Environmental Watch: Lewis joins Jones & Stokes

Lewis

BELLEVUE -- Stephen G. Lewis has been named business group leader for environmental consulting firm Jones & Stokes' transportation and environmental planning practice in the Northwest.

Lewis has 24 years of experience in planning, including economic development and transportation planning. Prior to joining Jones & Stokes, he was executive vice president at Bucher, Willis & Ratliff in Seattle.

Lewis is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, the American Planning Association and the Institute of Transportation Engineers among other professional affiliations. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in urban economic geography from Kansas State University.

Jones & Stokes, based in Sacramento, also has offices in Oregon, Arizona and other California locations.

Portland OKs deal with Climate Trust

PORTLAND -- The Portland City Council has approved a contract with Climate Trust to reduce global warming by improving the energy efficiency of apartments and commercial buildings.

Climate Trust will provide almost $1 million for this project because it reduces energy use and related emissions of carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas largely responsible for global warming.

Over the next five years the Portland Office of Sustainable Development Energy and Green Building Divisions will use Climate Trust funding to work with the owners of over 12,000 apartment units and about 40 commercial buildings statewide to improve energy efficiency.

This collaboration leverages existing funds to provide technical expertise and facilitate access to financial incentives. Building tenants will benefit from reduced energy bills and increased comfort, while owners will improve property value and unit marketability.

The program is part of Portland’s Local Action Plan on Global Warming, which has a goal of reducing local emissions of greenhouse gases to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2010.

Oregon law requires power plant operators to offset their emissions through payments to Climate Trust. The payments are then used for projects which avoid, displace or sequester carbon dioxide emissions.

Ecology proposes new water storage rules

OLYMPIA -- The state Department of Ecology is seeking public comment on a proposed rule about how the agency will review underground water-storage projects.

Above-ground reservoirs have been authorized to store water for years. In 2000, the legislature expanded its definition of a reservoir to include naturally occurring underground geological formations.

Water would be injected into these formations during wet periods. During dry periods the water would be extracted.

Ecology is planning one meeting in Western Washington to discuss the proposed rule. The meeting will be held Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Lakehaven Center, 31531 First Ave. S. in Federal Way from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Public comments are being accepted through Sept. 9. For more information, go to the agency's Web site at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/wrhome.html.

KEECO's new Montana lab certified

LYNNWOOD -- Environmental remediation company KEECO has received provisional certification by the state of Montana to perform drinking water analysis for heavy metals, cyanide and mercury at its new lab in Butte.

The provisional certification period is required of all new labs in Montana. The provisional certification is for a period of one year, at which time the certification will become permanent, based on on-going compliance inspections.

KEECO says the new lab is part of its expansion plan. Previously, the company has done remediation on mine wastes, among other contaminants, using silica microencapsulation, which encloses metals in a silica matrix preventing their migration.

Panel: Columbia dredging could backfire

PORTLAND (AP) -- A panel of experts chosen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says a project to deepen the Columbia River channel could backfire on farmers and other local exporters.

The corps says the $156 million project to deepen the channel by 3 feet would create $1.46 of economic benefit for every $1 spent.

But the panel said Friday that shipping lines could pocket the savings and take advantage of the deeper channel by sending fewer ships to call on Portland.

Panelists said that in its study, the corps assumes that every vessel that travels less than fully loaded does so solely because the channel is not deep enough. The experts criticized the agency for counting benefits for "light-loaded" ships that sail at depths of 37 feet or less in the current 40-foot channel.

"We did not believe that allowing benefits for a vessel currently leaving at 36 to 37 feet is reasonable," said Daniel Smith, a consultant with the Tioga Group of Moraga, Calif.

Great Salt Lake lowest since 1980

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Great Salt Lake isn't as great as it used to be.

Lack of precipitation and a hot summer have caused the lake's level to recede sharply. It is now at 4,198 feet above sea level, the lowest since 1980.

Wallace Gwynn, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey, predicted the lake will bottom out this year about Dec. 1 at 4,197.15 feet. The last time it was that low was in 1972.

Boaters, particularly those on Antelope Island, are now concerned that if trends continue, there soon won't be enough water to launch off the harbor without significant modifications.

Because it's such a shallow lake, even minor drops expose much more land around the lake.

At 4,200 feet, the lake covers 1,700 miles. At its 1963 record low, it covered only 950 square miles, while at its 1986-87 high, it expanded to 3,300 square miles.

Low lake levels, to a point, are a boost to lake industries like brine shrimp harvesters and salt and chemical extractors. Low levels concentrate chemicals and salt while also creating ideal conditions for brine shrimp.

But if the lake keeps dropping, industries might have to deepen canals and brine shrimpers may have trouble launching.

Military base recruits 300,000 worms

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has thousands of new recruits that roll around in the dirt and love to eat.

They're not the human variety. They're soldiers of the soil -- slimy, wriggling earthworms that devour food scraps and produce waste for fertilizer.

For the past three weeks, Wright-Patterson has been using worms to compost fruit and vegetable waste from the commissary. There are currently about 300,000 worms, and base officials expect the population to grow to 500,000.

Wright-Patterson got the worm farm free from Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tenn. Arnold concluded that the base didn't generate enough waste to make it cost-effective there.

Over the past three weeks, the worms have devoured 7 tons of food scraps. Before the worms, it had cost the base $100 a ton to dispose of the scraps.

Environmental Watch: Air quality meeting set

SEATTLE -- The Puget Sound Regional Council is hosting a meeting to assess the air quality impacts of proposed transportation improvements in the Puget Sound region.

The projects will include those proposed for the 2003-2005 timeframe. At the meeting will be representatives of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. The entire draft transportation plan will be released on Sept. 12 and is expected to include about 750 projects.

The meeting will be held Aug. 20 at 9 a.m. at the Puget Sound Regional Council's offices at 1011 Western Ave., suite 500, in Seattle. More information is available at psrc.org.

Corps plans regular Snake dredging

SPOKANE (AP) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to dredge the Snake River for at least the next two decades, ensuring access to the inland ports of Clarkston and Lewiston, Idaho.

The corps' Walla Walla district office issued a final report on its long-studied proposal to keep navigation flowing from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean. The document for the first time authorizes regular maintenance dredging of reservoirs in the lower Snake River.

The plan covers how to manage regular dredging behind Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams on the Snake River, and in the McNary reservoir on the Columbia River.

The corps maintains a 14-foot deep, 250-foot wide navigation channel between Lewiston and McNary Dam, on the Columbia River near the Tri-Cities. The reservoirs constantly fill with sediment and have required periodic dredging in the past.

In preparing its plan, the corps considered numerous scenarios, including an end to dredging.

The alternative chosen was a combination of regular maintenance dredging, the raising of levees along the river and using the dredged material to create habitat for wildlife, the agency said.

The corps may raise some levees in the Lewiston-Clarkston area 3 feet because of increasing sedimentation in the river. If the plan is signed by corps officials this fall, the first dredging is to begin this winter. It will focus on the Lewiston-Clarkston area and some recreation facilities and navigation lock approaches.

Nominations for Salmon Homecoming award

SEATTLE -- Nominations are currently being accepted for the Seventh Generation Legacy Award, honoring environmental cooperation between tribal and non-tribal groups.

The award will be presented at the Salmon Homecoming Celebration, scheduled for Sept. 5 through Sept. 8 on the Seattle waterfront.

Nomination forms, award criteria and other information are available on the Salmon Homecoming Alliance Web site, http://www.salmonhomecoming.org. The deadline for nominations is Aug. 21.

Previous winners have included the Salmon Corps program, Tulalip leader Terry Williams and King County Executive Ron Sims.

Cousteau to speak at Soundkeeper luncheon

SEATTLE -- Jean-Michel Cousteau will be the speaker at this year's annual luncheon of the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance to be held in November.

Cousteau, the son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, is the founder of the Ocean Futures Society, an organization dedicated to marine conservation and education.

As part of Cousteau's visit to Seattle, the Soundkeeper Alliance plans to hold an evening event as well.

The luncheon will be held at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center on Thursday, Nov. 14. The evening event is to be held the night before at a location to be announced.

U.S. Green Building Council awards planned

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Green Building Council, best known for its sustainable building ratings system called LEED, has announced the creation of an annual awards program to honor the people who are advancing the green building cause.

The 1,800-member nonprofit organization will nominate candidates during the month of August. A panel of judges will evaluate the nominations and meet in Washington in September to determine the winners in each category. Winners will then be announced on Nov. 14 during the First Annual International Green Building Conference and Exposition in Austin,Tex.

The Annual Awards program will feature awards in three major categories: the Green Business Award will honor an individual or company that has demonstrated entrepreneurial leadership in advancing the green building market through establishing a partnership, technique, product or other form of innovation.

The Green Public Service Award will be given to an individual or organization for significant contributions in advancing green building through changes in policies, codes, requirements and other means.

The USGBC Leadership Award will be awarded to an individual who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to the organization through active participation in the development and advancement of its mission.

Beluga sturgeon listing proposed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government is proposing to list the beluga sturgeon as an endangered species, which would make it illegal to import the highly prized beluga caviar.

The beluga sturgeon, which would be protected in the United States under the Endangered Species Act, inhabits the Caspian and Black Seas, which both border Russia.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the species is in danger of vanishing because of overharvesting, illegal trafficking and loss of its natural habitat to dam construction and other projects.

In its proposal, the agency said Wednesday, "Sturgeon populations have continued to decline, and the population structure is increasingly skewed toward sub-adult fish, with a critical lack of spawning-age adult female fish."

The proposal is in response to legal action by three environmental groups -- the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Wildlife Conservation Society and SeaWeb -- which petitioned Fish and Wildlife in December 2000 to declare beluga sturgeon an endangered species.

The groups say that since the United States imports 80 percent of the world's beluga caviar, a ban on imports would improve its prospects for survival.

Turtles slow bridge project

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- Work on a bridge will be delayed because it is not allowed during turtle mating season.

County officials planned to replace the Cherry Hill Bridge in the fall, but state law prevents them from disturbing the area during mating season. They have not decided when the work will begin at the Montgomery Township site.

While it was not immediately known what species was found in the area, environmentalists say they likely are wood turtles, which are protected by the state. They say the work could stir up silt, which could kill the turtles.

Environmental Watch: Michael Blumen forms consulting business

BELLEVUE -- Michael Blumen has formed Blumen Consulting Group Inc., specializing in land use entitlement, environmental compliance and project management services.

Blumen, president of the new firm, is joined by Richard Schipanski, vice president, and Gretchen Brunner, senior associate.

Current clients include Boeing Realty, Glacier Northwest, Kemper Development Co., Cadman Inc., Quadrant Corp. and the Sumner School District.

Duwamish Superfund update Aug. 6

SEATTLE -- A review of work on the Duwamish Superfund site will be held next week.

A discussion of the nature and type of contamination found in the waterway, risks to human and animal health, and proposed sites for early cleanup action is planned.

The public meeting will be held Aug. 6 beginning with an open house at 6:30 p.m. followed by presentations at 7 p.m. It will be held at the South Park Community Center, 8319 Eighth Ave. S. For more information contact Cindy Colgate, community involvement coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at (206) 553-1815.

Wetland, stream ecology seminars offered

EVERETT -- The Adopt-A-Stream Foundation is offering two all-day seminars on the basic ecology of streams and wetlands.

Among the topics to be covered are regulations, stream buffers, scientific terminology and habitat function and relationships. The course qualifies for real estate agent and appraiser clock hours. It also can be taken for teacher clock hours.

The fee is $75 and includes the text book "Adopting a Wetland: a Northwest Guide" as well as morning refreshments. Participants are asked to bring lunch and dress for the weather.

The classes will be held on Aug. 22 and Sept. 19 beginning at 8:30 a.m. For more information or a registration form call (425) 316-8592.

Everett man wants to move water by rail

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- An insurance salesman from Everett is proposing to bring water from the Pacific Northwest to New Mexico's water-starved capital via rail.

Michael Chapman has been talking to city public utilities director Jerry Lowance about regular runs of millions of gallons of water from north of Seattle to Santa Fe.

Lowance said the idea is intriguing, but he wants details.

"We're still waiting on the railroad to see what the cost would be to transport here," he said. "It might not be anything worth trying."

Chapman said he was still working out details -- including whether the venture would be legal under Washington state law.

He said the water he would sell to Santa Fe would be purchased from the city of Everett. Tom Thetford, public works director for Everett, said he was waiting for details of the project as well.

He said Chapman has not bought a drop of water.

Everett would charge Chapman about $5,300 for 5 million gallons of water a day, Thetford said. That price, along with transportation and other costs, could make for expensive water by the time it gets to Santa Fe, he said.

GM to sell fuel cell generators by 2005

HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. (AP) -- General Motors Corp. plans to have fuel cell powered electric generators commercially available by 2005, a move that could provide it with the revenue and technology for meeting its goal of widely available fuel cell vehicles by the end of the decade.

"If we're producing hydrogen for a fuel cell that's producing power ... we have the power to produce a fueling station," Tim Vail, director of distributive generation solutions, told reporters at the GM's new fuel cell research facility Monday.

Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research, development and planning said it's possible that hundreds of thousands of hydrogen fuel cell-power vehicles could be on the road by 2010.

GM wouldn't produce the generators, but would provide the fuel cell technology through partnerships with other companies.

GM plans to announce its partnerships later this year, produce prototype units by late 2003 or 2004 and sell the technology in 2005 or 2006, Vail said.

The automaker wants to tap the lucrative "premium power" market, such as data communications companies and hospitals that are willing to pay as much as $1,000 per kilowatt hour for reliable power.

Native groups join Alaska fish study

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Native Alaskans are joining with biologists to study fish in cooperative agreements extending from Southeast Alaska to the Yukon.

The projects, which range from radio tagging to fish counting, are expected to give biologists a better understanding of Alaska salmon runs.

"Our salmon assessment on the Kuskokwim is better this year than it has ever been in the past," said Doug Molyneaux, a research biologist in the Bethel office of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Wayne Morgan of the Kuskokwim Native Association said the new kind of relationship between area residents and fishery managers is giving Alaska Natives more of a say when fisheries decision are made that affect them.

"We want to be more involved with management decisions," Morgan said. "Anything that has to do with salmon, we need to be more involved."

State biologists have conducted research on many salmon streams around Alaska for years. But that hasn't been the case in much of Western Alaska, where research dollars have been scarce because most rivers lack the commercial value of the Kenai or Copper rivers.

Big Corps projects may get outside review

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Army Corps of Engineers planners should seek an independent review for each of their large-scale engineering projects, the National Academy of Sciences said in a report.

The academy's report to Congress advised the secretary of the Army to create an administrative group that could decide whether the Army Corps planning studies should be reviewed internally or externally. It also said any planning studies involving high costs, controversy, a broad area or large environmental risk should be sent for an external review.

"The highest degree of credibility will be achieved if responsibility for external review is given to an organization that is independent of the Corps," said James Mitchell, a professor emeritus at Virginia Tech who chaired the academy committee that wrote the report.

Congress asked for the report in the wake of whistle-blowers' allegations that Army Corps officials manufactured a case for spending $1 billion to enlarge barge locks on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

The report was seen by environmental groups as confirming their belief the Army Corps has an institutional bias toward building huge dams and other projects.

Environmental Watch: Triangle hires new senior associate

Perich-Anderson

Her duties will include dispute resolution for complex environmental issues. Perich-Anderson has over 20 years of experience as a facilitator, mediator and trainer in both the public and private sector. Her recent work includes strategic planning and large group facilitation in Pacific Northwest issues involving salmon and natural resources.

Perich-Anderson was formerly the owner and principal of JPA Associates in Seattle.

Volunteer Park trees added to 'heritage' list

SEATTLE -- The collection of trees at Seattle's Volunteer Park will be recognized this weekend as "heritage trees."

A bronze plaque proclaiming the designation will be placed near the largest copper beech tree in the city. Nearby are also several large giant sequoia trees.

The Heritage Tree Program is a partnership between the city of Seattle and PlantAmnesty. Trees are selected for recognition based on age, size, health, type, historical association and horticultural value. So far, 18 trees in Seattle have been named heritage trees.

The ceremony will be held Sunday, July 28, at 12:30 p.m. on the north side of the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Galer St.

Whitman to host renewable energy festival

WALLA WALLA -- The Northwest Renewable Energy Festival 2002 will be held Sept. 20- 22 on the campus of Whitman College.

Among the featured events and activities are presentations by Amory Lovins, author of "Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution." Also, festival participants will be able to tour the Stateline Wind Energy Center. Workshops on solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal and fuel cell energy will also be held.

For more details go to www.nerefest.org or call (509) 525-8479.

Festival sponsors include Whitman College, the Bonneville Power Administration, PacifiCorp, FPL Energy and the state Department of Ecology.

Fish-friendly hydro technology tested

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- Three hydropower producers have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to advance the development of fish-friendly, more economical hydroelectric turbine systems.

AmerenUE of Eldon, Mo., will test the Retrofit Aeration System on Missouri's Lakes of the Ozarks. The system is designed to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen coming out of hydro turbines.

At the Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River, Washington's Grant County Public Utility District will test a fish-friendly Kaplan turbine. The system allows salmon smolts to pass through the turbine without injury.

Public Utility District One of Washington's Pend Oreille County will test other devices designed for two-way fish passage.

Participants selected new turbine technologies best suited for their sites. The units will be monitored over the next two to five years for fish passage safety, water quality and instream flow.

The developers will share up to 50 percent of the costs for designing, operating, maintaining and monitoring the turbines.

DOE's nuke reclassification challenged

BOISE (AP) -- Attorneys for two environmental groups urged a federal judge on Monday to reject an Energy Department plan to reclassify rather than remove highly radioactive waste in Idaho, Washington and South Carolina.

"They want to call it something else and leave it in the ground above the Snake River aquifer," Snake River Alliance Director Gary Richardson said.

He said the Energy Department plan violates federal law and urged U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill to reject it.

But the federal government said the judge should dismiss the claim on grounds that classification of radioactive material is solely within its purview. Government lawyers have repeatedly argued that the agency is following procedures used for years and in fact has made no decisions yet that would be subject to court review.

Winmill took the government's request under advisement after a two-hour hearing.

The environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, sued last March after the Energy Department announced its plans for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

At Hanford, more than 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste are stored in 177 underground tanks, some of which have leaked over the years, sending more than 1 million gallons into the soil, contaminating groundwater and threatening the Columbia River.

Suit says Oregon seafood plant pollutes

ASTORIA (AP) -- A citizen watchdog group has filed a federal lawsuit against a Warrenton fish processing plant, claiming it discharges wastewater that harms salmon and steelhead.

Pacific Coast Seafoods says it is already cleaning up the plant after reaching an agreement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The Northwest Environmental Law Center filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Portland on behalf of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group and two local residents.

The complaint alleges Pacific Coast Seafoods and an affiliate, Pacific Surimi, have violated the federal Clean Water Act with discharges into the Skipanon River that reduced levels of dissolved oxygen and suffocated fish.

OSPIRG claims the company has released wastewater from its surimi processing facility without a Clean Water Act discharge permit and has exceeded the amount of discharge from its other seafood operations allowed under a 1999 DEQ permit. It wants the court to order the company to meet water pollution standards and pay damages for past violations.

Company officials say they have made several improvements to the Warrenton plant to reduce environmental impacts, and continue to seek a long-term solution in cooperation with the DEQ to bring the plant into full compliance with state and federal regulations.

"We have a plan that has been approved by DEQ, and is supported by local, state and federal officials," company spokesman Craig Urness said.

Idaho denies water request for power plants

SPOKANE (AP) -- Two large electricity plants proposed for the Washington-Idaho border should be denied water rights for cooling, an Idaho state official has ruled.

The power plants, which would be built near Rathdrum, Idaho, by Cogentrix Energy Inc. and Newport Northwest, have sparked a water dispute between the two states.

The plants would require huge amounts of water from the Spokane-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which supplies drinking water for more than 400,000 people in the Spokane area.

"A commitment of water for the sole purpose of power generation for a period of 30 years at the expense of other future worthwhile uses is shortsighted," wrote L. Glen Saxton, hearing officer for the Idaho Department of Water Resources. "Technology is available to reduce the amount of water required for power production."

The two natural gas-fired plants, proposed during the West's recent power crunch, would have combined to pull 17 million gallons of water a day from the aquifer.

Environmental groups and some government leaders argued the withdrawal of water was too great, since nobody knows the actual capacity of the aquifer. The two states have agreed to a joint study, funded by Congress, of the amount of water in the aquifer and how fast it is recharged

Environmental Watch: New principals at Hart Crowser

SEATTLE -- Hart Crowser has promoted two members of the firm to principal.

Barry Chen is a geotechnical engineer whose projects have ranged from high-rise buildings to industrial and transportation facilities. He has worked substantially abroad, but recently he has managed projects closer to home, such as the Immunex Helix development, which will consolidate all of the Immunex staff onto a 29-acre high-tech campus at Pier 88 in Seattle. Chen is also Hart Crowser’s project manager for the new Seattle Central Library and the Geotechnical On-Call Service Agreement with Washington State Department of Transportation.

Carl Einberger’s focus includes water rights evaluations, water supply development, contaminated groundwater investigations, stormwater management, and mine site remediation. He also manages Hart Crowser’s Water Resources Division in Seattle.

Hart Crowser, with 250 employees, has offices in Anchorage, Portland, California, Colorado, New Jersey and Massachusetts. The firm is headquartered in Seattle.

Landau adds seven

EDMONDS -- Landau Associates has made a number of new hires at its Edmonds headquarters and at its offices in Portland and Spokane.

In Edmonds, Diane Brewster has joined the firm as a senior wetlands ecologist. Craig Batchelor has been hired as a senior CADD Operator/Illustrator. Paul Glenn joins as a staff hydrogeologist, Nate Joyce as a technician and Rachel Evans as marketing coordinator.

In Portland, Landau added Randi Wexler, a senior scientist and environmental management systems specialist.

In Spokane, Landau hired Seneca Peterson, a senior staff scientist specializing in environmental health and safety, indoor air quality, and lead and asbestos abatement, to its Spokane office.

Landau Associates also announced a number of promotions. They include: geologist Brian Butler, P.G., and remediation engineer Jerry Ninteman, P. E., to senior associate, and Chip Halbert, P. E., who obtained his professional engineering license in June, to senior project engineer; all are located in the firm’s Edmonds office.

Eric Weber, P.G., a hydrogeologist, and Ed Heavey, P. E., a geotechnical engineer both in the firm’s Tacoma office, were also promoted to associate. Additional staff promotions in Edmonds include Sean Cool, geotechnical engineer, to senior staff engineer and Ken Reid, geologist, to senior staff geologist.

Water policy shift draws cool reaction

KENNEWICK (AP) -- An effort by state Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons to ask Columbia River water users for cooperation has been rebuffed by irrigators.

Hours after Fitzsimmons met with a Tri-Cities economic development group last week, irrigators released a letter accusing him of spouting "pure nonsense at best, or a gross mischaracterization of reality."

Fitzsimmons told Mid-Columbia water users and power producers that economic development will be considered in seeking creative solutions to gridlock that has gripped water management efforts for the past year.

Hundreds of water rights applications are pending, but have been delayed because of fish concerns, Ecology staff and budget shortages and claims for more water than is available.

Under its Columbia River Regional Initiative, Ecology wants to develop an integrated state program that will allow access to the river's water while providing adequate protection for endangered salmon.

The initiative has been tied up in litigation, including lawsuits by the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association.

Pig hunters wanted

TACOMA (AP) -- Hunters are once again being invited, in fact almost urged, to turn their sights on wild pigs on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula.

It's open season, no license, no limit and no restriction on weapons as long as they're otherwise legal.

Unregulated hunting "might be the best way to keep their numbers low," said Jack Smith, a regional program manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"We want to get rid of them. We don't want them to become a permanent population that we have to deal with all the time," Smith said.

Most of the feral pigs, described as resembling Russian wild boars with thick, coarse dark hair and tusks on the adults, have been seen in Grays Harbor and Mason counties in the southern part of the peninsula.

Theories of their origins include boars traded by Russian explorers to area tribes for salmon in the 1800s, domestic animals that escaped from farms and boars imported from eastern Europe by a turn-of-the-century wild game farm.

Using their tusked snouts, the voracious pigs root up plants, bulbs, seeds, insects and grubs, threatening fragile landscapes, competing with native wildlife and threatening rare plant species.

State officials issued a call to arms last year and about 80 feral pigs were taken, mainly in the summer and fall.

Wildfires impact rivers

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) -- Runoff ash and other debris charred by the Missionary Ridge fire have fouled water in streams and ditches in southwestern Colorado.

Rivers in the area, at record lows for early summer, have turned black with fire runoff as scattered monsoon rains push the material into streams. The mucky water is flowing from the Pine River and Vallecito Reservoir to residential and agricultural users.

It's a double-whammy that has water-supply managers anxious. But most say they have plans to deal with the combined effects of the worst drought in history and the stream-choking debris from 70,000 acres of fire-ravaged forest surrounding three main rivers and two key reservoirs.

Federal, state and local water managers agree that another nearly snowless winter would mean disaster here. Without heavy monsoon rains, the water outlook could be bleak as early as summer's end, they say. But the rains could also be a curse.

Flash floods, rock and landslides and thick black runoff are predicted in the three river drainages charred by the fire: the Animas, Florida and Pine.

Fire-singed, drought-diminished Vallecito Reservoir has supplied millions of gallons of water to fight the Missionary Ridge blaze. It also provides drinking water to the town of Bayfield and the Southern Ute Tribe. The tribe, in turn, supplies the town of Ignacio out of its water rights -- one-sixth the water in the reservoir.

Environmental Watch: Snoqualmie flood control pricetag: $3.8M

SEATTLE -- King County Executive Ron Sims is backing a major construction project on the Snoqualmie River to reduce flooding.

The project would involve excavation of the riverbank above Snoqualmie Falls to eliminate a bottleneck that frequently floods the city of Snoqualmie. The cost of the project is estimated at $3.83 million. Of the total, King County would contribute $894,000, the city of Snoqualmie $717,000 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers $2.22 million.

The corps estimates the project would prevent an estimated $837,000 in flood damage annually. Snoqualmie has the highest claim rate of any city in the state under the National Flood Insurance Program, Mayor Fuzzy Fletcher said.

Among the flood-prone structures in the city are three public schools, eight churches, 39 commercial buildings, 25 mobile homes and 577 houses. The project would also include a downstream mitigation plan.

If all goes as planned, construction will start in 2003. For more information on the project, contact Tom Bean, River Section senior engineer at (206) 296-8377.

Decision due on Kitsap conservation area

OLYMPIA -- The Washington Department of Natural Resources will hold a hearing next week on the proposed boundaries for the Stavis Natural Resources Conservation Area on the Kitsap Peninsula near Seabeck.

The proposed area encompasses 2,800 acres of public and private land surrounding the Kitsap Forest Natural Area Preserve. Features within the area include Stavis Bay, a 130-year-old forest and West Fork Stavis Creek and associated wetlands. Stavis Creek provides spawning habitat for salmon and other anadromous fish.

Natural Resource Conservation Areas are lands designated by the state for protection because of their ecologic, geologic and cultural resources. Low-impact public use is also provided for. Private lands can only be acquired for the conservation areas at fair market value. If boundaries for the Stavis area are set as proposed, the Department of Natural Resources will apply for grants to purchase private land within the boundaries.

The boundary hearing will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, at Seabeck Elementary School, 15565 Seabeck Highway, in Seabeck.

Meeting on Puget Sound health

OLYMPIA -- The Puget Sound Council, the advisory body for the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team, will meet in Federal Way next week to discuss its next work plan for Puget Sound health.

The work will include efforts to increase water quality and prevent habitat loss and the decline of species like salmon, orcas, marine birds and rock fish.

The council -- made up of representatives from businesses, environmental groups, tribes, and state and local government -- will help develop a combination two-year work plan and budget document for consideration by the legislature in 2003.

Public comment is invited at next week's hearing, to be held Tuesday, July 16, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Dumas Bay Center, 3200 S.W. Dash Point Road in Federal Way.

9 arrested at pipeline construction site

TUMWATER (AP) -- Nine environmental activists were arrested Monday while protesting construction of a natural gas pipeline in Tumwater.

Three of the protesters had chained themselves to a large hydraulic drilling machine that Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams Cos. plans to use to tunnel under the Black River, Thurston County sheriff's Capt. Dave Pearsall said.

Those three protesters were arrested for investigation of second-degree trespassing and obstructing justice. Six others who were not chained to equipment were arrested only for trespassing.

"There was no violence at all," Pearsall said. "They were cooperative when taken into custody."

About 40 protesters, most of them members of the loosely knit Cascadia Defense Network, assembled near the equipment early Monday before pipeline workers arrived, according to Matt Power, an activist from New York who came to support locals who oppose the pipeline project.

Area homeowners, farmers and environmentalists have opposed the 49-mile pipeline, saying they're concerned it might damage the Black River, its salmon and other species.

The property owner, a local gravel mining operator, called police soon after the protesters arrived.

Construction of the $82 million pipeline began in late June after Williams obtained the necessary permits.

The pipeline between Rainier and Satsop is scheduled to be completed in September. It will deliver natural gas to a 650-megawatt power plant being built by Duke Energy.

Tough luck for tribal chinook fishing

PORTLAND (AP) -- Tribal fishermen on the Columbia River were reeling in customers over the weekend -- but the fish were harder to come by.

Last week marked the first time in 37 years regulators allowed the tribes to sell summer chinook to the public, because of the strong salmon runs on the river this year.

But tribal fishermen must net or hook the fish from shore, and are prohibited from using the tangle nets preferred by commercial fishermen lower down the river in Astoria.

Not many fish were biting.

Molly and Brian Renauer drove to Cascade Locks on Saturday morning expecting to buy themselves a fresh summer chinook salmon.

But on Saturday morning, Wilson LaRoque, 49, a lifelong fisherman from the Yakama tribe, didn't have any chinook to sell from his impromptu fish stand under The Bridge of the Gods.

At the nearby Marine Park, Nathan Dick, 44, a fisherman from the Umatilla tribe, had yet to net a chinook.

The Renauers headed home to Portland with sockeye, a red salmon.

The big chinook are tough to catch from shore, tribal fishermen said.

"They run deep," said Sutterlict, as he filleted a steelhead for Steve Orgel and Shirley Jenne, a couple who had come from Portland hoping to buy chinook. "We're not able to get them off the platforms."

BC Hydro likely to spill water from reservoirs

FORT ST. JOHN, British Columbia (AP) -- Sell it or spill it. Those are the choices British Columbia Hydro is facing at two large hydroelectric generating complexes.

Water levels have nearly reached the top of reservoirs at the W.A.C. Bennett and Peace Canyon dams, forcing the provincial utility to either increase electricity production or open the spillways to release water.

Wholesale electricity rates and demand are not high enough to justify increased power production, spokesman David Conway said Wednesday.

"It looks like we will have to spill," Conway said.

"If you produce it you have to use it," he said. "You can't store it."

The spillway was last opened in 1996 as an emergency measure when a sinkhole was found in the dam.

Environmental Watch: Kleinfelder adds Haugen

BELLEVUE -- Marlea Haugen has joined the Bellevue office of Kleinfelder Inc. as a senior geotechnical and materials engineer.

Haugen, a registered Washington professional engineer, has experience in soil stabilization, emergency management and operations, and agency management. She formerly worked for the state of Washington in emergency management and state parks maintenance.

She served as the geotechnical expert for the Washington State Emergency Management Division, responsible for response to major landslides in Kelso and Grand Coulee. Her projects for Kleinfelder include stabilization of construction sites, disaster planning and technical direction for Kleinfelder's Bellevue laboratory.

Kleinfelder, based in Sacramento, is a $140 million geotechnical and environmental engineering company active throughout the western U.S.

Two hires at Anchor

SEATTLE -- Anchor Environmental has hired Michael Whalen and Sheri Salvador to boost the firm's geotechnical and marketing staff.

Whalen, a geotechnical engineer, has seven years of experience in managing waterfront projects. For Anchor his duties will include engineering and construction oversight for sediment remediation, waterway and coastal projects.

Salvador joins Anchor as a project assistant responsible for document production and marketing efforts.

Both Whalen and Salvador will work in Anchor's Seattle office. The firm also has offices in Portland, Oakland and Irvine in California, and College Station, Texas.

Ecology opens Walla Walla office

WALLA WALLA -- The state Department of Ecology now has opened a field office in Walla Walla to deal with water rights and water acquisition.

Located at 1815 Portland Ave., the office is open most weekdays. Because staff often works in the field, however, the agency advises calling ahead to make sure someone will be available .

The Department of Ecology says it opened the office to save money and travel time and to give area residents better access to those who manage water issues in southeast Washington.

Corps says 'McKenzisippi' returning to normal

EUGENE (AP) -- A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project on the McKenzie River this spring muddied the river but did not lead to unsafe levels of contaminants in the water, according to an agency report.

A corps survey of water and sediment samples taken June 4 and 5 from around Cougar Lake did show traces of the pesticide DDT, but experts said it has likely been in the sediment for some time.

The corps began lowering the Cougar Reservoir on April 1 to prepare for a $41 million (in 1998 dollars), three-year project to build a water-temperature control tower at the Cougar Dam. Wildish Construction of Eugene is performing the work.

The drawdown resulted in turbid conditions in the river below the dam. The water was so muddied -- turning chocolate brown for a time -- that fishermen and boaters began referring to it as the "McKenzisippi."

The drawdown stopped in late May and the corps suspect that the higher-than-normal DDT levels were caused by erosion resulting from the drawdown. The erosion likely brought decades-old sediment to the surface of the reservoir's lake bed, said Heidi Helwig, corps spokeswoman.

DDT was once commonly used on crops, in forests and for mosquito control. It was banned in 1972. The DDT in the McKenzie River samples ranged from 5.32 parts per billion to 32.63 parts per billion. Those levels are far below the dangerous level of 2,000 parts per billion, according to the corps.

Feds may de-list white-tailed deer

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing the removal of the Columbia white-tailed deer from its list of endangered species.

The deer, feared extinct at the turn of the century, once lived in abundance in Western Oregon but largely disappeared after settlers turned wildlands into farmland.

In Douglas County the local numbers are up from a recorded low of about 300 animals in the 1940s to more than 5,000 today.

Douglas County residents will have a chance to comment on the proposal at a hearing on July 30.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the deer became one of 78 original species listed for protection in 1967 with two key populations identified along the Columbia River and along the North Umpqua River in Douglas County.

Plan proposed for Idaho reservoir spill

OROFINO, Idaho (AP) -- Deep winter snowpack has breathed new life into the proposal of the state and Nez Perce Tribe to keep Dworshak Reservoir full longer than normal this summer.

Snowpack in the region is still 129 percent of normal, the reservoir is full and the melt is providing an inflow equal to the outflow of 17,000 cubic feet per second through the dam.

In the past, the federal government has begun drawing down the north Idaho reservoir in late June to help flush juvenile salmon to the ocean, dropping the water level 80 feet by midsummer.

The state Fish and Game Department along with the Nez Perce Tribe and the Columbia Basin Inter-tribal Fish Commission have unsuccessfully lobbied to spread the drawdown out over a longer period so some of the water could benefit returning adult steelhead and fall chinook as well.

But the heavy snowpack this year may finally get them heard.

Rudd Turner of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Reservoir Control Center said the situation this year is giving water managers more flexibility. The team that maps out the reservoir's management strategy will take up the state-tribal plan on Wednesday.

The one drawback on the full reservoir and high inflows has been the releases that keep the North Fork below the dam running high at a time when anglers are trying to catch adult spring chinook.

Toyota to lease fuel cell hybrid SUVs

DETROIT (AP) -- Toyota Motor Sales USA will lease about 20 fuel cell hybrid sport utility vehicles at the end of the year in the United States and Japan, the automaker announced.

The vehicles will be offered to selected companies and research facilities that have access to a hydrogen supply and service facilities.

The announcement indicates increased competition in the area of fuel cell vehicles, said David Friedman, senior analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Berkeley, Calif.

Fuel cell hybrid vehicles operate using electricity created by a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen and a secondary battery. A pure fuel cell vehicle does not use the secondary battery.

The vehicle will be based on the Highlander in the United States and the Kluger-V in Japan. The cost of the vehicles was not immediately available

Environmental Watch: Construction group holds enviro update

SEATTLE -- "Update on Hot Environmental Issues" is the topic of the next Northwest Consumer Construction Council meeting June 26 at the SeaTac Marriott, with presentations on toxic molds, brownfields, Terminal 18 and, later this fall, a site tour of a new power generation project being built near Chehalis.

Speakers will be Larry Lee of Argus Pacific and Jany Jacobs of Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker on toxic molds. Jany will also give an update on the Endangered Species Act. Kathleen Goodman of URS Corp. in Seattle will speak about brownfields, and Hans Ewoldsen and Bob Gilmore of AMEC Earth & Environmental in Bellevue will present a case study on Terminal 18 about "regulator versus needs' driven compliance programs."

The site tour will be held Sept. 12. The Chehalis Generation Facility is a 520 MW natural-gas-fired combined cycle facility on a 30-acre site south of Chehalis. Tractebel, a global energy and services business, is the owner and is building it along with TIC-The Industrial Co., Tualatin, Ore., and Parsons Engineering of Houston in a joint venture.

For information contact Anne Kirske, executive director of NWCCC at (360) 438-0542 or check the NWCCC Web site at http://www.nwccc.org/home.htm.

July 9 meeting on Centralia-Chehalis levies

SEATTLE -- The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing a draft environmental impact statement for building a setback levy system to reduce flood damages in the Centralia and Chehalis area.

The Army Corps of Engineers is planning a community meeting July 9 to familiarize the public with the plan before the draft EIS is released July 22. The official public meeting is set for August.

The solution involves setback levies as the primary answer to protecting the communities from a 100-year flood. The event will include an overview with discussion of environmental impacts, water issues, cost estimate and areas of concern. Engineering experts will be available to answer questions.

The meeting will be held in the Lewis County Courthouse, 351 N.W. Noah St., Chehalis, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Schools prepare for new pesticide law

SEATTLE -- School districts are preparing this summer to comply with a new law on pesticides that was passed in 2001. The Children's Pesticide Right to Know Act will require districts to provide annual notices describing pest-control policies and methods, post notices when pesticides are used and notify parents, guardians and staff before application.

A number of districts around the state have already adopted policies that notify parents and reduce pesticide use. Vancouver School District passed a policy in March giving parents 48-hour notice before pesticides are used, reduces use in general and ends the use of the most hazardous pesticides. Oak Harbor, Sedro-Woolley, Mercer Island and Chewelah districts have also passed policies since the bill passed.

Concrete producers cut greenhouse gases

PORTLAND -- Three Portland mixed concrete producers have been recognized for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2001: Glacier Northwest, which cut more than 43,000 tons; Knife River Corp., which cut more than 21,000 tons and Ross Island Sand & Gravel, which cut more than 11,000 tons.

The companies did this by using fly ash in concrete products. Fly ash is produced when coal is burned in power plants and can be used to replace a portion of the cement used in concrete. By displacing cement, fly ask reduces the need for cement production, resulting in reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

"More than a ton of carbon dioxide is emitted for each ton of cement that is produced," said Clint Kurtz of ISG Resources, a marketer of fly ash. ISG gave awards to the three firms and plans to make this an annual event.

Illinois farms try E diesel in tractors

URBANA, Ill. (AP) -- Mixing the corn in his fields with the diesel powering his tractors has worked so far for farmer Paul Keiser. Now experts are trying to prove it can work for others, too.

University of Illinois researchers are studying an experimental fuel that combines ethanol -- produced from corn -- with diesel. They hope testing of the so-called E diesel at two Illinois farms and in the lab will show the blend is durable, cost-effective and better for the environment than normal diesel.

The long-term goal is to get the product on the market and expand demand for corn-based ethanol, creating more income for farmers.

Environmentalists prefer phasing out the use of diesel engines altogether in favor of engines that use cleaner energy sources such as natural gas.

3.3M tons of Hanford soil going to landfill

RICHLAND (AP) -- About 3.3 million tons of contaminated soil and debris has been removed from around nine old plutonium-production reactors at the Hanford nuclear reservation.

The soil comes from where contaminated water was dumped into the ground after it was used to cool the reactors. That water left behind radioactive and nonradioactive chemicals in the soil.

The amount removed represents about 40 percent of the 7.8 million tons of contaminated soil and debris being moved from the Columbia River shoreline to a huge landfill in the center of the 560-square-mile reservation, the state Department of Ecology said.

"There's an enormous amount of work left to do at Hanford, but occasionally we need to recognize accomplishments along the way," Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons said last week in a news release.

"Cleaning up the contamination left by the cooling waters has been some of the least complicated cleanup work, but it's still great to see it done safely and quickly," he said.

John Price, the Washington Department of Ecology's Hanford environmental restoration project manager, said the river shore cleanup efforts next will concentrate on 45 large burial sites around the reactors. They contain radioactive hardware and other contaminated trash.

The U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state recently negotiated deadlines to finish removing radioactive soil and other buried contamination from the reactor areas by 2012.

Oregon DEQ targets mines for cleanup

BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Since miners pulled the last flask of mercury in 1958 from the Horse Heaven Mine in Jefferson County, the site has seen several owners but little environmental cleanup.

Today the mine is a priority for cleanup by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. And it's not alone.

Piles of mine rubble known as tailings are testimony to the once-active mining that took place as mercury from the mine was sent to separate gold dust from powdered quartz in the state's gold mines that flourished in the 1800s. It was later used in industry.

Unless owners or "responsible parties" can be found, the state bears the burden of cleanup, which could reach into the tens of millions of dollars.

Nonetheless, the state has begun analysis on mine sites throughout Oregon hoping to create a priority list for cleaning them up.

Environmental Watch: Presentation on solar power June 26

SEATTLE -- The Central Puget Sound Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is hosting a presentation on photovoltaic solar power systems Wednesday, June 26, in the basement of the brick building, located behind the Phinney Neighborhood Center at 6532 Phinney Ave. N.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. It is free to EcoBuilding Guild members; $5 donation requested from non-members.

Presentations include Tom Allsopp, a Seattle homeowner who put a 1.5kw PV system on his roof. The house was featured in the 2001 National Tour of Solar Homes. Mike Nelson, director, Western S.U.N. (Solar Utility Network), will discuss how solar is being promoted throughout the state.

Also, Jeremy Smithson, co-owner of Puget Sound Solar, will discuss the nuts and bolts of installing panels. For more information visit the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild's Web site at http://www.ecobuilding.org/ or call Chris Herman at (206) 525-3969.

Shell kicks in for diesel reduction

ANACORTES -- A joint effort by Skagit Transit, the Northwest Air Pollution Authority and Shell Puget Sound Refinery will help reduce diesel emissions in Skagit County.

Skagit Transit, the local transit agency for the county, is converting its 18 buses to ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel operation. The conversion is expected to be completed by early fall, years ahead of federal mandates for low-sulfur fuel usage.

The project, aimed at removing up to 90 percent of hydrocarbons and particulate matter from diesel emissions, was funded by a $250,000 grant from Shell Puget Sound Refinery.

Those funds were used to cover the costs of installing soot filters and a fuel storage system. Soot filters in conjunction with cleaner fuel remove approximately 90 percent of the hydrocarbons and particulate matter from diesel exhaust, Shell officials said.

Wild steelhead return to Palouse streams

CLARKSTON (AP) -- Wild steelhead are spawning in tributaries to the Snake River in Whitman, Asotin and Garfield counties.

Biologists and technicians for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently completed the second year of a project to determine the extent steelhead are using small tributaries of the Snake River for spawning.

The department has long heard from landowners that steelhead use the streams, but had never documented spawning in many of them.

Doing so will help landowners and conservation districts secure money for habitat improvement projects and identify measures, such as replacing impassable culverts, that can improve spawning conditions for the threatened fish.

The number of fish counted was down this year compared to last year but that may be because higher stream flows made it tougher to detect the redds: gravel areas where eggs are laid.

The majority of fish surveyed by the department had not been marked by having their adipose fins removed, indicating they are likely wild steelhead.

But genetic analysis has not been done to determine if the fish are indeed wild.

Kalama, DOE agree on sewer upgrade

KALAMA (Cowlitz County) -- A cooperative agreement signed by the city of Kalama and the state Department of Ecology limiting new sewer hookups will increase the city's chances of competing for state funding to upgrade its sewer plant, according to the agency.

Because of ground water and faulty infrastructure, the Kalama treatment plant has been operating at its maximum capacity, with a growing number of permit violations even though only 2,000 residents discharge into it

The plant was originally designed for 3,300 hook-ups. Ecology says the discharge violations threaten the water quality of the Columbia River.

Ecology says the agreement provides a schedule for the city to complete planning, design and construction for the new plant, while allowing Kalama to grow.

Oregon students start Eugene Biosource

EUGENE (AP) -- Two University of Oregon students have established a nonprofit business promoting and educating the public about biodiesel, fuel derived from used cooking oil.

The nonprofit agency started when Ian Hill and Thomas Endicott gave up on their plans to market biodiesel they made from recycled restaurant grease.

The fuel worked perfectly -- Hill used it to run his diesel van -- but they couldn't turn a profit making 40-gallon batches in the garage. The smallest production volume that would be economically viable is about 3 million gallons a year, Hill said.

Rather than creating biofuel, they decided to promote its use.

Hill, a 28-year-old environmental science major at Oregon, and Endicott, a 30-year-old with a master's degree in public policy and planning, were joined by Endicott's brother, Josh, who has degrees in English and Spanish from Amherst College.

The trio will soon incorporate their new company, Eugene Biosource, as a nonprofit agency that acts as an information and education center for biodiesel and other sustainable fuels.

But they also expect to create a for-profit entity as well, one that brokers biofuel deals and helps market the product.

Despite the higher cost of biodiesel, they believe people will buy it.

"It parallels organic foods," Thomas Endicott said. "People will pay more for fuel that's cleaner."

Rathdrum Prairie gets open space plan

COEUR D'ALENE (AP) -- As homes creep across the Rathdrum Prairie into areas once reserved for farmland, Kootenai County leaders are mulling whether local residents will pay to protect open spaces.

Increasingly, cities and counties across the West are raising taxes to buy surrounding lands with cultural, recreational and aesthetic value.

Last year, Boise voters approved a $10 million levy to buy land in the foothills. In Missoula, citizens approved a $5 million bond in 1995 to purchase 1,500 acres. Since 1993, a Spokane County property tax has raised more than $6 million to buy wildlife habitat throughout the county.

Development pressure has increased on the prairie, as the surrounding towns of Post Falls and Rathdrum more than doubled in population in the last decade.

"It's a great approach if you have the ability to raise some money to do it," county planner Rand Wichman, who is spearheading a comprehensive plan for growth on the prairie, said.

But, Wichman said, "This area is pretty well known for not wanting to pay higher taxes."

Sharen Hauri, an open space consultant hired to produce a plan for the Rathdrum Prairie, said purchasing land is the most expensive option, best used in concert with other alternatives, such as tax breaks for farmers, purchasing conservation easements, and restrictions on development.

Environmental Watch: Herrera Environmental adds four

SEATTLE -- Herrera Environmental Consultants has added four new hires to boost its restoration, geomorphology and permitting services practice.

Tim Abbe, a geomorphology expert and professional geologist, joins the Seattle office as director of river restoration and geomorphology.

Maeve McBride joins the Seattle office as an environmental engineer and geomorphologist, specializing in urban creek hydrology. Tom Parker joins the Missoula, Mont., office, specializing in upland and riparian restoration projects.

Astrid Dragoy also joins the Seattle office, specializing in environmental science and permitting.

Enviro search firm opens local office

KIRKLAND -- Executive search firm Wolf Environmental Group has opened an office in Kirkland.

Wolf, headed by Judy Stockton, specializes in the recruitment of middle and senior level environmental, water and natural resources professionals in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in Portland in 1991, Stockton says she chose the name Wolf because the animal represents "intelligence, integrity, natural beauty and part of the wild most of us are striving to protect."

New firm formed in Portland

PORTLAND -- A new environmental firm with extensive experience in the Northwest has opened its doors in Portland.

Natural Resource Planning Services, Inc., headed by Nancy Olmsted, provides wetlands delineation/restoration, fish and wildlife studies, Endangered Species Act and NEPA/SEPA compliance, natural resource/land use planning and economics, and client support.

Olmsted, a plant biologist, was most recently with the White Co. in Vancouver. She also spent time in the Portland office of Shapiro and Associates.

Bill Jones, a firm principal specializing in land use planning, formerly was general manager at the Portland office of Shapiro. Two other members of the firm, Rob Dillinger and Lee Burleson, also were previously with the Portland Shapiro office.

Ousted Idaho regulator gets regional job

BOISE (AP) -- Ousted Idaho Fish and Game Director Rod Sando has been hired as the new director of the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority.

Sando, who replaces Brian Allee, had previously served as chairman of the Portland-based authority while he headed the Idaho department.

Over his career, acting authority Director Jann Eckman said, Sando "has proven the value of enhanced citizen access to agency decisions and began a strong program of community based management."

Sando begins work on June 17 at the agency comprised of representatives from Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 13 Indian tribes. It is the manager of fish and wildlife resources in the Columbia River Basin.

After running the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for eight years prior to the election of Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura as governor, Sando was hired to run the Idaho Fish and Game Department in early 2000 after the Fish and Game Commission fired former Director Steve Mealey, who had clashed with the agency staff although had built a relationship with lawmakers.

But Sando, whose philosophy ran more toward conservation than multiple use, wound up clashing with lawmakers, landowners and others outside the department and was ousted. Some legislative leaders said it was at the direction of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne.

Officially, Sando said he resigned because of philosophical differences with the commission.

The Fish and Game Commission finally settled on department veteran Steve Huffaker as Sando's replacement.

Clean Harbors' Safety-Kleen bid OKd

BRAINTREE, Mass. (Dow Jones/AP) -- Clean Harbors Inc. says that its bid for Safety-Kleen Corp.'s chemical-services division has been designated as the only "qualified bid" received by the bankrupt South Carolina company during a recent court-sanctioned bidding process.

Clean Harbors, a provider of environmental services, is based in Braintree, Mass. It has been competing for the Safety-Kleen assets with Onyx Environmental Services, a unit of France's Vivendi Environment SA.

Safety-Kleen, based in Columbia, S.C., is one of the nation's largest environmental-services companies.

Clean Harbors also said that it has been notified that Safety-Kleen won't conduct an auction of the chemical-services assets, but will present the Clean Harbors bid to the Delaware bankruptcy court for approval at a June 13 hearing.

On Feb. 25, Clean Harbors agreed to acquire the chemical-services division for $46.3 million in cash and the assumption of environmental liabilities of about $265 million.

On May 15, Onyx North America Corp., filed an objection to the sale process with the bankruptcy court.

Whitman: EPA making progress with tribes

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) -- The head of the Environmental Protection Agency told tribal leaders that she's proud of her agency's progress in tackling pollution on Indian lands but acknowledged the EPA needs to do more.

At a conference, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman also presented leaders of the Swinomish Tribal Community, located near La Conner with a $1.2 million research grant to study exposure to contaminants from eating shellfish. She said it is the biggest EPA research grant ever given to a tribe.

Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby noted that harvesting shellfish is inextricably linked to Swinomish tribal culture. He said many tribal members consume shellfish in amounts 20 times greater than the average American.

Whitman said that despite possible cutbacks in funding for many federal agencies, "we were able to protect EPA's resources designated for tribal programs" in President Bush's budget request for fiscal year 2003.

Tribal leaders agreed the EPA's work on Indian land is improving but that much more should be done.

"Given that the tribes are still 30 years behind the states, there is a lot more EPA has to do," said Derrith Watchman-Moore, the environmental director for the Navajo Nation. She estimates water and wastewater needs on tribal lands nationally at $400 million

Environmental Watch: AWB enviro conference this week

SEATTLE -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator John Iani will deliver the keynote address at the Association of Washington Business' annual environmental conference beginning Thursday, June 6, at the WestCoast Grand Hotel in downtown Seattle.

The two-day conference will feature a range of seminars,including the Endangered Species Act, wastewater discharge permits, viewsheds in the Columbia River gorge and transportation megaprojects.

The theme of this year's conference is competitiveness. Recently the state's environmental regulatory framework has been roundly criticized for harming the state's business climate.

For the first time in the conference's 11-year history it is being presented in conjunction with the Northwest Environmental Business Council. There will also be a tradeshow, with exhibits from about 30 companies. Sponsors include Preston Gates & Ellis. Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Kane Environmental, Landau Associates and URS Corp.

Lincoln Reservoir park out for bid

SEATTLE -- Seattle Parks and Recreation is soliciting bids for a park to go along with covering Lincoln Reservoir on Capitol Hill.

Construction, estimated to cost $790,000, is scheduled for summer and fall.

The project includes a 2,200-square-foot public plaza framed by a 1,000-square-foot activity building and a 700-square-foot comfort station. The project also includes a 300-square-foot maintenance storage building, and site improvements including paths, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping.

Tom Roth of Roth and Associates, architects, and The Berger Partnership, landscape architects, designed the project.

Funding comes from a number of sources including the Pro Parks Levy approved by Seattle voters in 2000, a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant, the Parks Cumulative Reserve Fund, Seattle Central Community College and Seattle Public Utilities.

Bid documents are available from Seattle Parks and Recreation, Third Floor, 800 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle. For more information about the project or the bidding process, contact project manager Don Bullard, at (206) 684-7158.

Oregon suit says clearcuts harm coho

PORTLAND (AP) -- Five conservation groups are seeking an injunction to stop the Oregon Department of Forestry from allowing clearcutting on steep slopes above streams bearing threatened coho salmon.

The action came as an addition to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last February to stop logging on high-risk industrial forest lands regulated by the state.

The lawsuit alleges that the Oregon Forest Practices Act, which regulates logging on state and private lands, violates the Endangered Species Act by not adequately protecting coho, which are a threatened species.

If granted, the injunction could stop 5 percent to 15 percent of the industrial logging in the state, the groups said.

"There is an uncontested body of evidence that clearcutting on landslide-prone slopes is a serious problem for coho salmon," said Mary Scurlock of the Pacific Rivers Council, one of the groups that brought the lawsuit.

"Unfortunately, this lawsuit was the only way to get the Department of Forestry's attention on this matter," she said.

After a landslide originating from a steep clearcut authorized by the Department of Forestry killed four people outside Roseburg in 1996, the state stopped allowing clearcutting on that posed high risks to homes and roads.

The Department of Forestry does not have the same authority to protect salmon, and landslides may actually benefit salmon in the long run by putting logs and gravel in streams, said Ted Lorensen, an assistant state forester.

"It's easy to say, `Stop landslides because they're bad,' but we know that's not always the case," Lorensen said.

Salmon Homecomning event wins award

SEATTLE -- The Salmon Homecoming Alliance, sponsors of the annual festival on the Seattle waterfront, was honored as the recipient of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s Spirit of the Salmon Education Award at the Salmon Feast Gala last week in Portland.

Salmon Homecoming, a project started by the Seattle Aquarium, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and the tribal communities of the Pacific Northwest, has become a popular event on the Seattle waterfront celebrating the annual return of salmon, tribal traditions and watershed health, while collaborating with numerous entities to educate the public on salmon and restoration efforts.

The Tenth Annual Salmon Homecoming Celebration will take place Sept. 5-8. The event begins with a forum on fisheries and watershed conservation along with an opening ceremony and awards dinner

Protest against Goose Lake timber sale

VANCOUVER (AP) -- An environmental group is opposing a timber sale by the U.S. Forest Service that it says will harm the environment.

The Vancouver-based Gifford Pinchot Task Force also contends the sale will ruin views from a popular recreational area around Goose Lake.

"It's an amazing area," said Susan Jane Brown, executive director of the group.

Brown's organization is leading a publicity campaign against the sale because of its value as a "connectivity corridor" for wildlife moving between forested areas.

But Forest Service officials say they have no intention of withdrawing the sale, 12 miles southwest of the Klickitat County town of Trout Lake.

They say the Goose Egg sale complies with environmental laws and is part of the 20 percent of forest land designated for logging under the Northwest Forest Plan.

Mount Adams District Ranger Greg Cox acknowledged the logged area will be visible, but he said it won't be different than other views in the area. "It's not a wilderness," he said.

The task force has distributed postcards addressed to Cox, Gifford Pinchot National Forest Supervisor Claire Lavendel and LB&R Logging Co. President Robert Hornbeck urging them to negotiate a cash buyout.

The company, based in Skagit County, acquired the timber after the Forest Service withdrew a timber sale LB&R purchased a decade ago on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest