Environmental Watch: Hermanson joins Parametrix board

PORTLAND -- Brad Hermanson, P.E., has been appointed to the Parametrix board of directors by way of a company-wide nomination process.

As a member of the board, Hermanson will be one of several executives responsible for stock value, company growth opportunities, ESOP trustee appointment and hiring of company leadership.

Hermanson is the employee representative on the board and joins Parametrix founders, Waite Dalrymple and George Capestany; outside business leaders, Ted Reeves and Frank Buehler; and the firm’s executive committee -- Gerry Jones, CEO; Jeff Peacock, vice president/director of environmental and infrastructure services; Mel Sears, vice president /operations; and Darlene Brown, controller.

Hermanson, a two-year Parametrix employee, is waste division manager in Parametrix’s Portland office. He provides project and program management, regulatory compliance and business management support services to public and private clients. His current assignments include administrative project management for the Columbia River Channel Improvement Biological Assessment Reconsultation project.

Parametrix is providing technical support to six lower Columbia River ports, including the Port of Portland, in the reconsultation.

Parametrix is a 350-person Northwest-based company. The Portland office, with 40 employees, provides services in all of the company’s business lines: transportation, environmental sciences, water and wastewater engineering, waste management and architecture.

Dow returns to Robinson & Noble

TACOMA -- Doug Dow is returning Robinson & Noble, Inc. 20 years after leaving the firm.

Dow began his career as a consulting hydrogeologist in 1976 with Robinson & Noble. He left in 1981 to work for Carr & Associates and remained with Carr until this year, surviving company buy-outs by AGI Technologies and Camp Dresser McKee. CDM recently closed its Water Resource Office in Gig Harbor, prompting Dow's return.

At CDM Dow was a hydrogeologist and senior project manager. At Robinson & Noble he will have an equivalent position, responsible for managing projects and performing hydrogeologic services for former CDM clients who wish to continue their professional relationship with Dow.

HazMat academy meeting March 5

The Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Academy of Hazardous Materials Management will hold its next quarterly meeting on Tuesday, March 5, at the Rock Salt Steakhouse in Seattle.

The speaker will be Grace Giorgio of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Giorgio will discuss L&I’s Innovations Project, which is working to make the state’s health and safety rules easier to use and understand.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 and Giorgio’s presentation at 8. For a reservation, contact Diana Cull, chapter vice president, at (425) 489-4872 or diana.cull@ci.bothell.wa.us. The meeting is not restricted to members.

Clean Harbors buys Safety-Kleen unit

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Dow Jones News) -- Environmental services provider Clean Harbors Inc. said Monday it agreed to acquire Safety-Kleen Corp.'s chemical services business for $46.3 million cash plus assumed debt.

The agreement includes environmental liabilities valued at $265 million, the company said.

Safety-Kleen said the deal is subject to the approval of the bankruptcy court overseeing its Chapter 11 case and will likely take several months to complete.

Clean Harbors would acquire 2,800 employees and 50 primary facilities, but not Safety-Kleen's Pinewood landfill in South Carolina.

Safety-Kleen, which filed for bankruptcy in June 2000, plans to focus on a core business providing parts washer and waste management services. The company is 44 percent owned by Laidlaw Inc., the Ontario transportation company that filed for bankruptcy in June 2001.

Clean Harbors, Braintree, Mass., earned $5.5 million, or 40 cents a share, for 2001. Year revenue was $251.6 million.

Maple Valley leachate spill investigated

MAPLE VALLEY (AP) -- As much as 200,000 gallons of landfill runoff was released within 200 feet of the Cedar River after a pipeline broke northwest of this Seattle suburb, officials said.

State and King County officials were assessing the environmental damage after a pipe fitting failed Saturday night in the line carrying liquid from the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill to a sewage treatment plant in Renton.

County spokesman Logan Harris said the foul water in the pipe sprayed 20 feet into the air and covered about 20,000 square feet of land before the line was closed about 8 p.m.

The liquid, technically called leachate, is collected at the base of the dump from rain and other drainage that seeps through garbage and soil at the site and is pumped eight miles to the sewage plant.

The spill occurred at an intersection on Washington 169 in the Cedar River flood plain southeast of Seattle. Brad Bell, operations manager of the county's Solid Waste Division, said the nearest homes are several hundred feet away.

As much as 200,000 gallons may have been released, but the total probably was much less, Bell said.

A berm appeared to have contained most of the spill, but Bell said some of the polluted dump runoff may have leached into the river through the soil.

Should Marine base become park or airport?

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- One of the nation's costliest land-use battles could end next week when voters decide whether a former Marine base should become a park instead of a commercial airport.

The March 5 election will mark the fourth time voters have cast a ballot on the fate of the 4,700-acre El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Several people on both sides said this decision is likely to be the last.

The base, built during World War II in the bean fields of Orange County, closed in 1999. A plan to transform it into the county's second commercial airport has been in the making for eight years.

Supporters say an airport would ensure the county's economic future by generating jobs and business.

Opponents say turning El Toro into a commercial airport would create noise, pollution and traffic that would damage property values and their suburban quality of life.

Airport opponents have waged a nonstop election campaign with newspaper and television ads touting "The Great Park."

The two sides have spent more than $60 million since 1993, but proponents of the airport lost a key financial backer this year when real estate magnate George Argyros was named ambassador to Spain.

A majority of the Orange County Board of Supervisors has supported an airport but recently has shown cracks. Supervisor Jim Silva recently said if voters approve the park, he will withdraw his support for the airport

Environmental Watch: EviroExpo shows sustainable products

SEATTLE -- It's sort of a show within a show.

The Northwest EnviroExpo, presented by King County in conjunction with this week's Seattle Home Show, presents an array of environmentally friendly products for the home and garden.

From composting toilets to sustainable compost, the expo focuses on recycled and energy-saving materials and devices. Exhibitors include YK Products, manufacturer of recycled asphalt for driveway repair; Bedrock Industries, maker of a recycled glass tile; and Custom Handweaving, maker of woven rugs from recycled fabric.

Also included are a demonstration kitchen with energy-saving appliances and sustainable finishes. Energy Star will show off energy-saving home appliances.

The Seattle Home Show and the EnviroExpo, being held at the Stadium Exhibition Center at 1000 Occidental Ave. S. in Seattle, run today through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 22, from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; and this weekend, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. both days.

Hearings set for aquatic pesticide permits

OLYMPIA -- Due to a court decision, the state Department of Ecology has developed new permits for the application of aquatic pesticides to waterways.

Last year, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that such pesticide applications must comply with the Clean Water Act.

Clean Water Act permits will now be required for using pesticides on irrigation canals, oyster beds and to control mosquitos and weeds in water.

In developing the draft permits, the agency worked with interest groups and pesticide applicators to address concerns, agency staff said.

A series of workshops and hearings have been scheduled for further input. An oyster growers hearing will be held on Friday, March 8, 1:30 p.m. at the Pacific County Commissioners meeting room, 1216 W. Robert Bush Drive in South Bend.

Noxious weed permit hearings will be held in Yakima, March 11, 1:30 p.m. at the Ecology office, 15 W. Yakima Ave.; Lacey, March 14, 1:30 p.m. at Ecology headquarters, 300 Desmond Drive; and Spokane, March 25, 1:30 p.m. in the Shadle Library, 2111 W.Wellesley.

A mosquito control permit hearing will be held March 12 at 9 a.m. in Ellensburg at the Hal Holmes Community Center, 201 N. Ruby St.. It will be followed at 1:30 p.m. by the irrigation system permit hearing.

For more information go to http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/herbicides/index.html.

State gets sustainable planning award

SEATTLE -- The state of Washington and Gov. Gary Locke have been awarded the Guardian of the Future award by the Resource Renewal Institute.

The award is given to those states that rank highly in the non-profit group's annual report, "State of the States: Assessing the Capacity of States to Achieve Sustainable Development Through Green Planning."

Washington state ranked fifth in the latest report. Oregon finished first, followed by New Jersey, Minnesota and Maine.

The Resource Renewal Institute is based in San Francisco. For more information about the report and programs go to http://www.rri.org.

Fairfax forest proposed for open space

TACOMA -- The Pierce County Council will consider today a proposal to designate the county-owned Fairfax forest as open space conservancy land.

Over the past 10 years, the inaccessible 640-acre property in the Cascade foothills has been the subject of two failed land swaps. The proposal will remove the land from the county's surplus property rolls and place it under jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Department. It will be managed as open space and nature conservancy land.

The county is working to provide public access to the property through the Carbon River valley. Discussions are being held with adjacent property owners and environmental groups on the best way to provide access.

Development of a non-motorized trail between the property and the Ipsut entrance to Mount Rainier National Park is also being studied.

Harding ESE promotes Stensland

BELLEVUE -- Harding ESE has promoted Gary Stensland to environmental services department manager. He has been with the firm since 1993.

Stensland has experience in hazardous materials investigations, environmental assessments, environmental documentation and permitting, wetlands and biological assessments.

Currently, he is project manager for several large Harding ESE projects including the environmental work on an "Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity" U.S. Navy contract.

Harding ESE provides environmental, construction and transportation services. The firm's Bellevue office is one of 78 nationwide, encompassing about 2,400 employees.

$175M for Klamath passes Senate

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- The farm bill passed by the U.S. Senate included $175 million to restore aquatic ecosystems in the Klamath Basin as a way of easing conflicts between agriculture and fish and wildlife.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., offered the measure in response to a dispute that erupted during a drought last summer, when water that goes to farms through the Klamath Reclamation Project irrigation system was drastically cut back to conserve water for endangered sucker fish and threatened coho salmon.

It remains to be seen whether the package will survive a conference committee, in part due to opposition from Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. Walden would like to include a provision to guarantee water for farmers in drought years, spokesman Dallas Boyd said.

The farm bill passed 58-40 without support from Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who said he could not endorse an amendment by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, that would pay farmers for giving up water for endangered species.

The bill would create a Klamath Basin Interagency Task Force made up of federal agencies to promote water conservation, improve agricultural practices and oversee restoration projects.

Feds OK controversial cat litter mine

RENO (AP) -- The Bureau of Land Management has approved a proposed cat litter mine on federal land north of Reno that is opposed by environmentalists and an Indian tribe.

Opponents said they weren't surprised by the action.

"The BLM was going to support this project no matter what, just like they do all mining," said Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

The open-pit clay mine that the Oil-Dri Corp. wants to build still needs approval by the Washoe County Commission, which is due to meet on Feb. 26. The company wants it to overrule the county planning commission, which refused in December to grant a special use permit.

"I'm very happy (the decision) is out there. At least that part is behind us," said Bob Vetere, vice president and general counsel for Chicago-based Oil-Dri.

The company, the world's largest producer of cat litter, under the Cat's Pride brand, proposes to mine clay on BLM land about 10 miles north of Reno. The material would be processed into cat litter and other absorbent products in a plant on adjoining private land.

Critics, including the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, say the project will pollute the air and water, clog residential streets in the area with truck traffic and ruin the area's rustic qualities.

Oil-Dri officials say the project is environmentally benign and would help the area's economy

Environmental Watch: Open houses set for habitat plans

SEATTLE -- Six open houses will be held around the region to solicit public comment on recommendations to improve salmon habitat in the Green/Duwamish and Lake Washington/Cedar Sammamish watersheds.

Both river systems harbor two threatened species, chinook salmon and bull trout. Together the watersheds also are home to 33 percent of the state's population.

The recommendations address habitat protection and restoration, regulatory changes, education and outreach and research. Implementation of the recommendations, developed by 39 cities and King and Snohomish counties, is voluntary.

The open houses will be held in Covington, Feb. 19, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m at the Covington Public Library; Renton, Feb. 21, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Renton City Hall and March 4, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Kohlwes Education Center; Mill Creek, March 11, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. at Mill Creek City Hall; Seattle, March 14, 6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. at the University Heights Center in the University District; and Redmond, March 21, 6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. at the Redmond Public Library.

Corps begins cleanup at Bonneville

PORTLAND -- This week a team of divers will be in the Columbia River as part of an operation to remove 313 cubic yards of electrical equipment from the water near Bradford Island at Bonneville Lock and Dam.

Some of the equipment is believed to contain PCBs.

The divers, from Advanced American Diving Inc. of Portland, will help guide a crane operator to the equipment. Two barges will be used one with a crane and one for the material after it is removed from the water.

Turbidity screens will be used around the work area to reduce sediment disturbed. Monitors will regularly measure turbidity both upstream and downstream. Also, absorbent booms will be placed around the work area.

Some material, such as fencing and culverts, will be left in the water to minimize disturbed sediment.

The project is expected to be finished by early March. Because PCBs can enter the food chain, effects on fish, including those listed under the Endangered Species Act, and balds eagles are of concern.

Judge blocks dumping of sick salmon

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Environmentalists have won a temporary injunction preventing the dumping of some 1.6 million young salmon originating from Heritage Aquaculture fish farm on Vancouver Island.

The injunction, won by the David Suzuki Foundation and Musqueam band, strands several boats with their loads of diseased Atlantic salmon in the Fraser River.

The young fish carry infectious hematopoietic necrosis, commonly known as sockeye disease. The highly infectious virus attacks fish kidneys and spleens. It does not affect humans.

The virus flourishes in fresh water and could spread to chinook salmon and steelhead trout spawning in the Fraser River, David Suzuki Foundation spokesman Jim Fulton said.

"We're concerned the slime and the blood and the debris and the water will simply be pumped back into the Fraser River," Fulton said.

It would be better to unload the fish in a salt-water environment well away from any spawning fish, he said.

The injunction was granted late last week in British Columbia's Supreme Court. It expires on Wednesday.

Officials with Heritage Aquaculture could not be reached for comment.

Andrew Morgan, the regional aquaculture co-ordinator for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said the disease is part of fish farming.

"It happens from time to time and it's not inconsistent with what we've seen in the past," said Morgan, adding the company is working with authorities to ensure there will be no disease transmission.

Colville Tribes will finish mill cleanup

OMAK (AP) -- The Colville Confederated Tribes will be responsible for much of the remaining cleanup work at the 386-acre wood-products mill site they recently purchased.

In an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the tribes will complete the 1998 cleanup order, said Kimberly Ogle, a spokeswoman for the EPA in Seattle.

The Colville Tribal Enterprises Corp. bough the old Quality Veneer and Lumber site last month in a sale approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and expects to resume production of green veneer next month.

Quality Veneer had cleaned up most of the chemicals, metals and oil at the site. The remainder of the work should be finished this summer, Ogle said.

The Colville Environmental Trust Department will do the work with technical assistance from the EPA. The project could include restoration of Omak Creek, which runs through the mill site.

Mary Queitzsch, an EPA lawyer, said total cleanup costs were estimated at $1 million.

Untreated wastewater pours into Potomac

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A sewage treatment failure caused by a chemical leak sent millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the Potomac River over the weekend, city and state officials said.

The failure at Hagerstown's municipal sewage treatment plant occurred gradually between late Friday and noon Saturday, according to Rich McIntire, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The river is a source of drinking water for the Washington area, but McIntire said there was no threat to the water supply because the polluted water would be diluted by the time it reached the area.

The sewage treatment system was corrupted by an unknown chemical that killed the microbes treating the water, said Rick Thomas, manager of Hagerstown's Water Pollution Control Department.

"We have a biological system here, with microbes that do the work of treating sewage," he said. "The microbes can not withstand the toxins from the chemicals."

Workers were trying to determine the type of chemical that got into the system and the source, Thomas said.

"We've been collecting samples all day and we'll be sending them to a private lab Monday for analysis," he said.

There was no immediate threat to public health, officials said.

The department notified water-intake plants downstream from Hagerstown and they were taking steps to protect their water supplies, McIntire said. He said signs would be posted near the river, warning of the danger.

There was little risk of people having contact with river water in February, due to cold, Thomas said. Officials said the system would flush itself out and replenish itself

Environmental Watch: Skinner

SEATTLE -- Lloyd Skinner has been named senior vice president at Adolfson Associates, Inc., an environmental consulting firm specializing in natural resource management, planning, Endangered Species Act compliance and environmental impact analysis.

For the past six years Lloyd has served as vice president and director of environmental services at Adolfson. In addition to continuing his role as a senior project manager, Lloyd will concentrate on strategic planning, quality assurance and business development for the firm.

2 Columbia dredge disposal sites nixed

PORTLAND -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has removed two potential sites from consideration for the disposal Columbia River dredge spoils.

The two sites are the nearshore site on the southwest Washington coast and the site south of the south jetty.

While the sites could be considered again at a later date, the corps said both sites needed additional evaluation and design work.

Six sites remain under consideration. The disposal of dredge spoils near the mouth of the Columbia has caused some controversy. Many fisherman in the area believe the spoils are a hazard to navigation.

Public comment on the remaining sites will be accepted until Feb. 22. A public hearing will be held Feb. 12 at the Red Lion Inn, 400 Industry St., in Astoria from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information go to https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/mcr/pubs.htm.

Corps reviews Fanno Creek project

PORTLAND -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating a restoration of Fanno Creek in Beaverton, Ore. The project, proposed by Clean Water Services, would place gravel and woody debris in the creek, in hopes of reducing flooding and improving fish habitat.

Work would be conducted at five different locations. As part of the work, wetlands will be reconnected to the creek and a culvert will be removed and replaced concrete, vertical slot weir.

The corps, as part of its permit evaluation, is accepting comments on project number 2001-00029. Email Kathryn.L.Harris //www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/g/notices/200100029.pdf.

Testing ultrasound to count salmon

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Ultrasound technology will be tested as a way to estimate the number of salmon that make it upriver to spawn.

Engineers at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory developed a long-range ultrasound video system about a year ago and will test it on the Kenai River in July.

State biologists long have used sonar to count fish swimming up the Kenai, but it has been, at times, impossible to differentiate between red salmon and king salmon or to calculate whether enough kings make it up river to spawn.

The new ultrasound device delivers images crisp enough to resemble video of salmon moving upstream. It shoots 96 sonar beams at high frequency and can discern objects up to 100 feet away, designers say. Software accompanying the sonar automatically counts and measures the length of passing fish.

If the camera can successfully peer through the Kenai's cold, silt-choked water and dense fish this summer -- conditions known to trip up less sophisticated sonar systems -- the state will begin buying the $80,000 units, said Debby Burwen, a state fisheries biologist who specializes in sonar counting.

With the current system, biologists rely on those pulses to open, close and restrict fishing, affecting the Kenai's multimillion-dollar sport and commercial fisheries.

Kings may be giants among fish, but their numbers are relatively small. They are counted in the thousands, compared with reds, which reach the Kenai by the hundreds of thousands.

If the king run looks weak, state biologists move swiftly to limit or close sportfishing.

Plan to breach Condit Dam moving forward

PORTLAND (AP) -- The nation's dam-licensing agency has not yet officially approved a local utility's plan to breach Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in southwest Washington.

But the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says PacifiCorp's plan to blast a hole in the 125-foot dam "would provide the best and most cost-effective means" for removing the dam and the sediments behind it while protecting the environment.

In a draft environmental impact statement, the commission said the plan has "unilateral support by all relevant federal and state fish and wildlife agencies and tribes."

PacifiCorp has proposed breaching the 14-megawatt dam in 2006 at a cost of $17 million, rather than spending $30 million to fit the dam with fish ladders.

The utility negotiated the dam-removal plan in 1999 with 14 environmental groups, the Yakama Nation and several state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Interior.

The plan calls for tunneling and blasting a 12- by 18-foot hole in the base of the dam, which would release 2.3 million cubic tons of sediment downstream.

Opponents call it the "blow-and-go" option, and say it would wreak environmental havoc. They contend PacifiCorp should have to dredge the sediments first. A 1996 environmental study, however, rejected two sediment-dredging proposals -- one expected to cost $56.7 million, the other $65.2 million.

To win FERC's final approval, PacifiCorp would have to agree to: Develop plans to protect public safety, control pollution from petroleum and hazardous substances during dam removal, protect and relocate western pond turtles in Northwestern Lake (the reservoir behind the dam) and address effects on private wells as groundwater levels drop after the reservoir is drained.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has the final say. It must find that the "blow-and-go" proposal doesn't jeopardize the river's threatened salmon and steelhead runs.

Only 13% of replacement wetlands work

EVERETT (AP) -- For nearly 10 years, developers who destroyed wetlands have been required by federal law to replace them -- 1.78 acre of replacement wetlands for every acre destroyed.

But a state Department of Ecology study -- as reported by The Herald of Everett -- has determined only about 13 percent of the man-made wetlands in Washington are fully successful.

Millions of dollars have been spent with questionable results, the study found. Mitigation projects typically cost $10,000 to $100,000 an acre.

Wetland projects by private developers were about twice as likely to succeed as public projects funded by taxpayer dollars, the study found.

Of 24 wetlands creation or restoration projects, the study found only three were fully successful. Eight were moderately successful, eight were minimally successful and five were not successful.

Last year, the National Academy of Sciences determined that the government is not enforcing the mitigation requirement. The rule was established because wetlands, dismissed for many years as just useless swamps, are now understood to be critical to watershed health.

Besides providing food for fish, birds, frogs and other animals, wetlands can reduce damage from flooding and help purify water.

The Ecology Department agreed to not identify projects by name in exchange for cooperation with the study. The department checked to see whether projects met permit requirements, then assessed whether the man-made wetlands provided ecological benefits and made up for lost natural wetlands

Environmental Watch: Group: Games not green enough

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The conservation group Save Our Canyons issued a report this week on the successes and failures of the Olympic environmental effort. Their conclusion three weeks before the games: the Salt Lake Olympic Committee didn't do all it could to protect the environment.

Environmentalists say organizers could have developed a mass transit system from Salt Lake to Park City or installed solar panels to power venues.

SLOC's main plan for moving 70,000 spectators a day relies on driving and parking near venues before taking a short shuttle bus ride. Environmentalists said more effort should have been put into a massive bus effort.

About 900 buses are already on loan from transit agencies around the country.

SLOC environmental spokeswoman Diane Conrad Gleason rejects criticism that SLOC did not aim high enough. "We met our commitments and we raised the bar on the environment compared to other games," she said.

An independent review of SLOC's environmental achievements by CH2M Hill, a business consulting firm, said SLOC was successful in meeting its 12 specific goals. Kathy Dickey, air quality engineer for CH2MHILL, said the firm did not evaluate whether the goals were modest compared to other standards.

Gleason cited three main pillars of the 2002 environmental plan -- zero additional emissions, zero waste and an urban forestry program that will plant 18 million trees in Utah.

SLOC pledged to make the air cleaner with an emission program reliant on businesses donating air pollution credits. The credits essentially give a business the right to create a certain amount of pollution. SLOC bought some credits from Utah companies; businesses got a tax break and the credits went out of circulation, lessening pollution. Gleason said the program will eliminate 180,000 tons of pollution.

Another initiative involves recycling 85 percent of Olympic trash with a two-bin system that not only recycles glass, plastic and paper but composts food products. After the games, Salt Lake County will have its first functioning food-waste composting site.

Oregon farmers to harvest nickel

SELMA, Ore. (AP) -- The Illinois Valley is filled with small farms and woodlands where timber, pasture and wine grapes are significant crops.

Starting next year, farmers here could be mining nickel through two species of alyssum -- alfalfa-like plants harvested as hay and burned to produce electricity, yielding nickel-laced ash.

Two executives from Viridian Resources of Houston, Texas, met with farmers this month, securing acreage where they can plant commercial trials of the drought-resistant plants.

"We need a minimum of 2,000 acres, and we've almost got it," said Viridian's Carol Nelkin after looking at an untilled flat on a ranch west of this hamlet.

Viridian has also talked with Josephine County officials about building an incinerator plant.

Nelkin said if the project reaches the target acreage, planting would start in September 2002, with the first harvest in 2003.

The nation's only nickel mine is an inactive pit on a mountain near Riddle, 50 miles north of here. Depressed world nickel prices several years ago forced closure of the refinery. Conventional nickel mining is an energy-intensive process that leaves behind a huge volume of discarded rock and spoils from processed ore.

The United States Department of Agriculture's Research Service holds a 1998 patent on nickel- and cobalt-extracting plants. Viridian put $1 million into a five-year USDA research contract in hopes of taking the process commercial.

They've coined the name "phytomining" to describe the technique. Alyssum is a perennial plant that puts out vigorous leafy regrowth each year. Roots about 1 foot long spread into the soil.

The USDA speculates that in a year, at current world prices, an acre of alyssum could produce about $800 worth of nickel. When combined with income from electricity sales, the agency estimates $1,200 an acre gross annual revenue.

World's mountains said to be threatened

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wars, pollution and logging are despoiling the world's mountain ranges -- the Alps, the Rockies and the Hindu Kush are most threatened, according to a U.N. study released Sunday.

Mountains are the "water towers of the world," supplying more than half the world's population, said the report by the Tokyo-based United Nations University.

But 23 of the world's 27 current conflicts -- from Afghanistan to Chechnya and Kashmir -- are being fought in mountainous areas and are destroying the environment, the study said.

But nonviolent activities are scarring mountain ecology as well.

The Rockies are being hurt by new home building, skiing and other recreational activities that gobble up virgin lands, the study said. Industrial pollution from toxic mine tailings affects the Colorado Rockies, said mountain expert Jack Ives, who contributed to the U.N. document.

Canada's first national park, Banff -- crown jewel of the system -- faces serious danger of being overdeveloped, Ives said. The once pristine mountain valleys of the Alps "are now a litter of cable cars, ski lifts, tourists facilities and car parks," the study said.

Climbing expeditions have made "Mount Everest the highest garbage dump in the world," Ives said.

But commercial and illegal logging and slash-and-burn farming by poor people living in mountain areas are the real mountain ravagers, destroying the forests and increasing the chances of avalanches and landslides, fires and famines, according to the report.

The United Nations has designated 2002 the International Year of Mountains with the goal of alleviating the crippling poverty among mountain people and spotlighting the importance of mountains as the source of rich plant and animal life and more than half the world's fresh water. The U.N. study is part of that effort

Environmental Watch: Water rights changes flow faster

OLYMPIA -- The state Department of Ecology says it is moving faster on water rights changes. The agency says it processed 262 applications to change or transfer existing water rights in 2001. That total doesn't include 172 temporary changes due to last year's drought.

Over the past five years, Ecology averaged about 120 actions on water rights changes every year. When the last session of the legislature approved changes to the water rights process along with new funding, the backlog for change actions was about 2,000 applications.

Under the current system applications for new water rights and changes to existing rights are administered separately. Last year, 100 applications for new water rights were processed, and about 40 were approved.

Of the 262 applications for changes in existing water rights last year, 150 were approved, 41 denied and 71 were withdrawn by the applicants.

Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons said the agency hopes to improve its performance with the absence of a drought in 2002.

Environmental center adds staff

SEATTLE -- The Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center, scheduled to open this fall, is beefing up its staff to get ready for the influx of curious kids.

Joining the center as arts coordinator is Lee Ann Woolery.

Woolery will oversee all aspects of the organization’s arts programs, including curriculum for school-age children, adults and families, the graduate program, artist-in-residence programs, and outreach and partnerships with regional and national arts organizations and individuals. Woolery holds a master's degree in art therapy from the Art Institute of Chicago and has developed her own environmental arts curriculum.

Ann Coombes-New has been hired as community programs coordinator. Coombes-New will oversee all aspects of the organization’s summer and weekend community-based programs for adults, families and children. New comes to the center from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where she was director of summer programs in the preparatory dance division.

Paul Bannick will be the center's major gifts manager. He will play a role in building the center itself, currently under construction on 225 acres on Bainbridge Island. To date, $40 million of the total $52 million project cost has been raised.

Bannick has worked in sales and marketing at Aldus Corp., Adobe Systems and Microsoft, among others.

Brien Lautman has been named director of marketing for the center. Most recently, Lautman worked as vice president of corporate communications at Getty Images, and vice president of corporate communications for the Regence Group of health plans. In addition, he has worked on the boards of the Children’s Resource Center in Bellevue and the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center in Renton.

The Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center, founded in 1998, will provide hands-on learning for school-aged children on the sustainably designed campus.

Hoffman rejoins Seattle Public Utilities

SEATTLE -- Ray Hoffman has joined Seattle Public Utilities as director of its Strategic Planning Division.

Hoffman formerly served as an advisor to former Mayor Paul Schell on environmental and utility issues. Previously he served as director of regional affairs for the utility. He also has experience with the Seattle Solid Waste Utility, now part of SPU, and served as executive director of Washington Citizens for Recycling.

Over the years, Hoffman has played key roles in the city's water conservation and greenhouse gas reduction programs.

Best Awards honor green businesses

SEATTLE -- The Business and Industry Resource Venture has established the Best Awards to honor notable "green" achievements by Seattle-area companies in waste prevention and recycling, water conservation, energy conservation, stormwater pollution prevention and sustainable building. The acronym stands for Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow.

Deadline for the awards is Feb. 22.

Winners will be honored at a public ceremony in the spring as well as promoted in the media. The Business and Industry Resource Venture is a partnership of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Seattle Public Utilities.

Weedall rejoins BPA as VP

PORTLAND -- The Bonneville Power Administration has named Michael Weedall vice president for energy efficiency in the agency's power business line.

A former BPA employee, Weedall founded Pacific Energy Associates in 1985 to assist utilities and governments in planning, developing and implementing demand-side management, energy efficiency programs and customer service products. In 1990, he went on to serve as director of Energy Management Services at Green Mountain Power, an investor-owned utility in Vermont. He also managed Sacramento Municipal Utility District's energy efficiency effort beginning in 1993.

Most recently, he was at the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority where he headed its energy efficiency and distributed generation efforts.

Weedall is from southeastern Massachusetts and holds degrees from Northeastern University and the University of Arizona.

The Bonneville Power Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, markets electric power throughout the Northwest primarily generated by federal hydroelectric dams.

Kyoto advocate to speak at Globe 2002

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Globe 2002 conference, billed as the world's largest environmental business summit, has added British Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State John Prescott to its roster of scheduled speakers.

Known as a vocal advocate of the Kyoto Treaty on global climate conditions and global warming, Prescott has been outspoken about the need for countries to live up to the conditions and goals of the 1992 agreement. He has been particularly critical of the United States abandoning the Kyoto agreement entirely.

As part of the closing plenary at Globe 2002, Prescott will present his views on what will dominate the Johannesburg Earth Summit agenda. The Johannesburg summit is scheduled for Aug. 26 through Sept. 4.

The gathering is held biannually in Vancouver. Globe 2002 is the seventh in the series, and represents one of the largest gathering of corporate leaders, policy makers and scientists in the business of the environment.

Environmental Watch: UW holding land trust panel Jan. 16

SEATTLE -- The University of Washington's College of Forest Resources will hold an afternoon seminar on land trusts and conservation easements Wednesday, Jan 16.

Participants include representatives of the Pacific Land Trust, Forest Systems Inc., the Cascade Land Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy.

Land trust organizations nearly tripled in the U.S. during the 1990s. The program will run from 1 to 4 p.m. at the university's Anderson Hall, Room 207. Jim Agee will moderate. For more information contact Kelley Duffield at (206) 685-1606.

EcoBuilding Guild presentation on solar

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is hosting a presentation on solar design Wednesday, Jan. 23, at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N. The meeting runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. for sign-in. The presentation is free to EcoBuilding Guild members; a $5 donation is requested from non-members.

Chris Herman of Winter Sun Design will discuss how to balance cost, aesthetics and performance in solar design. A reasonable understanding of solar principles will be assumed, and the focus will be on getting projects built. The specific focus (active, passive or photovoltaic) will depend on audience interests.

McClelland joins Anchor

SEATTLE -- Michelle McClelland has joined the Seattle office of Anchor Environmental. She has spent the last 12 years providing consulting services as an environmental chemist. McClelland's responsibilities will include preparing sampling and analysis plans and data reports, coordinating field sampling programs and database management. Anchor Environmental is an environmental science and engineering firm with offices in Seattle, Oakland and Irvine, Calif., and College Station, Texas.

Elk Creek Dam stays another year

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided against cutting a notch in the half-completed Elk Creek Dam to improve fish passage for threatened coho salmon in the Rogue River.

Dallas Boyd, in Rep. Greg Walden's Washington, D.C. office, said last week Mike Parker, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, has decided that for this year, at least, the dam will not be notched.

"I think it's a win-win situation for the people, a win-win for the fish and for our future water needs," said Jackson County Commissioner Ric Holt.

Holt met with Parker and other Army officials for about an hour in Washington on Friday. Holt said he showed a video that explained how ludicrous it would be to blow up the $20 million project.

Holt said he broke into tears when he got the cell-phone call from Parker Wednesday night while standing in a Wal-Mart check-out line.

"The people won," said Holt, who wants the dam completed to provide flood control, water storage and to generate hydroelectric power.

$3M OK'd for Rogue dam removal

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board has approved a $3 million grant to help fund the removal of Savage Rapids Dam and replace it with modern pumps.

"This is a down payment on restoring one of Oregon's crown jewels," said Bob Hunter, a staff attorney for WaterWatch, an environmental group.

The dam has been the source of a long-running fight over the health of the Rogue River.

Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a declaration last year recognizing a consent degree that dissolved state and federal lawsuits against the Grants Pass Irrigation District over harm the dam has caused threatened coho salmon.

The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene at the end of August, calls for installing pumps to draw water out of the Rogue River by 2005, then removing the dam built in 1921.

The action was a milestone for a river that was one of the original wild and scenic waterways in the United States, and whose salmon and steelhead runs drew such celebrities as Clark Gable and Ginger Rogers.

Putting in the pumps and removing the dam is expected to cost $13.5 million, Hunter said Friday. The price rises to about $20 million when restoration and recreation projects are factored in.

Judge halts EPA plan for ombudsman's office

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge has temporarily halted a Bush administration plan to reshuffle the office of the Environmental Protection Agency's hazardous waste ombudsman.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Roberts issued a temporary restraining order against the government until a full hearing on the matter can be scheduled. The order remains in effect until Feb. 26.

Robert Martin, who handles citizen complaints on waste and Superfund matters, has asked the court to block EPA Administrator Christie Whitman from moving the ombudsman's office to the EPA's Inspector General's Office.

Martin contends the move would weaken his independence within the agency. He said in court papers the action was being taken because he has been an outspoken critic of corporations' influence in Superfund cases, large environmental cleanups that involve the worst types of hazardous waste.

EPA spokesman Joe Martyak denied the agency was trying to weaken Martin's role. "I am confident, on the merits, the court will find the claims unfounded," the spokesman said.

A General Accounting Office report suggested moving the ombudsman, Martyak said, and "the ombudsman himself stated in that report that he thought he should be moved out of the Office of Solid Waste.

Environmental Watch: McGuire joins Adolfson in Oregon

SEATTLE -- Tom McGuire has joined Adolfson Associates as planning program manager for the firm's Oregon division.

McGuire has over 13 years of experience, most recently as a senior planner with the Portland Bureau of Planning. His expertise includes natural resource inventories, wildlife habitat assessments, floodplain management, and erosion and stormwater control.

Adolfson Associates specializes in natural resource management, planning and environmental evaluations. Founded in 1987, the firm has offices in Portland and Seattle.

Superfund topic for Ore. NEBC lunch

PORTLAND -- Lawyer John DiLorenzo will speak at the Northwest Environmental Business Council's Oregon Chapter luncheon.

Last year, DiLorenzo drafted a controversial proposal to allow industrial landowners within the boundaries of Portland's Willamette Superfund site to divert their tax revenues to environmental restoration projects.

His topic for the lunch will be "Taxes and Superfund sites: Innovative approaches."

The event will be held Wednesday, Jan. 16, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Greenwood Inn in Beaverton, Ore. The cost is $25 for NEBC members or $40 for non-members, including lunch. For more information call (888) 609-NEBC.

Renewable power plans debut

PORTLAND -- Green power options debuted yesterday as customers of Pacific Power and Portland General Electric were able to sign up for 100 percent renewable power supplies.

The new programs will begin supplying energy on March 1.

Under the program, consumers have three renewable energy choices: a renewable usage option, averaging $6 to $8 more per month; a habitat option with fees for protection of salmon habitat; and a fixed renewable option which allows customers to specify an amount of renewable supply in addition to their regular electricity.

The utilities do not guarantee the customer will be directly using renewable energy, however. Instead, the utilities promise that for each kilowatt of energy consumed by households in the program, an equivalent amount of clean energy will be transmitted into the power grid.

Wind power plants make credit deadline

FAIRBANKS, Ore. (AP) -- Energy generation projects in northern Oregon have secured a federal tax credit by completing construction on their wind turbines before a Dec. 31 deadline.

A 1.5-cent credit per kilowatt hour is guaranteed for projects finished by the deadline. The credit lasts for the first 10 years of the facility's existence.

In Fairbanks, just east of Wasco in Sherman County, crews rushed to complete 16 300-foot wind towers before year's end. Each of the towers can generate a maximum of 1.5 megawatts of power, a total of 25 megawatts.

A kilowatt hour is equivalent to a 100-watt lightbulb operating for 10 hours.

SeaWest Windpower, of San Diego, also completed the first phase of its 83-tower project near Condon by the federal deadline. Crews finished 41 towers, said Kelly Sutton, project engineer for the second phase.

Sutton said the remaining 42 towers should be done by May.

The maximum output for Condon's 83 towers will be 49.8 megawatts -- less than the Fairbanks project because these towers are shorter, Sutton said.

Polluted Tokyo to try wind power

TOKYO (AP) -- Tokyo plans to build windmills on its waterfront to supplement its energy supply as part of an effort to make the polluted capital more environmentally friendly, a Japanese business paper reported.

The city hopes to complete two windmills on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay by the end of fiscal 2002, which starts in April, the Nihon Keizai business daily said.

The facilities would generate enough energy to supply about 1,000 households. If the project is a success, more windmills would be planned for 2003, the newspaper said.

Tokyo has been trying some novel projects to improve its environmental record.

The city government made it obligatory for all new buildings to cover at least 20 percent of their rooftops with greenery -- part of a plan to blanket city structures with 2,900 acres of gardens over the next 15 years.

Experts say Tokyo's traffic and factory smoke are creating a "heat island effect" that largely accounts for its notoriously hot and humid summers.

Interior Department goes offline

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Because of a court ruling, the Interior Department is running the old-fashioned way: computerless.

Piles of paper have replaced e-mails, and telephoned queries have replaced clicks on Web sites.

A month after a federal judge pulled the plug on the department's Internet connections, the situation is causing headaches for the public and agency employees alike.

"I think we're all working very hard to try to deal with these problems," Interior spokesman Hugh Vickery said Friday. "We're in the 21st century now, and when your e-mail and Web get taken away, it's a real challenge."

Computer users no longer can look for information on endangered species from the Fish and Wildlife Service's Web site or get campground information for the Grand Canyon from the National Park Service's site.

At the Fish and Wildlife Service, spokesman Mitch Snow said wetlands conservation grants can't be distributed because the service cannot receive online applications. And state planners and developers can't get the service's endangered species lists or wetlands maps.

The disruption also has affected 40,000 Indians, who normally get royalty checks from the Interior Department for leases on their land but have received none since the computer blackout.

Portions of the department's communications are being restored, under strict oversight by court-appointed investigator Alan Balaran. Systems for law enforcement and Indian welfare services have been restored, and the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site can again be accessed.

But nobody knows how long it will take to install necessary security systems so the rest of the operation can be brought back online.

Protected land triples since 1970

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The amount of land in North America protected from development tripled over the past three decades, yet pollution, hunting and loss of habitat still threaten at least 235 plants and animals, a new study by the United States, Canada and Mexico says.

Since 1970, the acreage off limits to development rose from 247 million to 741 million acres -- about 15 percent of the continent's land surface.

Creation of new wilderness areas account for the increase. Those include a doubling in the size of U.S. areas in 1980 with the enactment of the Alaska National Interest Lands Act. Nineteen new "biosphere reserves" were created in Mexico in the 1990s, and Canada has tripled the area of protected sites over the past three decades, the study said.

But increased trade across borders raises the need for more collaboration to protect against threats such as the spread of nonnative species, said the study released yesterday by the Montreal-based Commission for Environmental Cooperation.

The study was required under the North American Free Trade Agreement's environmental accord and provides the first government-backed snapshot of the overall status of the continent's ecology.

The hope is that the study and future ones like it will help the NAFTA countries better track the impact of trade and other economic activity on shared issues such as migratory species and water resources.

Environmental Watch: Hot year underscores climate challenges

PORTLAND -- Citing a report indicating that 2001 will go down as the second warmest year on record, Northwest Climate Response is reiterating calls for the reduction of pollution emissions in the Northwest.

"This trend threatens our forests, salmon and mountain snowpack on which our water supplies depend," said John Young, director of Northwest Climate Response.

Paul Horton of Climate Solutions says while the Northwest is already a leader in the fight against global warming more can be done. He also notes the burgeoning clean energy industry could be an economic powerhouse for the region in the years to come.

"The Northwest is already leading a clean energy revolution. We have a chance to help save the climate and in the process build ourselves a major new industry," Horton said.

A market analysis developed by regional utilities in November estimated the value of the clean energy market at $3.5 trillion, potentially creating 32,000 jobs, over the next two decades.

Climate Solutions is a member group of Northwest Climate Response, a regional organization with over 45 member groups working to reduce global warming pollution.

Salem launching environment commission

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Salem is about to become the only city in Oregon with a commission dedicated entirely to protecting urban natural resources when its new Environmental Commission begins meeting in 2002, officials say.

Several other cities in Oregon have boards that review various environmental policies, such as the Corvallis Open Space Advisory Commission and Albany's Tree Commission.

But research by Salem city officials turned up no others in the state with a group that oversees all aspects of a city's environmental impact.

The Salem Environmental Commission, approved by the City Council, has yet to choose its nine members.

Mayor Mike Swaim, who suggested the commission, said it will give the city a way to consolidate environmental protection efforts.

"We've got scattered efforts at protecting the environment," Swaim said. "We need to get ahead of the curve."

Swaim and Peter Gutowsky, the city staffer who will oversee the commission, have a list of issues to tackle, including green building, waste management and recycling.

The commission also may investigate the city's top 25 contractors from the past year to see if any have broken environmental laws.

The effort is modeled after similar commissions in cities such as Berkeley, Calif., and Highland Park, Ill., which have impressive lists of accomplishments. Berkeley, for example, created some of the first laws against chemicals that deplete the ozone layer.

Salmon hatchery on eBay

KOTZEBUE, Alaska (AP) -- Web surfers cruising eBay, the giant online auction site, now can bid serious money on a fish hatchery on the Noatak River.

The 150-acre property, owned by Theodore Booth Sr. of Noatak and Kotzebue, is described on the Web site as highly suitable for development as a hunting and fishing lodge, an eco-tourism retreat, or for a water bottling enterprise.

Bidding starts at $2 million.

"We took it on eBay to give it exposure," said Lee Stoops, director of economic development for the Northwest Arctic Borough. "We paid $100 to put it on eBay, which was a grant to Mr. Booth. That's the extent of our assistance to him, and hopefully, it will help find a buyer, or perhaps somebody wanting to lease the property."

Booth is selling 150 acres and keeping 10 for himself.

The property was leased by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in the mid-1980s for a salmon hatchery. The state spent $10 million on improvements, ran the hatchery for a dozen years, and closed it. The property, with the improvements, then reverted to Booth. The property includes a 40,000-gallon tank farm, a modern three-bedroom home, running water and a road to the nearby spring.

Stoops says it was an expensive venture for the state. He looked over the financial records of the state investment and operating expenses, then divided all that by the number of returning fish.

"I came up with $50 per fish," Stoops told the Arctic Sounder.

During the recent commercial chum season, fish in Kotzebue were selling for around $2 each.

The eBay posting has attracted attention. "We get people who want to come and look at it," Stoops said.

The eBay item number is 1670756161.

Second Klamath power plant on fast track

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) -- State officials are expediting a proposal to build a second gas-fired power plant next to one completed earlier this year by the city and PacifiCorp Power Marketing Inc.

PacifiCorp Power Marketing wants to build a 500-megawatt power plant in Klamath Falls, near the Klamath Cogeneration Plant, a 500-megawatt plant that began operation last summer.

Earlier this month, the company asked the state Office of Energy to hurry the review of its application. The energy office and a citizen board -- the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council -- regulate large energy projects in the state.

Under the proposal, PacifiCorp Power Marketing would build, own and operate the proposed plant without the involvement of the city, said David Stewart-Smith, administrator of the Office of Energy's energy resources division.

Nearby gas pipelines and power transmission lines attracted the first power plant to the area. Stewart-Smith said PacifiCorp has a lease deal with Collins Products LLC to build the plant on industrial land where the wood products company had stored wood chips and equipment.

This is the second new power plant to be proposed in the region recently. Last month, Chicago-based Peoples Energy proposed a gas-fired generating plant near Bonanza.

PacifiCorp's proposed plant would have two gas-fired turbines and one or two turbines powered by steam generated from waste heat from the gas-fired turbines.

Stewart-Smith said that because the proposed plant site is adjacent to an existing power plant and on land already zoned for industrial use, the application qualifies for an expedited review.

A regular review takes, on average, about nine months and an expedited review takes about six months, he said. If a permit is issued, a developer has two years to start construction, although the company can seek amendments to extend that time frame.

Security system for Klamath water

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) -- A new security fence, video cameras and motion detectors are taking the place of federal police guarding the headgates of the Klamath Reclamation Project irrigation system.

The $90,000 security system was completed last week around the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation structure that became the center of protests last summer over restricting irrigation water to farms to conserve water for threatened and endangered fish, spokesman Dave Jones said Monday.

The security system went up after protesters met with authorities the day after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and said they would pull out to allow the federal government to concentrate on fighting terrorism.

The bureau spent about $750,000 guarding the headgates from July 14 through Sept. 26, when federal police left the site.

"We are hoping for a very peaceful new year," said Jones. "The snowpack building up in the Siskiyous and the area there gives us every hope this will not be another contentious year, that we have enough water to meet both the environmental obligations we have as well as our longstanding relations with the farmers who depend on that water."

Due to last winter's drought, there was not enough water to supply farmers after meeting Endangered Species Act requirements for endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, the project's primary reservoir, and threatened coho salmon in Klamath River, which drains the region.

Environmental Watch: Burning tips issued

SEATTLE -- The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has issued tips to promote low-emission fires for woodstoves and fireplaces. According to the agency, more than 60 percent of the area's burn bans occur during December and January.

Some of the tips include using manufactured logs instead firewood, burning small hot fires with the damper open to reduce smoke and replacing older stoves with an Environmental Protection Agency-certified product.

The tip sheets -- promoted in conjunction with the state Department of Ecology and the Northwest Hearth Products Association -- are available at participating hearth retailer locations and on the Web at www.airwatchnorthwest.org.

Air Watch Northwest is a public education campaign designed to increase awareness about air quality issues in the central Puget Sound region.

Winter Adopt-A-Stream events

EVERETT -- The Adopt-A-Stream Foundation has announced its schedule of winter events featuring training to become a "streamkeeper" stream steward.

Other events include "Big Birds of Skagit Valley" to be held on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center in Mount Vernon at 10 a.m. Advance registration for the $15 ($20 for non-members) program is required.

Streamkeeper training will be held Thursday, Jan. 31 at the Northwest Stream Center, 600 128th St. S.E. in Everett, from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The cost is $8 for members and $10 for non-members.

A complete list of events is available by calling (425) 316-8592 or visiting www.streamkeeper.org.

Electric SUV going on sale in Calif.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Toyota has announced that it will begin offering the electric RAV4-EV to retail customers in California beginning in February 2002. The sport utility is a zero emission, electric version of Toyota's popular RAV4 SUV.

In 1997, Toyota began making the RAV4-EV available nationally through a special fleet lease program to major corporations and utilities. Today, there are more than 900 in service nationwide, including 700 on the road in California.

Under California law, 10 percent of all new vehicles sold have to meet low emissions standards by 2003, with 2 percent qualified as zero emission vehicles.

The RAV4-EV, with seating for five plus cargo room, is powered by a maintenance-free, permanent magnet motor, producing 50 kilowatts of power (equivalent to a 67-horsepower gasoline engine).The vehicle has a top speed of 78 mph. It has a range between 80 and 100 miles per charge.

The RAV4-EV will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $42,000, but a $9,000 incentive from the California Air Resources Board and a $3,000 IRS credit will bring the price down to $30,000, which includes an in-home charging device. There will also be three special introductory lease options, which also include the use of the charger.

When RAV4-EV goes on sale in February, Toyota will have a participating dealer in every major metro market in California. Like the Prius gas/electric hybrid vehicle, customers will have the ability to order the RAV4-EV on-line and take actual delivery through a participating dealer.

NEBC chapter lunch

SEATTLE -- The Northwest Environmental Business Council will hold its Washington chapter luncheon Wednesday, Feb. 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at McCormick & Schmick's Harborside Seafood Restaurant, 1200 Westlake Ave. N.

The topic of the lunch is "Procuring Environmental Services: A Weyerhaeuser Perspective."

The cost is $25 for NEBC members and guests and $40 for non-NEBC members. Reservations can be made by calling (888) 609-NEBC or going to www.nebc.org.

Unlimited snowmobiles again in Yellowstone

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. (AP) -- There will be no limit on the number of snowmobiles allowed inside Yellowstone National Park this winter, but they will operate under tightened restrictions, the National Park Service says.

There will be a lower speed limit on the park's most popular route to Old Faithful, more grooming of roads, mandatory advance purchase of park entry passes, more park staff patrolling and volunteers to help educate visitors about low-impact snowmobiling.

"All of that is going to help make things more enjoyable," said Glenn Loomis, who runs a snowmobile rental shop in West Yellowstone. A lower speed limit won't make much difference because most snowmobile riders are sightseeing and go 25 mph anyway, Loomis said.

Environmentalists are skeptical.

"There's no certainty they're going to take care of the monumental problems snowmobiles have caused in Yellowstone," Jon Catton of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition said.

The Park Service said the intent is to reduce noise, air pollution and conflicts with wildlife and other visitors.

The plan for a gradual but total phaseout of recreational snowmobiling in the park was put on hold last winter after the Bush administration settled a lawsuit by snowmobile makers that challenged the phaseout.

Lowering the speed limit between West Yellowstone and Old Faithful, along with putting more people on the ground to educate visitors about low-impact touring, could ease conflicts with wildlife. Advance purchases of park passes in West Yellowstone is expected to reduce congestion at the west entrance, where snowmobile exhaust has caused complaints of headaches and nausea among workers.

The original phaseout plan would have begun this year by capping snowmobile numbers at last winter's level.

Daylight Swifty Creek?

SNOHOMISH (AP) -- Most of the year, it's a ballfield on the freshman campus of the local high school in this town 25 miles northeast of Seattle.

When there's a lot of rain, as has been the case this fall, it's called Freshman Lake.

"It's not in an area that our students are allowed to be in," Principal Diana Plumis said, "so it doesn't cause disciplinary problems.

"It's both a good and a bad thing. It's taking up our entire ballfield area, but it's beautiful. We even have ducks floating around out there."

The overgrown puddle, as deep as 6 feet in places, is formed by the overflow from a pipe that was installed years ago to carry Swifty Creek beneath the area and into the Snohomish River. The purpose was to create more buildable property.

The town's comprehensive plan includes restoration of Swifty Creek, removing the pipe and directing surface runoff into holding ponds for a salmon hatchery on the freshman campus. That would also put an end to Freshman Lake.

"At one time, there were salmon in the creek," said Bob Hierman, a longtime resident and member of the conservation group Friends of Blackmans Lake. "We'd like to see that again."

For now, school officials can live with Freshman Lake. Superintendent Neal Powell says there's no damage to the ballfield and the grass always grows back in the spring after the water recedes.

Ore. seafood study wins grant

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) -- A federal grant will help researchers find ways to maximize profits from coastal oyster and tuna harvests.

The $532,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will fund work at Oregon State University's Seafood Research Laboratory in Astoria and the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station in Newport.

The two centers joined with Shorebank Enterprise Pacific in Ilwaco, Wash., to apply for the grant.

The three-year project will focus on helping local seafood businesses get the most out of their harvests.

Environmental Watch: Ahern named SPU deputy director

SEATTLE -- Nancy Ahern has been named deputy director of resource management at Seattle Public Utilities.

The Resource Management Division provides planning, capital project development and community programs for drainage and wastewater, solid waste and drinking water services. The division is also responsible for managing the Cedar River watershed.

Ahern has more than 15 years of public sector experience with Seattle Public Utilities and other agencies, including a stint as manager of the Water and Land Resources Division of the King County Department of Natural Resources. She has also worked for the city of Bellevue and the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority.

31 groups apply for watershed funding

OLYMPIA -- Groups representing half of the watershed basins in Washington state have applied for funding from the Department of Ecology to make stream-flow recommendations for rivers and creeks in their watershed areas.

In the last legislative session, grants of up to $100,000 were authorized for watershed-planning groups to help set stream-flows. Ecology says that setting stream-flows is important to ensure enough water is maintained in rivers and creeks to protect fish and support other uses.

Among the watershed groups applying for funds were the Lower Skagit, Nooksack, Upper Skagit, Deschutes, Kennedy-Goldsborough, Kitsap and Nisqually.

BPA OKs record wind energy deal

PORTLAND (AP) -- PacifiCorp Power Marketing said the Bonneville Power Administration will buy 90 megawatts of wind power, the largest purchase of wind-generated electricity in BPA history.

The electricity would be enough to power 18,000 Northwest homes for the next 25 years, said Jan Johnson, a spokeswoman for PacifiCorp Power Marketing, or PPM.

The power will come from the Stateline Wind Project near Walla Walla, where 450 wind turbines generate enough power for 70,000 homes in 11 Western states. It is the largest wind farm in the world.

The turbines began producing power for PPM in July and will pump out 264 megawatts of electricity by Dec. 31, Johnson said.

BPA will have access to the power Dec. 29, but the terms of the deal were confidential, Johnson said.

BPA had previously purchased 80 megawatts of wind power from turbines in Foote Creek, Wyo., and the Condon Wind Project near Prineville, said Bill Murlin, a Bonneville spokesman.

Murlin said the Portland-based federal power marketing agency is studying up to eight wind projects for future purchases, including several in the windy Columbia River Gorge.

BPA provides power for utilities and cooperatives in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and parts of Wyoming and California.

The Stateline Wind Project sits on land along the Washington-Oregon border owned by farmers, while the turbines are owned by FPL Energy of Florida, the largest developer and operator of wind energy facilities in the nation. It is a branch of the Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group, whose largest subsidiary is Florida Power & Light Co.

Whirling disease found in Clackamas

PORTLAND (AP) -- Whirling disease has been detected in the Clackamas River drainage, the first time the parasitic disease has been discovered in the lower Columbia River since 1987.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which routinely monitors private and public hatcheries for whirling disease, discovered its spores in trout from the Clear Creek Rainbow Ranch. Clear Creek is a tributary of the Clackamas River and supplies water to the trout farm.

Bob Hooton, a fish biologist, told the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission on Friday that no one knows how whirling disease spores got into the ranch's trout, but they are suspected to have come from stray steelhead bound for the Snake River.

All public hatcheries and some private trout operations on the Clackamas are clear of the disease, he said. The department is testing for whirling disease in all 40 of Oregon's privately operated trout hatcheries.

The disease has decimated trout populations in Montana and Colorado and is common in Idaho. It is caused by a parasite that can live for years in its spore form. For reasons still unclear, but probably related to stress, the spore erupts into an adult stage that can attack cartilage and cause spinal deformities that make fish spin and whirl while swimming.

Hooton said the Clear Creek fish had only spores, not behavioral symptoms.

Salmon and steelhead from the Snake River carry the disease, but aren't affected by it, Hooton said.

Coho re-listed by appeals court

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal appeals court has nullified a federal judge's ruling that took Oregon coastal coho salmon off the threatened species list.

The two-sentence decision from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stops any logging along the salmon's habitat that was authorized under U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan's ruling in September. The circuit's decision will remain in place until it makes a final ruling, which could be months or years.

Hogan's ruling opened the door to thousands of acres to be logged in the Umpqua National Forest and the Siskiyou National Forest. Other areas that were opened to harvest included Roseburg, Coos Bay and Medford, Goldman said.

Hogan issued the delisting order in September after concluding that it made no sense for the government to declare wild coho salmon threatened under the Endangered Species Act while not granting the same status to hatchery born salmon.

Environmentalists appealed. Among other things, the Endangered Species Act demands that endangered or threatened species' habitats be protected.

After Hogan's ruling and decision against an appeal, the National Marine Fisheries Service said it would review whether 23 of the 25 groups of Pacific salmon and steelhead protected under the Endangered Species Act should keep their listings.

The fisheries service said it would also review the role hatcheries play in restoring dwindling salmon populations. 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.

The case is Alsea Valley Alliance v. Donald L. Evans, 01-36071.

Indians key players in environmental policy

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- American Indians are emerging as key players in environmental policies after watching outsiders plunder their natural resources for decades, Indian leaders said at a recent conference.

Since the 1950s, Indians have made significant progress in gaining control over their resources and lives, said keynote speaker Charles Wilkinson, a University of Colorado law professor.

Bolstered by federal court rulings that were favorable until recently and helped by congressional allies, Indians have benefited from hundreds of new laws, many related to the environment, he said.

Indian land has increased from 48 million acres in the 1950s to 65 million acres today. And while environmental agencies on Indian reservations were rare 25 years ago, Wilkinson said they now are common.

Indian leaders said a reservation's ecology usually fares best when managed by local Indians.

Joseph Kalt, co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, said when tribes sell their own timber, he said, they get 11 percent more for the logs than when it was managed by the federal government.

The conference on native nations' environmental policies is sponsored by the University of Arizona's Udall Center and the Morris K. Udall Foundation.