Environmental Watch: Big Kennewick wind project gets OK

KENNEWICK -- A wind energy developer has received approval to begin construction of a 48-megawatt wind plant in south-central Washington state.

The Nine Canyon Wind Project near Kennewick will be the largest U.S. wind project that is owned by public utilities. Energy Northwest, a public power agency made up of 16 public utilities in Washington, recently completed a $70.675 million bond sale to finance the project.

Formerly the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS), Energy Northwest last issued such bonds 20 years ago to finance the WNP-4 and -5 nuclear plants, which were later cancelled after a bond default debacle. It currently operates one nuclear plant and one hydroelectric facility.

RES Inc., U.S. subsidiary of the United Kingdom's Renewable Energy Systems Limited, has been awarded the contract to build the wind plant.

The Nine Canyon Wind Project will comprise 37 1.3-megawatt wind turbines. With an anticipated federal rebate of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, it will generate power at a cost of 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Nine of the Energy Northwest member utilities, mostly public utility districts in Eastern Washington, will buy power from the project.

WEC names environment heroes

SEATTLE -- The Washington Environmental Council has honored five people with "Environmental Hero" awards for 2001.

The winners are Bill Bidstrup of Colville, who scrutinized Department of Natural Resources logging practices; Polly Dyer of Seattle, an activist for protection of wild lands; Linda Marrom and Jamie Berg of Bellingham, for protection of the Lake Whatcom watershed from logging; and Helen Reddout of Yakima, who has worked to force dairy farms to better handle their waste.

The Washington Environmental Council is a statewide group working to protect Washington's environment and natural heritage.

Forum for businesses on cutting waste

RENTON -- The Waste Information Network will present a forum on reducing hazardous waste costs for business by reducing waste generation.

"Save Money, Reduce Risks, Get Answers: Cut Hazardous Waster Burdens through Energy, Water and Waste Reduction" will provide case studies on reducing business costs due to waste. The workshop will also discuss sources of low-cost financial and technical assistance.

The program will be presented 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Renton Technical College, Room H102, 3000 N.E. Fourth St. in Renton.

Call (206) 352-2050 for more information.

Cleaner air blows ethanol away

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) -- Klamath Falls has kicked the gasohol habit.

The town has officially attained federal air quality standards for carbon monoxide, which means gas stations no longer have to comply with a state requirement to sell oxygenated fuel during winter months.

For the past nine years, Klamath Falls service stations had to sell gasoline that was blended with cleaner-burning ethanol.

"Customers are a lot happier," said Terry Slade, president of May-Slade Oil Co. "The ethanol-based fuel decreases gas mileage up to four miles per gallon. Oxygenated fuel causes a lot of problems especially in older vehicles."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a carbon monoxide maintenance plan for Klamath Falls, which includes monitoring of carbon monoxide levels for the next 15 years. The plan, which also discontinues the requirement for oxygenated fuels, took effect Nov. 19.

The oxygenated-fuel season ran Nov. 1 through March 1 each winter, beginning in 1992.

Oxygenated fuel is gasoline blended with additives that contain extra oxygen. The additional oxygen promotes more efficient combustion, which reduces tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide. The blend sold in Oregon also contains ethanol. In other areas, the chemical additive MTBE was used.

Tacoma trash-to-energy plant shut down

TACOMA (AP) -- A garbage-burning electricity generator is being shut down, partly because it is too costly to run under recently imposed state restrictions, city officials say.

Twenty-two workers at the Tideflats steam plant run by NRG Energy under a city contract were given pink slips, and the plant will close Dec. 14, said city spokeswoman Linda Farmer.

Nine other employees, including managers, will remain to perform maintenance and work on regulatory permits.

A number of problems developed in recent months, officials said.

In September, state officials refused to grant permission for continued burning of asphalt roof shingles and waste oil, which had been allowed under a temporary permit during the energy crisis. That left only the more expensive options of coal, wood waste and trash.

Also, Electricity prices on the open market have dropped dramatically, and the plant's main customer, Pioneer Chlor Alkali, stopped buying in October.

The plant was built as a coal-fired generator in 1931, was converted to oil in 1949 and was converted to burn garbage by Tacoma City Light, now Tacoma Power, after a waste-to-energy plan by Energy Products of Idaho collapsed in 1986.

The operation has lost $1.8 million this year and $370,000 last year. City officials hope to restart it by April if the state ruling is overturned on appeal.

Sandy Howard, a state Ecology Department spokeswoman, blamed the closure on economic rather than regulatory factors.

"The plant is not the cheapest way to produce power," Howard said. "No matter what the market does, we have the same rules."

Feds want tiny rabbits listed under ESA

EPHRATA, Grant County (AP) -- The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit is nearing extinction and should receive federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

There are fewer than 50 of the one-pound rabbits -- the smallest of the species in North America -- in Douglas County in central Washington.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has given emergency protection to the rabbit for 240 days and is proposing it be classified as endangered.

The pygmy rabbit population has been hurt by losses of sagebrush habitat and genetic diversity and by disease and predators, the service said last week.

"The number of Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits in Washington has declined dramatically over the past decade," said Anne Badgley, regional director of the service in Portland.

"This distinct population of pygmy rabbits is extremely vulnerable to a variety of natural- and human-caused threats, and today's emergency rule provides immediate protection while we go through the normal process of proposing the population for listing."

The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit is a distinct population of native rabbit that once occupied Douglas, Grant, Lincoln, Adams and Benton counties.

Pygmy live in other areas of the West, but the Columbia Basin population is genetically unique, has been isolated from other populations for thousands of years and occupies an unusual ecological setting.

Although rabbits have a reputation for rapid reproduction, new data suggest that pygmy rabbits may not reproduce at the rate of other rabbits and hares.

Last spring, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife began a captive breeding program for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit so that captive-bred animals could be released into the wild.

So far, 12 pygmy rabbits have been captured for breeding, and five baby rabbits -- conceived in the wild -- have been born.

The state of Washington has listed the pygmy rabbit as endangered under state law.

Environmental Watch: Oliver to speak to hazmat group

SEATTLE -- The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Academy of Hazardous Materials Management will meet Wednesday, Dec. 5 at the Rock Salt Steak House, 1232 Westlake Ave. N. in Seattle.

Debra Oliver of the King County Interagency Regulatory Advisory Committee will speak about the committee's role in coordinating county rules across agency lines.

Social hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and the program at 8 p.m. For more information, call Joe Grojean at (206) 285-3373.

Cutthroat comment period reopened

PORTLAND -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reopened public comment on whether to list Southwest Washington/Columbia River coastal cutthroat as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

According to the agency, the coastal cutthroat was proposed for listing because of population declines due to habitat loss. The range of the coastal cutthroat under consideration for listing extends from Grays Harbor and the Chehalis River basin south to the Columbia River and east to The Dalles and Willamette Falls on the Willamette River.

The comment period is being reopened for 30 days. Comments must be received by Dec. 24. They can be e-mailed to coastal_cutthroat@fws.gov or mailed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 Southeast 98th Ave., suite 100, Portland, Ore. 97266.

King County adopts green building guide

SEATTLE -- King County Executive Ron Sims signed a "Green Building Initiative" yesterday adopting the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental and Design) rating system for the county's construction methods and techniques.

The initiative also promotes the use of environmentally friendly construction practices for all county projects.

The initiative was prompted by the success of the county's King Street Center office building near the King Street Station downtown. According to the county, since the 1999 opening of the building the county has saved $100,000 in energy costs. The building's on-site water reclamation system saves an estimated 1.4 million gallons of water per year by using storm runoff for flushing toilets.

The building is home to the county's transportation, natural resources and parks departments.

Aquatic reserve meetings set

OLYMPIA -- The Washington Department of Natural Resources will hold seven workshops statewide, to develop criteria for designating aquatic reserves on state-owned aquatic lands.

The aquatic reserve designation will try to maintain natural biodiversity, protect and restore ecosystem functions and maintain appropriate public access for scientific, recreational and educational purposes.

The Department of Natural Resources is responsible for 2.5 million acres of aquatic lands.

Following these meetings the agency will consider options as part of draft environmental impact statement. The meetings begin tonight at 7 p.m. in Moses Lake at Big Bend Community College's auditorium. A Seattle meeting will be held on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Seattle Vocational Institute, 2120 S. Jackson St.

Go to http://www.wa.gov/dnr/htdocs/aqr/scopemeetings.htm for a complete list of all meetings.

OSU receives $5.5 million grant for hazmat center

CORVALLIS (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a $5.5 million grant to Oregon State University to manage a hazardous materials research and training center that has played a key role in cleaning up toxic waste across the West.

The Western Region Hazardous Substance Research Center had been based at Stanford University since 1989. But the center director retired, and the EPA opened its management to bids from other universities, officials said.

Christine Todd Whitman, the EPA administrator, announced last week the center would move to Oregon State after the federal agency received 27 proposals from more than 60 universities.

The hazardous materials center represents two regions of the EPA, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

The Oregon State and Stanford environmental engineering programs already have developed research into chlorinated solvents that can contaminate soil and underground aquifers, he said.

Researchers have focused on trichloroethyline, or TCE, a suspected carcinogen that was widely used as a degreaser in the 1950s and 1960s at sites ranging from dry cleaning stores to private industry and military bases.

Cleaning up a single pound of TCE from underground aquifers can cost up to $10,000, and a single 50-gallon barrel can generate a plume that can contaminate 10 billion gallons of water with enough TCE to violate drinking water standards.

Lew Semprini, an OSU engineering professor and director of the new center, said Oregon State and Stanford already have developed innovative techniques to degrade and detoxify such compounds on site, reducing cleanup costs and recovery time.

"OSU and Stanford have a track record of getting technologies out of the laboratory and into the field," Semprini said. "We'll now have a new funding base to perform basic research on innovative treatment processes."

The five-year grant also will support a multistate program to help communities understand pollution problems and cleanup solutions, officials said.

In addition, the grant will aid the research of more than 15 OSU faculty members and researchers in the colleges of engineering, science and agricultural sciences.

Skagit County's buffer plan tossed

MOUNT VERNON (AP) -- A judge has thrown out Skagit County's plan to require 75-foot buffer zones along salmon streams that run through farmland, saying the proposal may not adequately protect fish.

The county's Managed Agriculture Riparian Plan was rejected by Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy in Olympia, who ruled on an appeal from the Swinomish Tribe and the Washington Environmental Council.

Today was the Skagit County deadline for signing up for one of several buffer plans. Non-exempted farmers who don't sign up by then will be required to install the county's default buffers -- up to 200 feet wide, with no compensation.

"If there's a way for the county to extend the deadline, we will do that," said Ric Boge, the county's natural resources program coordinator.

The county plan exempted farmers in the Skagit River delta, and those whose streams are behind dikes or run through pumping stations or floodgates.

The court found the exemptions too broad and numerous to provide adequate protection for fish.

The appeal from the tribe and environmental council challenged a February decision from the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, which allowed the county program to stand but requested improvements.

The judge sent the case back to the board with instructions to get more scientific backup for the plan from the county within 120 days. If the hearings board decides there is not enough science to support the proposal, it could require wider buffers.

Environmental Watch: Hildenbrand named Saltbush principal

TACOMA -- John F. Hildenbrand has been named a principal of Saltbush Environmental Services, Inc.

Hildenbrand will continue to serve as a senior environmental scientist along with assuming management of the daily operation of Saltbush.

During his 15-year career, he has served as a regulatory official in two states, developed and taught college courses in environmental sciences/technology and operated his own consulting company. Hildenbrand is a graduate of Montana State University.

Neighborhood grants offered

SEATTLE -- Seattle Public Utilities and the city's Department of Neighborhoods have formed a partnership to issue neighborhood environmental improvement grants.

The partnership, called Grant Central Station, will provide grants up to $5,000 for community projects that reduce waste, reduce waterborne pollution and remove litter and graffiti.

Individuals, neighborhood groups , youth groups and businesses and nonprofits are eligible. Preference will be given to projects that include in-kind contributions or matching funds. Call (206) 684-0224 for more information.

Energy Star rolls out campaign

Energy Star, the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency's energy efficient appliance branding program, is launching a new campaign.

Called "Change," the campaign is designed to educate consumers and businesses about ways they can achieve energy efficiency, save money and help protect the environment.

The two-year campaign includes television, radio and print public service announcements that emphasize specific actions consumers and businesses can take to use energy more efficiently.

According to the EPA, in 2000 alone, Energy Star helped save enough energy to power 10 million homes and reduced air pollution equivalent to taking 10 million cars off the road. While accomplishing this for the environment, the program also saved Americans more than $5 billion on their energy bills.

See www.energystar.gov for more information.

Tollgate meadow preserved

SEATTLE -- The Trust for Public Land has purchased the Tollgate central meadow property in North Bend from Miller Land and Timber. The 52 acre property is valued at about $7 million.

The trust will convey the land to the city of North Bend and King County. The land is part of historic Tollgate Farm and contains significant habitat and viewsheds of Mount Si.

At one point the land was slated for office and residential development.

Funding for the purchase came from King County, North Bend, private donations and grants from the King Conservation District and the Conservation Futures Fund.

ESA coho ruling appealed

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Environmentalists have appealed the court ruling that took Oregon coastal coho salmon off the threatened species list and prompted the federal government to review protection for salmon throughout the West.

The appeal was made possible by U.S. District Judge Michael J. Hogan in Eugene who earlier granted a coalition of environmental and commercial fishing groups the right to intervene in the case so they can try to overturn his decision.

Given their interest in restoring Oregon coastal coho salmon populations, the groups can bring their own appeal because the government decided not to appeal, Hogan wrote.

After deciding against an appeal, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced last week that, based on Hogan's ruling, it would take the next year to review whether 23 of the 25 groups of Pacific salmon and steelhead protected under the Endangered Species Act should keep their listings.

Prior to coming to those decisions, NMFS would decide whether to expand the role of hatcheries in restoring salmon populations, the core of Hogan's original ruling. Current federal policy considers hatchery fish a threat to the survival of wild fish because they compete for limited food and habitat, carry disease, and are less successful at survival in the wild.

Cleanup to be ordered at Squaw Valley

TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) -- California water regulators have voted to order an environmental cleanup at the Squaw Valley USA ski resort near Lake Tahoe while the state attorney general investigates alleged water pollution violations.

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Lahontan Region based in South Lake Tahoe voted 4-1 to issue the formal cleanup and abatement order on Dec. 14.

Members were poised to issue the order at their meeting in Truckee last week but backed off when officials for the Sierra ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics urged more time to negotiate details of a cleanup agreement.

State water officials say water quality standards are being violated as a result of erosion of mountain ski slopes and roads sending sediment into Squaw Creek, a tributary of the Truckee River at the 4,200-acre mountain resort.

The board asked the California attorney general's office in May to investigate alleged environmental damage caused by construction of ski lifts and a gondola, drainage culverts, poorly designed ski runs and water runoff from parking lots.

The cleanup order stems from an ongoing dispute over a series of alleged environmental abuses over the past decade. It will primarily address erosion problems and set water discharge standards.

Carl Gustafson, a civil engineer who has lived in Squaw Valley since 1963, told the board during a public hearing Wednesday that runoff from rain or snow events around the ski resort causes so much turbidity the creek turns brown "like a chocolate milkshake."

Mike Livak, Squaw Valley Ski Corp.'s director of planning, said the water quality standards the board proposes for turbidity levels in Squaw Creek would be stricter than those the federal government requires for drinking water.

Nancy Wendt, president of the Squaw Valley Ski Corp., said the resort was being singled out unfairly for enforcement of state environmental laws.

Bitterroot salvage plan delayed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Forest Service said Monday it is delaying release of its plan for logging thousands of acres of the Bitterroot National Forest burned during the 2000 forest fires.

Spike Thompson, deputy Bitterroot supervisor in Hamilton, Mont., said authorities decided they simply were not ready to release details of the proposal.

Thompson said the goal remains to get the plan out as soon as possible, but he could not be more specific.

Environmentalists, who have said they will go to court to block the logging plan, accused the Forest Service of ignoring evidence that the plan to remove the scorched trees will do irreparable harm to the forest.

But the Forest Service said its proposal to cull the blackened trees from 46,239 acres of the forest is based on the research of more than 400 scientists.

The 1.6 million-acre forest is draped across the glacier-carved peaks and valleys of the Bitterroot Range in southwest Montana and Idaho. It encompasses what the Forest Service has described as the largest expanse of continuous wilderness in the lower 48 states.

Wildfires during the summer of 2000 consumed more than 307,000 acres of the national forest. The Forest Service wants to invite timber companies in to harvest the badly burned trees for saw timber, and maybe pulp.

The Forest Service says removing the dead and dying trees would reduce the severity of future fires.

Environmental Watch: Storer joins Adolfson

SEATTLE -- Bob Storer has joined Adolfson Associates Inc. as the firm's Oregon division director.

Storer has over 20 years of professional experience in discharge permitting, stormwater planning, water quality analysis. He also has expertise in Endangered Species Act implementation planning.

Most recently, Storer was water resources coordinator for the city of Gresham, Ore.

Adolfson Associates specializes in natural resources management, planning and environmental evaluation. Currently, the firm is helping a number of jurisdictions comply with the ESA.

BP unveils low-sulfur gas

REDMOND -- BP has introduced a new lower-sulfur gasoline for Puget Sound area Arco gas stations.

The fuel, called Low-Sulfur Premium, will be available at 145 gas stations in the region. BP says the reformulated gasoline will reduce nitrous oxide emissions by four percent -- the equivalent of removing 2,100 cars from the road daily.

BP's low-sulfur fuel contains about 80 percent less sulfur than the national average. The Environmental Protection Agency has mandated a 90 percent reduction in sulfur by 2006.

BP operates 1800 Arco stations in the West and is the largest marketer of fuel in the region.

$6M federal wetlands grants awarded

WASHINGTON -- The U.S .Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded $6.2 million in grants to Washington state and California for coastal wetlands restoration projects.

About $2.8 million of the he grants will go toward 1,200 acres of habitat in Washington.

At Deer Lagoon in Useless Bay, 379 acres of Whidbey Island intertidal wetlands and fresh water marsh will be acquired for preservation. On the Lower Nooksack River near Bellingham Bay, 324 acres of former floodplain and wetland habitat will be acquired to complete a continuous 4.4-mile, 1,700-acre wildlife corridor.

In the Niawiakum River Natural Area Preserve on Willapa Bay, approximately 100 additional acres of wetlands, salt marsh and riparian uplands will be acquired. And at the Qwuloolt "Great Marsh" on the Lower Snohomish River, 390 acres of intertidal wetlands will be acquired to complete land control needed to restore wetlands within a diking district and reestablish a connection with Allen Creek.

In California, grants totaling over $3.3 million were awarded for projects in Mendocino, Del Norte, San Louis Obispo and San Diego counties.

The awards are part of the annual National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program competition, which awarded more than $14 million to 20 projects nationwide.

States submit project proposals on competitive basis. Grant money comes from a portion of revenue generated from excise taxes on small engine fuels.

Study: Energy efficiency is good business

WASHINGTON -- A new study suggests energy efficiency policies and development of renewable energy resources could result in 750,000 new jobs nationwide over the next nine years and 1.3 million new jobs by 2020.

Issued by the World Wildlife Fund, "Clean Energy: Jobs for America's Future" says the U.S. gross domestic product would also increase by $23 billion by 2010 and continue to grow under such conditions.

Brooks Yeager, vice president of Global Threats for the World Wildlife Fund, said, "A serious and sustained national effort to improve the energy efficiency of our cars, trucks and buildings will offer us a better future with sustainable economic growth and allow us to conserve irreplaceable wilderness refuges for future generations."

The study concludes that conservation would benefit the economy more than new fossil fuel exploration. The World Wild Life Fund is opposed to the controversial Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil exploration proposal, advocated by the Bush administration.

The study, conducted by the Tellus Institute, looked at advances in green building, energy-saving appliances, renewable energy and greater automobile and airplane efficiency.

Feds review salmon listings after coho ruling

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Federal biologists will re-evaluate Endangered Species Act protection for 23 groups of Pacific salmon in light of a federal court ruling that they erred in one of them, the Bush administration announced Friday.

Rather that appeal the ruling throwing out the threatened species listing of Oregon coastal coho, the National Marine Fisheries Service will undertake a public review process to reconsider how it treats wild salmon versus those raised in hatcheries.

"This is an opportunity to redirect our efforts more constructively," said Robert Lohn, Northwest regional director of the agency, which has authority over restoring dwindling salmon populations. "The bottom line is it's time to stop fighting and start fixing."

After making a new policy on hatchery fish vs. wild fish next September, the agency will take another 45 days to announce whether 23 of the 25 groups of Pacific salmon listed as threatened or endangered species warrant further protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The process will consider newly filed petitions to take those fish off the endangered species list. In the meantime, protection for the fish still listed as threatened or endangered will continue.

Rather than develop a federal plan for the recovery of dwindling salmon stocks, NMFS will encourage states to redouble their efforts to develop their own programs.

Neighborhood grants offered

SEATTLE -- Seattle Public Utilities and the city's Department of Neighborhoods have formed a partnership to issue neighborhood environmental improvement grants.

The partnership, called Grant Central Station, will provide grants up to $5,000 for community projects that reduce waste, reduce waterborne pollution and remove litter and graffiti.

Individuals, neighborhood groups , youth groups and businesses and nonprofits are eligible. Preference will be given to projects that include in-kind contributions or matching funds. Call (206) 684-0224 for more information.

DOE sees green power demand rising

GOLDEN, Colo. -- More consumer choice in electricity generation could boost solar, wind and other "green power" sources 40 percent by the end of the decade, according to a new study by two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories.

Achieving such a result, however, would require an orderly transition to competitive power markets and a significant expansion of the green pricing programs currently offered by regulated utilities, said energy analysts who conducted the study at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The findings are based on detailed modeling of green power demand, drawing on the experience of green power markets to date and consumer response to other "green" products.

Green pricing is offered by 85 utilities in 29 states and gives consumers an option to help support additional electrical production from renewable resources, including solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal and biomass resources.

Green power marketing also has seen success in a limited number of states with retail market competition, but the recent suspension of customer choice in California represents a setback to the development of competitive market choices in other states.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, based in Golden, Colo., is managed by the Midwest Research Institute, Battelle and Bechtel.

Environmental Watch: Corps releases new guidelines for piers

SEATTLE --- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has issued guidelines for the construction of new or replacement piers in Lake Washington, Lake Union, Lake Sammamish and the ship canal.

The guidelines are designed to assist applicants and expedite project review while protecting threatened fish species.

Generally the recommendations call for the reduction of pier sizes, reduction of shade impacts, nearshore habitat enhancement and minimization of water quality impacts. Also, specific fish windows for construction are also listed.

The report is available online at www.nws.usace.army.mil/reg/reg.htm.

Proposals due Nov. 30 for salmon work

SEATTLE -- A new $200,000 fund for small-scale salmon habitat enhancement has been created in King County.

The King County WaterWorks grant program and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have teamed up to form the Community Salmon Fund.

The fund anticipates awarding $200,000 in grants by March 2002. The grants are available to nonprofit and government groups. Projects on private land are eligible, but land acquisition is not. The deadline for proposals is Nov. 30. Contact Ken Pritchard at (206) 296-8265 for more information.

Dalrymple to talk business models at NEBC

SEATTLE -- Waite Dalrymple, the founder of Parametrix will discuss business succession models at this month's Northwest Environmental Business Council Professional Marketing Committee lunch.

Dalrymple is also on the board of the National Association of Employee Stock Ownership Programs.

The lunch will be held at McCormick & Schmick's, 1200 Westlake Ave. N. in Seattle on Wednesday, Nov. 7, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $25 for NEBC members and $40 for others.

DOE spends $4M marketing hazmat training

RICHLAND (AP) -- A training complex at Hanford nuclear reservation has spent $4 million to earn $627,000 from clients outside the U.S. Department of Energy site, a new report says.

The $29 million Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response training center, commonly known as HAMMER, opened in late 1997.

Its original purpose was to train firefighters, emergency rescue workers and others to deal with emergency situations, especially those involving radioactive materials and chemicals.

More recently, it has been used to train people in a variety of specialties, such as fighting drugs or nuclear materials smuggling, or doing power-line work.

The complex has a classroom building and about 40 outdoor training areas that range from a chemical storage pad to an overturned rail tanker.

When the center opened four years ago, it was anticipated that HAMMER would attract clients from around the Northwest and that about 60 percent of the business for the training center would come from outside Hanford.

But a recent report from the Energy Department's inspector general concludes: "HAMMER is not attractive to external users."

The inspector general's report says HAMMER's non-Hanford users have never exceeded 5 percent of the yearly business at the center.

HAMMER spends an average of $750,00 a year to market the complex to non-Hanford agencies, while those agencies spend an average of almost $157,000 a year on HAMMER's services.

The report said that since HAMMER's non-Hanford customers usually must provide their own instructors, the site is less attractive.

HAMMER's remote location on the 560-square-mile reservation in south-central Washington also means extra expenses for agencies outside the area.

Paul Kruger, DOE's associate manager for science and technology at Hanford, on Tuesday agreed with the report's broad conclusions but disputed some of the specifics.

HAMMER's figures show a steady increase each year in both Hanford and non-Hanford trainees. The number of Hanford students have grown from 20,232 in fiscal year 1998 to 31,169 in fiscal 2001. During the same period, its annual non-Hanford students went from 2,977 to 9,353.

Klamath reaps $31.5M in federal funds

PORTLAND (AP) -- The $31.5 million approved by Congress for water and energy projects in Oregon includes funding to screen endangered fish out of Klamath Basin irrigation canals and money to design a pumping system to replace the Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River.

The funding was contained in the Energy and Water Development Act, which is awaiting President Bush's signature after gaining the approval of Congress this week.

The Klamath Reclamation Project, serving 200,000 acres of farmland outside Klamath Falls and Tulelake, Calif., will receive $15 million for operations in the coming fiscal year, including $5 million to install screens to keep endangered suckers out of irrigation canals.

The screens have been demanded for several years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but funding did not come until after farmers were denied water last summer to maintain water quality for the suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, as well as threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River.

The bill appropriated $500,000 to cover the design pumps to draw water out of the Rogue River for the Grants Pass Irrigation District, opening the way to remove Savage Rapids Dam to improve conditions for salmon.

The district recently signed a consent decree that allows it to keep its water right and end its legal battles over the dam in exchange for continuing to push for dam removal. The consent decree also forces the district to stop using the dam by 2006.

The bill also includes $9 million to cool off water temperatures in the Willamette River, $3 million to finish repairs to the breakwater at the Astoria Boat Basin and $1 million for the Springfield Millrace.

The bill provides $300,000 to the Bend Feed Canal for piping to prevent the loss of irrigation water to evaporation and seepage, and $750,000 to improve habitat and water quality in the Deschutes watershed.

$21M cleanup hits a hole-in-one

ERIE, Pa. (AP) -- No golfer would have wanted to contend with the hazards that covered the fairways of this course two decades ago: water tainted with heavy metals, rusted hulks of automobiles, abandoned appliances and leaky 55-gallon drums of industrial waste.

It took 17 years and $20.7 million to erase or cover the damage.

From that 80-acre former waste dump just west of Erie, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection have created a green space -- complete with eight acres of restored wetlands and a nine-hole golf course.

The golf course, still unnamed and set to open this spring, is the 100th Superfund site cleaned up in the EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region and the seventh converted to an athletic space, said David Sternberg, an EPA spokesman.

While the construction of a golf course on a landfill might sound strange, it has been going on since the 1960s, said Judy Thompson, a spokeswoman for the National Golf Foundation. She said the foundation does not keep records on how many there are.

In Montana, golfer Jack Nicklaus designed Old Works Golf Course on a former copper smelter which was also a Superfund site.

In all, the EPA removed 100 drums of hazardous waste, crushed 600 other drums, and removed other debris and contaminated soil. Since the land was so contaminated, a cap consisting of a layer of clay with a plastic liner on top was added to separate the golf course from the underground contamination.

Environmental Watch: Corps to study Chehalis basin

SEATTLE -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is gearing up for a study of ecosystem restoration and flood mitigation in the Chehalis River basin.

The study area is over 2,600 square miles running from the headwaters of the Chehalis to Grays Harbor. It is the second largest watershed in the state.

The output of the study will recommend actions and projects that significantly improve fish and wildlife habitat and natural processes in the basin.

A public workshop on the study will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 14 at the Army Corps office, 4735 East Marginal Way South in Seattle. Contact Project Manager Lori Morris at (206) 764-3604 for more information.

Jones & Stokes buys Beak Portland

PORTLAND -- The environmental consulting firm Jones & Stokes has acquired the Portland office of Beak Consultants, Inc. The Portland operation was a subsidiary of Canadian company Beak International Inc.

The acquisition adds 15 people to Jones & Stokes and gives the company its first presence in the Portland area. Based in Sacramento, Jones & Stokes has had an office in Bellevue for over 20 years and has other offices in Southern California, the Bay Area, Phoenix and Ashland, Ore.

"We are very excited about the Portland operation. The historical knowledge and reputation of Beak in the Northwest is outstanding," said John Cowdery, president of Jones & Stokes.

Jones & Stokes was founded in 1970.

Ecology fines Emerald Services

OLYMPIA -- An oil recycler and a dangerous waste handler both owned by Seattle-based Emerald Services Inc. have been fined by the state Department of Ecology.

In Seattle, Emerald Petroleum Services Inc. was fined $42,500 for accepting waste in violation of its permit and discharging 77,000 gallons of chromium-tainted wastewater to King County's West Point treatment plant.

Emerald Services Inc. of Tacoma was fined $28,500 for improper waste storage and screening.

Ecology says Emerald is working with the agency to solve its problems, praising the firm's responsiveness.

Globe 2002 set for March 13-15

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The world's largest environmental business fair will be held next March in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Globe 2002 will look at how major developments in energy policy and sustainable development can be translated into technology solutions and business opportunities, according to conference materials.

Confirmed exhibitors include Golder Associates, concrete giant LaFarge Canada, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Lynnwood-based remediation technology firm Keeco and dozens more.

Pavilions will include the United States, the state of Pennsylvania and a number of other foreign governments and Canadian provinces.

To register go to http://www.globe2002.com or call (604) 775-7300. A discount is available if registration is completed before the end of October. The conference will run from March 13 through March 15.

Elk Creek Dam notching could start in Jan.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not given up on cutting a notch in the Elk Creek Dam to improve fish passage for threatened coho salmon in the Rogue River.

The corps is seeking a state water quality permit for some preliminary work that needs to be done before the actual notching can begin. It includes building a rip-rap wall and some rock weirs at the base of the dam, and realigning the creekbed. The public has until Nov. 23 to comment.

Pending funding from Congress, the corps plans to award a final contract for building a fish passage corridor by January, said spokeswoman Heidi Helwig.

Local political pressure has kept Congress from funding dam-breaching, but Helwig said the Corps of Engineers still feels that notching remains the best option, both scientifically and economically.

Since 1987, crews have been trapping salmon and steelhead at the base of the dam, hauling them in trucks upstream and releasing them to reach spawning habitat. The trap-haul system cost $8 million.

First authorized in 1962 as part of a three-dam, flood-control project on the Rogue River, the Elk Creek Dam was stopped by a federal injunction in 1987 after the corps failed to assess the dam's impact on Rogue River fish.

In 1995, the corps abandoned the project after spending $100 million. Two years later it proposed partial demolition to enhance fish passage.

Superfund sticker shock in Silver Valley

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) -- State officials said the uncertain costs of the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed plan to cleanup heavy metals from Silver Valley mining is unacceptable.

The plan proposed by the agency calls for initial cleanup measures at a cost of $359 million over 20 to 30 years. But it would lead to an overall cleanup alternative that would cost $1.3 billion.

"We're supposed to bring certainty here. Not more confusion," said Steve Allred, director of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

Allred said dollar estimates for the agency's first increment are similar to the state's estimate for total cleanup.

"There is something else lurking out there," Allred said. "There is no way we would ever figure there is $1.3 billion in work required in that basin."

Allred had yet to see full proposal.

Because the agency's Record of Decision is now delayed until late winter or spring, no Superfund is likely to begin next year.

The cleanup effort may receive some funds from litigation and settlements with mining companies.

In the meantime, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, with support from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, has introduced a bill to authorize $250 million from the U.S. Treasury over a 20-year period.

The funds would not be intended to get mining companies or the Environmental Protection Agency off the hook. The bill would not affect agency's ability to seek recovery from mining companies or funds from Superfund.

Biodegradable packaging for OSU meals

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon State University plans to reduce the impact of its cafeteria waste on landfills by using completely biodegradable food packaging for takeout orders.

The packaging is made from a new material that consists primarily of limestone and renewable starch, said Rich Turnbull, director of dining services for OSU.

The environmentally friendly containers, plates and bowls will be used when food is ordered "to go," which accounts for about one-third of all orders.

Turnbull said 50,000 disposable plates and 40,000 bowls are used at campus dining centers annually.

"The shift to completely biodegradable packaging will have a positive impact on the environment," Turnbull said.

Oregon State is purchasing the new material from EarthShell Corp., which says colleges account for about $500 million of the $9 billion disposable food packaging market nationally.

"The product looks and feels like Styrofoam," Turnbull said. "But we put the plate in a blender with some water for about 10 seconds and nothing came out but water and limestone."

Wind power tax break ends Dec. 31

SEATTLE (AP) -- A federal tax credit designed to promote the development of wind power may be allowed to expire this year -- a potentially heavy blow to the burgeoning wind farming industry in the Pacific Northwest.

The credit, which is scheduled to run out on Dec. 31, grants a tax credit of 1.7 cents per kilowatt hour for new wind-power facilities for the first 10 years of a plant's operations.

Regional power-marketing agency the Bonneville Power Administration has made extensive use of the tax credit. BPA officials say several developments would be jeopardized if the credit is not extended.

"It would have a huge effect on our ability to do additional wind," said BPA spokesman George Darr. "We told the developers from the very beginning that our ability depended on renewal of the production tax credit because of the huge impact on the price."

Wind power still accounts for a very small percentage of the nation's power generation. But wind farms are less expensive than new coal or nuclear plants and, with the credit, they are competitive with new gas facilities.

Environmental Watch: Nov. 7 meeting on Second Supply impact

TACOMA -- Tacoma Water will solicit comments for a draft environmental impact statement on the Second Supply Project linking Tacoma Water with Seattle Public Utilities' system.

Other partners in the project are the city of Kent, Lakehaven Utility District and Covington Water District.

Tacoma Water has determined that the project could have significant impacts on both the built and natural environment, requiring an EIS.

Comments may be made at a meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 7, to be held at the Covington Public Library, 27100 164th Ave. S.E. in Kent beginning at 6:30 p.m. For more information about the project contact Craig Gibson, project manager, at (253) 502-8694.

Hearings set on Columbia and Snake

OLYMPIA -- Regional meetings will be held next week to discuss plans to improve the health of the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

Specifically, draft plans to reduce water temperatures and dissolved gas on both the lower Columbia and the upper Columbia and the Snake will be on the agenda. The plan for the lower Columbia is scheduled to be complete by early 2002.

Participating agencies in the hearings are the Idaho and Oregon departments of environmental quality, the Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in consultation with Columbia Basin tribes.

The hearing schedule -- both begin at 6:30 p.m. -- is as follows: Monday, Oct. 29, at the Red Lion Hotel in Lewiston, Idaho, 621 21st St.; and Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the Franklin County PUD auditorium, 1411 West Clark St.

Avista dam relicensing hits rapids

SPOKANE (AP) -- Avista's efforts to relicense five hydroelectric dams on the Spokane River will require compromise among some 90 groups with conflicting opinions on how water should be used.

They include homeowners on Idaho's Lake Coeur d'Alene who want to make sure water levels are high enough to keep their docks in the water, and kayakers downstream on the Spokane River who want higher water flows in the summer.

"The people in Idaho want the lake level to stay up. The people in Washington want the water," said Hugh Imhof, an Avista spokesman. "We're caught in the middle."

The license won't expire until 2007, but Avista officials already are convening work groups with government and tribal agencies, landowners and environmental and community groups in an attempt to head off lawsuits.

The strategy worked well as the company relicensed two dams on the Clark Fork River, which flows through Montana and northern Idaho. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the license with unprecedented speed last year.

The Spokane River could be much trickier to navigate.

On the Clark Fork dams, resolving conflicting issues required that the company spend $220 million over 45 years to enhance fish and wildlife habitat, answer environmental concerns and increase recreational opportunities.

Those two dams generate up to 790 megawatts of electricity, or 60 percent of Avista's energy.

The five dams on the Spokane River were built between 1890 and 1922, and produce a combined 140 megawatts.

Because the dams produce less energy, the company will be limited in how much it can spend and still earn a profit, Imhof said. The issue of summer flows in the Spokane River will be a major topic, because virtually all of the water flows from Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Boaters on the river, where use has exploded in the last decade, said holding back the water for the lake this summer made the river impassable by mid-July.

Cities using the river to discharge wastewater will also be drawn into the flow debate.

The amount of wastewater sent into the river depends on the river's flow, because the wastewater must be diluted to meet environmental standards, said Rachael Paschal Osborn, a Spokane environmental attorney.

PGE light bulb sales top 750,000

PORTLAND (AP) -- More than 750,000 customers have bought energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs using Portland General Electric discount coupons, the company said Sunday.

Those who switched to the special bulbs will save a total of $4 million a year on their combined electric bills, said spokesman Mark Fryburg.

PGE initially thought about 500,000 customers would redeem the coupons. When used for just four hours a day, the light bulbs can save about 57 million kilowatt hours per year -- enough to power a small city for about two months, said Carol Brown, PGE's efficiency services director.

The company has been mailing the coupons to its customers since April as a way to reduce energy consumption.

Drought packs a wallop in Victoria

VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) -- Hundreds of jobs have been lost and some businesses are barely hanging on after more than six months of the most severe water restrictions ever imposed in the provincial capital.

Particularly hard hit were the pool and hot tub industry, which claims to conserve and recycle water, as well as power washers, landscapers, lawn maintenance firms and irrigation sales and service operations.

The restrictions remain in effect indefinitely, or at least after the Sooke reservoir starts to fill.

At Beachcomber Home Leisure, business has been cut in half, owner Bob Borton said Wednesday.

Borton, who would normally have hired nine full-time summer employees, is down to three family members and not all are getting full-time work.

"The community itself has lost, I would say, between $15 million to $20 million (Canadian) just in our industry alone," he said.

Barry Ross, owner of High Clean Industries for 18 years, said his power-washing business is down 45 percent.

Daniel Rondeau, a University of Victoria resource economist, said most complaints about the restrictions focus on arbitrary provisions.

"You can't do your lawn, but you can do your car," Rondeau said. "You can't clean your driveway, but you can clean your cars."

Ross said the Capital Regional District should conduct an economic impact study of the restrictions and perhaps reconsider some provisions, including bans on power washing and on filling spas and pools.

Vintage Hot Tubs owner Grant Gislason said the pool-filling ban is unreasonable because most hot-tub users only fill up twice a year and the drained water can be used to irrigate bushes and shrubs.

The district let residents water shrubs and bushes from a hose for hours on end, day after day, Gislason complained.

$2 million OK'd for protecting Skagit

MOUNT VERNON (AP) -- Congress has appropriated $2 million to buy and protect land along the Skagit River and its tributaries in northwestern Washington.

Environmentalists say the money will go a long way toward helping salmon and eagles.

The money comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, created by fees collected from offshore oil drilling. The amount is the most ever directed from the fund to the Skagit basin; last year, Congress allocated $1 million to the Skagit River.

The U.S. Forest Service will use the money to buy land considered critical to wildlife, especially chinook salmon, or valuable for recreation.

The Forest Service will buy the land from willing sellers, including groups such as the Nature Conservancy and Skagit Land Trust. It aims to buy land with multiple benefits, such as salmon and eagle habitat and nice views. The government prefers to buy relatively undeveloped land, rather than restore destroyed habitat, said Leslie Brown, of the Nature Conservancy.

"What's noteworthy about the Skagit is relatively speaking its still in good shape," Brown told the Skagit Valley Herald.

Environmental Watch: Grigsby joins King County DNR

SEATTLE -- Daryl Grigsby has been named manager of the King County Department of Natural Resources Water and Land Resources Division. Grigsby has been head of the Seattle Department of Transportation for the last five years.

Prior to that, however, Grigsby worked with the county on water pollution issues and environmental issues.

"We are fortunate to have someone with the management strengths and operational experience Daryl brings to the job," said DNR Director Pam Bissonnette.

Grigsby's first task will be reorganizing the Water and Land Resources Division, responsible for flood protection, habitat protection, drainage and sewer services and agriculture and resource lands.

Grigsby begins Nov. 19.

Skagit Streaming debuts tonight

SEATTLE -- Delayed by the power crunch, Skagit Streaming, a video projection of salmon and streamlife from the Skagit River, will begin tonight on a 34-foot high screen mounted on the Bon Marche parking garage, at Second and Pine Street downtown.

The installation was originally set to debut last spring.

The display features three cameras -- bearcam, fishcam and bugcam -- that will broadcast each night beginning at dusk, or around 7:30 p.m.

The Skagit River produces 25 percent of Seattle's electricity supply with hydropower from City Light's Skagit hydroelectric project. Pink salmon are returning to the Skagit currently, with about one million fish expected this week.

The broadcasts will continue indefinitely.

Keeco gets Miami-Dade approval

LYNNWOOD -- Miami-Dade County, Fla. has approved the use of Keeco's silica microencapsulation (SME) water treatment technology for treating stormwater and wastewater.

The technology satisfies both groundwater and surface water clean up target levels, said Keeco Chief Operating Officer Bill Anderson.

Florida is known as having some of the most stringent standards in the nation.

"The SME approach to stormwater management represents, we believe, the most economically practical and environmentally sound approach to achieving compliance," Anderson said.

With the approval, Keeco is now moving forward with partners to close several significant projects in Florida, said Anderson.

Yakima U-Haul site has 62 contaminants

U-Haul of Inland Northwest has been ordered to remove contaminants from the soil at a site the company owns along the railroad corridor in Yakima. U-Haul bought the land in 1984.

According to the Department of Ecology, the goal is to clean up the four-acre site so it can be safely used again. A variety of operations contributed to contamination of the area over a 66-year period -- including the manufacture of pesticides and the distribution of petroleum products.

Of the 62 contaminants found on the site, 23 are considered carcinogenic. About 30 have leached into the aquifer beneath the property as well.

Comments on the clean-up plan are being accepted through Nov. 10. Copies are available at the Yakima Valley Regional Library and the Department of Ecology office in Yakima.

Snake River site restoration gets funds

NYSSA, Ore. (AP) -- An Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife grant will help restore 35 acres on land owned by Three P, a heavy equipment company based in Nampa, Idaho, for waterfowl, upland game birds and hunters.

The $164,000 project will restore part of Three P's 87 acres along the Snake River near Nyssa, said Ann Pressentin Young, a spokeswoman for the department.

A series of ponds and channels will be built, trees and shrubs will be planted, and nesting habitat, winter cover and food plots will be created, she said.

The project is expected to help ducks, geese, pheasants and quail.

Most of the expenses will be paid by Pheasants Unlimited, a group for hunting enthusiasts and conservationists, and Three P.

The Fish and Wildlife Department's Access and Habitat Program will contribute $18,887, she said. Some public hunting will be allowed by permission.

Clarkston port mulls stink suit

LEWISTON (AP) -- Port officials in Clarkston, Wash., are considering a lawsuit against Lewiston and some regulatory agencies over foul odors they blame on a compost plant.

Ed Hafer, one of a number of Clarkston residents who complained to the port commission Monday, said the stench is so pervasive he can't get it out of his closet, making his home worthless.

"If it smells like crap, it is crap," Hafer said.

Some blame the odors on the EKO Regional Compost Facility near the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, where sewage treatment byproducts and yard waste are turned into compost. Most bacteria are removed before the byproducts reach the plant.

A preliminary assessment, released last week following a study by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, found as many as five sources of odors which have yet to be identified.

Last month Clarkston commissioners said they would consider suing the city and port of Lewiston and regulatory agencies if their concerns were ignored.

On Monday, port lawyer Bruce Ensley said a lawsuit may not be the quickest way to clear the air.

"You have to have more than instinct," Ensley said. "You need to have evidence."

Even if the port won in court, the decision could be appealed, Ensley said. He suggested first trying to work with the appropriate agencies to seek improvements.

EKO has a conditional use permit with the North Central District Health Department in Lewiston, holds a local business license and is a tenant of the Port of Lewiston.

Clarkston port commission chairman Richard Sherwin said the panel will probably decide next month what action to take.

"If that (a lawsuit) is the only option left, that will probably be what happens," Sherwin said.

Meatpacking suit settled for $14M

WASHINGTON -- Meatpacking giant IBP Inc. will spend more than $14 million in penalties and improvements to settle a lawsuit filed over alleged environmental violations at its Dakota City, Neb., plant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed the lawsuit in January 2000 against IBP, accusing the meatpacking giant of polluting the air and water surrounding its 200-acre Dakota City plant.

As part of the settlement, IBP agreed to spend $10 million to construct additional wastewater treatment systems to efficiently reduce its discharges of ammonia into the Missouri River.

The company also has agreed to continue and expand operational improvements ordered last year that will significantly reduce hydrogen sulfur air emissions, Justice Department officials said.

IBP, based in Dakota Dunes, S.D., also will pay penalties of $2.25 million to the EPA and $1.85 million to the state of Nebraska.

In return, the EPA dropped its lawsuit against the company and its claims of environmental violations by the company.

The settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing, IBP said.

"While we still don't agree with the nature and extent of the claims made in the federal government's lawsuit, we're glad that we were able to come to an agreement that allows us to put this matter behind us," William Tolle, IBP assistant vice president for environmental affairs said.

IBP, the nation's biggest beef processor, was bought by Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods Inc. in a $3.2 billion deal that closed last month.

Environmental Watch: Carroll joins Farallon Consulting

ISSAQUAH -- Lauren Carroll has joined Farallon Consulting as a senior hydrologist.

Carroll is a registered professional geologist in Oregon and Illinois, holding undergraduate and master's degrees from Purdue University. She has 12 years of experience performing remedial investigations, site assessments and plan implementation.

Farallon is an Eastside environmental consulting firm based in Issaquah.

Golder expanding Tri-Cities presence

REDMOND -- Golder Associates is adding staff to its new, larger Richland office with an eye toward offering more ecological science services.

Recent projects include salmon and steelhead recovery assessments and Pacific lamprey studies.

Golder has other Northwest offices in Redmond, Portland, Coeur d'Alene and British Columbia. The firm, founded in 1960, has 2,400 employees worldwide.

Planner Nancy Bird gets certified

KIRKLAND -- Planner Nancy Bird of Huckell/Weinman Associates, Inc. has been certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Bird has six years of experience in planning, land use analysis and economic development.

Her recent projects have involved transit station areas in Seattle, SeaTac, Snohomish County, Lynnwood and Kirkland. She holds a master's degree from Illinois State University.

Huckell/Weinman provides land use environmental planning and economic consulting to public and private sector clients.

Workshops to air water permit changes

OLYMPIA -- The Department of Ecology will hold public workshops in communities throughout Washington to gather comments on proposed changes to fees for water discharge permits.

Approximately 4,000 local governments and industries pay a fee for state and federal water discharge permits every year.

The fees allow the permit holders to safely release treated water into lakes, rivers and marine and ground waters. The fees enable the Department of Ecology to provide information to permit holders, review their engineering plans and do inspections to ensure that the permit holders are complying with their permits.

The workshops, all beginning at 1 p.m. will be held as follows: Kennewick, Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the Ecology Nuclear Waste Office, 1315 W. Fourth Ave.; Spokane, Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave.; Longview, Monday, Oct. 15, at the Cowlitz County PUD, 961 12th Ave.; Lynnwood, Tuesday, Oct. 16, at City Council Chambers, 19100 44th Ave.; Bellingham, Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Fairhaven Library, 1117 12th St.; and Lacey, Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Department of Ecology auditorium, 300 Desmond Dr.

For more information call Bev Poston at (360) 407-6425.

Catch may be cut to help sea lions

SEATAC (AP) -- Next year's commercial harvests of Alaska pollock, cod and mackerel would be cut by at least 5 percent under conservation measures proposed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The limits, approved at the council's meeting in this south Seattle suburb, will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for final approval.

The proposed restrictions are an effort to help threatened and endangered populations of Steller sea lions, which compete with the fishing fleet for those fish.

Those populations have declined by more than 70 percent since the 1960s, leaving about 34,600 animals. Scientists are trying to figure out why.

David Benton, the council's chairman, said the approved limits are based on the best available science and would not put the sea lions at risk.

The fisheries service, which is responsible for protecting threatened and endangered marine animals, has concluded that commercial fishing is contributing to the sea lions' decline.

Industry officials are quick to note that Steller sea lions are the most abundant mammals on the Endangered Species List.

Green River salmon board expands

SEATTLE -- Representatives from Tacoma and Vashon Island will be added to the board overseeing salmon recovery in the Green River watershed.

The King County Council voted unanimously for the change.

Tacoma agreed to join the board, officially known as Water Resource Inventory Area 9, because of its interests in the upper Green River watershed. Vashon agreed to join because it wants a greater role in regional planning efforts.

"We all live downstream from someone," said Council member Larry Phillips, "Managing a watershed from mountain headwaters to the Sound means a healthier environment for everyone throughout the region."

Appliance recycling this weekend

TUKWILA -- Best Buy Co., Inc. will offer consumers a chance to recycle televisions, computers, VCRs and other household appliances this weekend at its Tukwila store.

For a nominal fee -- $5 for most goods, $10 for computer monitors and $15 for TVs -- the company will recycle the appliances rather than send them to a landfill. These appliances often contain hazardous materials like lead, mercury and cadmium.

Microwaves, smoke detectors and large appliances like refrigerators or air conditioners cannot be accepted.

Best Buy is located at 17364 Southcenter Parkway. Recycling will be available this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12 and 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Drought hits lakes Mead and Powell

PHOENIX (AP) -- Drought upstream and California's thirst downstream have dropped the level of Lake Mead 28 feet in two years, producing a crisis.

On the Colorado River near the mouth of the Grand Canyon, where once there was a huge bay teeming with bass there now is a mud flat with foot-high brush.

Boating business in Meadview, Ariz., is crushed, and river rafting on the Colorado is in a crunch, the newspaper said. An additional 10-foot drop is expected over the next two years.

William Burke, a spokesman for Lake Mead National Recreation Area, said the lake is on track for a 30-year water low in the near future.

"It's going to cost millions in extending water, gas and sewer lines and repairing ramps as the water drops," Burke said. "We're going to need an awful lot of (signs), and a lot of them are going to say, 'Don't go there."'

Part of the problem has been two of the driest years on record at the headwaters of the Colorado River.

Because of an 80-year-old compact, Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico are guaranteed a minimum of 8.23 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually. An acre-foot of water -- enough to cover an acre to a depth of one foot or 325,850 gallons -- is enough to supply an average family of four for one year.

Barry Wirth, a Bureau of Reclamation spokesman in Salt Lake City, told the newspaper that only the minimum has been released at Glen Canyon Dam near Page the past two years.

However, the flow into Lake Powell has only been 60 percent of normal the past two years, and downstream, the flow out of Lake Mead has been greater than normal.

Bob Walsh, a Reclamation Bureau spokesman in Las Vegas, said California is taking an addition 600,000 acre-feet it had been guaranteed, and Nevada is taking an additional promised 30,000 acre-feet.

So instead of 9 million acre-feet, the release at Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border is 9.6 million acre-feet this year, Walsh said. He said Arizona isn't taking more than its 2.7 million acre-foot allotment.

Additionally, Lake Mead normally loses about 1 million acre-feet a year to evaporation, Park Service officials said.

Environmental Watch: Alliant to study plant's energy needs

SEATTLE -- Alliant Energy Integrated Services has been chosen to provide energy management and planning services for the King County Department of Natural Resource's West Point Treatment Plant near Discovery Park.

Alliant will evaluate the operation of the plant and make recommendations for capital improvements and an energy management plan.

Alliant will work with Brown & Caldwell and Moore Engineering in developing their recommendations.

The West Point Treatment Plant can process up to 440 million gallons of wastewater a day. The plant also has an on-site co-generation facility that burns digester gas, providing power to the plant. Excess power is sold to Seattle City Light.

KJM opens new office for cleanup work

BELLEVUE -- KJM & Associates has opened a new office in Concord, Calif. to support its work on the cleanup of the Hunter's Point Shipyard site in San Francisco.

KJM has a contract to provide cost and scheduling management services to the IT Group's environmental remediation of the shipyard, now a Superfund site.

KJM's new office, in Concord, Calif., will be headed by Jack Hatmaker. Del Andres will serve as project controls manager on the IT Group contract.

KJM provides program and construction management services from nine offices in six western states.

Sammamish River planting set

SEATTLE -- Volunteers will plant over 4,000 native plants as part of Sammamish ReLeaf 2001, beginning this weekend in Woodinville.

The planting, and the removal of invasive species, will take place over five weekends. The plantings are designed to boost the heath of the river and nearby wildlife.

"The hands and hearts of these volunteers are helping salmon, the Sammamish River and King County's quality of life," said County Executive Ron Sims.

This Saturday, October 6, volunteers will gather at 145th Avenue Northeast at State Route 202 in Woodinville beginning at 10 a.m. Future planting days will be held in Redmond and Bothell.

See the King County Department of Natural Resources Web site for more information at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr or call (206) 296-8359.

Endangered species grants awarded

WASHINGTON --- The U.S. Department of the Interior has awarded more than $16 million in grants to 25 states to promote the conservation of threatened and endangered species.

In the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Region, the States of Washington, California, Oregon and Hawaii will receive a total of $7.2 million in grants.

The grants help local partnerships acquire and protect crucial habitat and support the development of Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) that allow private landowners to use and develop their land while conserving listed species.

The state of Washington will receive $3.7 million for projects.

These include $358,000 for a Douglas County HCP that will improve land management across a

landscape of one million acres to benefit 63 species, among them Ute ladies-tresses, bull trout, steelhead, spring chinook, and bald eagle.

A grant for $100,000 for a chinook recovery Habitat Conservation Plan on the Skykomish River in Snohomish County. The HCP would encompass approximately 12,000 acres and is being designed to serve as a model/pilot program for acquiring or otherwise securing rights to lands that can benefit species.

The Scatter Creek watershed in Thurston County will receive $300,000 to develop an HCP encompassing the entire Scatter Creek Watershed of 27,423 acres and including more than 30 species that are listed under either the federal or state Endangered Species acts or considered to be of special concern, including the Northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, bull trout and bald eagle.

For more information go to the Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Region Web site at http://www.r1.fws.gov/.

Lower Kootenai fish under ESA review

SPOKANE -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct a formal review of the burbot fish found in the lower Kootenai River to determine whether that population of the fish should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Burbot are the only freshwater member of the cod family. They are a cold water, bottom-dwelling fish that are extremely elongated in shape.

At one time, the lower Kootenai River supported a thriving winter burbot fishery, but declines began around 1960. The population declined further after the installation of Libby Dam in Montana in 1972.

Despite numerous fishing regulations, including the closure of all burbot fishing on the river in the early 1990's, the fish's numbers have continued to decline almost to nothing.

Attacks raise concerns about nuclear dump

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have prompted the Department of Energy to take another look at the threat of a plane crash at a proposed nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

"We're considering what needs to be done," said Joe Ziegler, a nuclear engineer with the department and senior technical adviser to the Yucca Mountain Project.

Ziegler told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that project scientists have not analyzed a scenario involving an aircraft crashing into an aboveground building where spent highly radioactive nuclear fuel rods would be repackaged for placement deep inside the mountain.

He said, however, that once the nation's 77,000 tons of radioactive waste is entombed 1,000 feet beneath the mountain's surface, an airplane crash would have little or no effect.

Meanwhile, the Nevada Test Site on Tuesday began accepting low-level nuclear waste for the first time since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A preliminary site evaluation released in July called the chances of an airplane crash at the site so remote that analyzing the consequences wasn't necessary.

Steve Frishman, a geologist and consultant to the state's Nuclear Projects Agency, said the federal government cannot now dismiss a threat to Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as remote.

"In light of current events, it points to a cavalier approach DOE has taken to screening out risks regardless of what the consequences are," Frishman said.

Hatchery clubbing to resume this fall

PORTLAND (AP) -- Oregon hatchery workers will use clubs and electricity to kill thousands of surplus salmon this fall to avert a deluge of hatchery fish that would weaken the dwindling gene pool of wild coho.

Earlier this year, state officials said they'd use overdoses of carbon dioxide to kill off extra hatchery fish, but changed their minds after discovering the gas didn't kill fish quickly.

"Clubbing is by far the most effective and most humane method of killing fish," said Steve Williams of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's fish division.

Home videos of state hatchery workers clubbing salmon in 1999 at the Fall Creek Hatchery near Alsea spawned lawsuits and criticism that still reverberated in the state capitol this spring.

Gov. John Kitzhaber vetoed a bill which would have placed a moratorium on destroying hatchery salmon, and a state judge upheld the department's right to club fish.

Hoping to avoid a public relations nightmare this fall, the fish and wildlife department will donate more than 100,000 hatchery coho to food banks, sell some lesser-quality salmon for pet food and spread other carcasses in spawning streams to decay naturally and fertilize the organic food chain.

Bonneville, the state's largest hatchery, is using electrocution to kill hatchery fish.

Only a small percentage of hatchery salmon and steelhead, from a few hundred at smaller hatcheries to a few thousand of each species at Bonneville, are needed to generate new generations of fingerlings.

Environmental Watch: Adolfson Associates adds two

SEATTLE -- Environmental consulting firm Adolfson Associates has added personnel to its wetlands program and its fish and wildlife program.

Alexander Ottley has joined the fish and wildlife program as a staff biologist. Ottley has six years of experience in endangered and threatened species, salmon monitoring and stream inventories.

In the wetlands program, Andrea Gates has been named staff ecologist. Gates has four years of experience in the field.

Adolfson, founded in 1987, has offices in Seattle and Portland.

Renewable diesel workshop Thursday

SEATTLE -- A workshop examining clean, renewable alternatives to diesel fuel will be held this week at the DoubleTree Hotel at Sea-Tac International Airport.

The gathering, entitled "Greening Ahead of the Curve: Meeting the Challenge with Renewable Diesel Fuels," is sponsored by state energy and air quality agencies from Washington and Oregon and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Topics to be covered include availability, pricing and performance of renewable diesel fuels, including biodiesel.

The workshop will be held Thursday, Sept. 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Registration is $25. For more information contact Linda Graham of the Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition at (206) 684-0935.

Seminar on mold claims defense

SEATTLE -- With legal claims from toxic mold on the upswing, law firm Bullivant Houser Bailey PC is holding a seminar on how to protect businesses from legal exposure.

Bullivant litigators Tamara Boeck, Gregory Clark, James Fick and Pennock Gheen will discuss "Strategies for taking the 'Gold' out of Mold Claims."

The seminar will be held Thursday, Nov. 8, from 8 to 10:30 a.m. at the Columbia Tower Club, 701 Fifth Ave., in Seattle.

Registration is $35. The registration deadline is Nov. 1. Contact Jennifer Macqueen Iverson for more information or to register at (800) 654-8972.

Wind project gets Oregon OK

SALEM, Ore. -- The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council has approved a site certificate for the Stateline Wind Project. FPL Energy, Inc., will begin construction of the wind generating facility. The location of the facility is in Umatilla County along the Oregon-Washington border.

The facility will consist of 127 wind turbines with about 83 megawatts of capacity.

The turbines will be mounted on tubular towers, about 165 feet high at the turbine hub. Each turbine will have a nominal electric generating capacity of 660 kilowatts. Due to concerns about impacts on the Washington ground squirrel, which is listed as an endangered species in Oregon, two strings of turbines had to be eliminated from the Oregon side of the border.

FPL Energy is already constructing the project on the Washington state side.

Solar for sale at Home Depot

Under an agreement with Delaware-based AstroPower, Inc., The Home Depot will begin selling residential solar electric power systems, beginning in the greater San Diego area. The Home Depot agreement is part of a broader AstroPower initiative aimed at moving solar electric power technology into the mainstream market.

As part of the sales effort, interactive displays are set up to demonstrate the ease of installation and operation of home solar electric power systems. Home Depot is offering financing, installation and service support to residential solar customers.

Conference on habitat law Oct.18-19

SEATTLE -- "Habitat in the Pacific Northwest" is the topic of a two-day conference being presented in October by Law Seminars International.

Issues to be covered include regulatory developments, municipal habitat concerns, the Shoreline Management Act, the Growth Management Act, water resources and rights, critical areas, forestry issues and tribal environmental issues.

The seminar has applied for eligibility in awarding Washington Continuing Legal Education credits.

The conference will be held Oct. 18 and 19 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center. Call (206) 621-1938 to register. Tuition is $595.

Oct. 11 SoDo lunch on environment

SEATTLE -- The SoDo Business Association's monthly lunch will look at environmental issues facing the area, including the recent Superfund listing of the lower Duwamish Waterway.

Speakers include Phil Scott of Waste Management and Charlie Cunniff of the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle.

The lunch will be held Thursday, Oct. 11, at the Pyramid Ale House, Royal Brougham and First Avenue South, across from Safeco Field. The fee is $10.

Flexcar expanding to D.C.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Metro Board of Directors has voted to award a contract for a car sharing program to Flexcar, a Seattle-based firm.

Twelve Metrorail stations will initially each receive two Honda Civic 4-door sedans, which customers would be able to use for a few hours.

The costs range from $1.50-$3.50 per hour, plus mileage. The rates depend on whether the customer decides to pay an initiation fee ranging from $250-$500. Higher initiation fees mean lower hourly and mileage rates.

Metro hopes to attract city dwellers without cars who need to go into the suburbs, as well as families with one car who occasionally need a second.

Initially, the cars will be placed at four stations in the District and four each in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. In the future, nine more stations will get cars.

Deaths prompt Corps dredging review

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking a new look at how it disposes of dredge spoils after an accident killed two young fishermen last month at the mouth of the Columbia River.

The Corps has convened a four-person review team to evaluate its disposal management practices. The team is made up of two Corps representatives and two Environmental Protection Agency officials.

Following orders from Oregon and Washington congressmen, the reviewers are investigating whether dredge spoils played a role in the Aug. 7 capsizing of the Miss Brittany fishing vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard is performing a similar review.

The spoils, which result from maintenance dredging of the Columbia River shipping channel, have long been blamed for magnifying already dangerous wave heights in the Peacock Spit area near the river's mouth where they are dumped.

In 1997, the Columbia River Crab Fishermen's Association sued the Corps to halt expansion of dredge dumping in the same area. A settlement the following year required the Corps to make "every effort" to avoid dredge spoils that bump wave heights by 10 percent.

The Corps has denied multiple requests to allow fishing representatives to take part in the Portland review meetings this week.

Corps officials have denied a link between the dredge disposal site and the boat's capsizing.

Yet just eight days after the accident, a Corps dredge began moving more than 10,000 dump truck loads of sediment from the site to a deeper off-shore location.

The current review is said to have been planned even before the region's congressional delegation demanded an inquiry.