover of a large U.S. utility by a foreign company. Even the praise from environmentalists is qualified, as groups expressing approval last week noted that they were not yet taking position on the merger. Other groups said they had concerns that ScottishPower might lack plans for energy conservation programs. "That's a very serious gap," said Sara Patton, executive director of the Northwest Energy Coalition, a consumer and environmental organization. "When we talked to them about energy efficiency programs, it just didn't appear to me that they had that kind of experience." Regulators in the federal government and five Western states expect it will be September before they decide whether to approve ScottishPower's acquisition of PacifiCorp. The Oregon Public Utility Commission plans public hearings around the state in May. Jon Savelle is the Journal's environment editor. He can be contacted at (206) 622-8272.

DBM/CM

Steve Fogel and Greg Radom have been hired at Donald B. Murphy Contractors/Cooney McHugh. The drilling contractor also announced it has promoted Craig Henke to general superintendent. Fogel, a project superintendent, holds a building construction degree from the University of Florida and has 23 years of experience on a variety of specialty drilling, bridge, marine and pile driving projects. Radom, an assistant project engineer, has a two-year degree in civil and structural engineering from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Henke has been a drill superintendent for the past 15 years, working on the World Trade Center, King Street Center and KOMO office projects.

Methodologie

Laurie Lusk has been promoted to chief financial officer at Methodologie, a Seattle-based branding agency. Lusk formerly served as finance director. Nadine Stellavato has been hired as senior designer. Stellavato formerly served as senior designer at Spangler Associates. Paula Richards was recently promoted to creative director. Richards is a founding member and previously served as studio manager.