Environmental Watch: RCI Environmental begins cleanup along waterway

TUKWILA -- The sight of a large crane and workers dressed in special clothing marks the start of what the Environmental Protection Agency says is preliminary cleanup work at the former Rhone-Poulenc site.

"This project represents a significant step toward final cleanup of the site," says Pete Wold, president of RCI Environmental, which is doing the approximately $3.5 million project on the east side of the Duwamish Waterway in Tukwila. He added most of the work should be done by the end of March.

The former Rhone-Poulenc site is being cleaned up because toxic wastes from the site are moving with the groundwater into the waterway. Contaminants include toluene and metals, mostly copper. The chemicals threaten chinook salmon and bull trout, which are endangered species.

RCI Environmental is building a subsurface grout wall, about 70 feet deep, around the contaminated groundwater. And it is installing a system to pump the contaminated water out of the ground and treat it to remove the contamination.

From the 1930s through 1986, several companies manufactured chemical products, including glues, resins and hardeners, at the site just north of Slip No. 6. Beginning in 1952, Monsanto and later Rhone-Poulenc made vanillin on the site. Vanillin is used to flavor food and make pharmaceutical products.

The current owner of the site, Container Properties LLC, hired RCI Environmental for the project. Container Properties bought the site from Rhone-Poulenc, which has been acquired by Rhodia Inc., a publicly traded specialty chemicals company that merged about five years ago with Rhone-Poulenc’s Chemicals and Fibers & Polymers operations.

About six miles of the Lower Duwamish Waterway is being studied under EPA's Superfund program. The former Rhone-Poulenc site is on about 750 feet of shoreline within the Superfund study area. The cleanup at the facility is under EPA's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act program.

Contractors say feds complicate wetlands issue

ROSSLYN, Va. -- The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' joint guidance to their field staffs on isolated wetlands will further complicate interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling, a trade group of builders says.

Last year, the court ruled the corps could not regulate isolated wetlands that are non-navigable. The ruling affords more flexibility in determining what is considered a wetland and consequently what areas can or cannot be developed.

Earlier this month, the corps and EPA issued guidance, stating that in light of the ruling, field staff members should not assert jurisdiction over "isolated waters that are both intrastate and non-navigable." Instead, the agencies' headquarters will review each wetland on a case-by-case basis to determine who should regulate the area under the Clean Water Act.

The Associated Builders and Contractors believes that because this policy does not clearly spell out who should be the regulating authority on isolated wetlands, the federal regulation of areas designated under the jurisdiction of the states by the U.S. Supreme Court will continue.

"The Supreme Court was very clear that intrastate, non-navigable waters are not under the jurisdiction of the federal government," said ABC President and CEO Kirk Pickerel. "While the EPA and corps claim that this guidance clarifies how to interpret the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which ABC supported, this directive merely confuses the issue.

BC proposal would increase access to timber

VICTORIA, B.C. -- A new forest policy proposed by the provincial government will provide greater land-base certainty for forestry and help build a stronger economy, Sustainable Resource Management Minister Stan Hagen has announced.

"Revitalizing our No. 1 industry starts with creating certainty on the land base, increasing access to timber and ensuring jobs in rural B.C.," Hagen said.

Under the proposal, 45 million hectares of crown land, or 48 percent of the province, will be given a new legal working forest designation. Parks, protected areas and private land will not be part of the working forest, nor will the designation limit treaty negotiations with native tribes.

Public comment will be taken until March 14, and the government says the legal steps for the designation will take place this year.

State agencies agree on owl habitat in SW Washington

OLYMPIA -- The Washington Departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife last week reached an agreement on spotted owl habitat on state trust lands in southwest Washington.

Officials say the agreement means the agencies can build more viable habitat and let other major landowners participate in the effort. Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland added the agreement will allow some harvests while protecting healthy ecosystems.

The agreement recognizes the need to involve other landowners in management of the lands. Fish and Wildlife will lead discussion with these parties, while DNR will provide information, as well as computer modeling of alternative forest regimes through its sustainable harvest modeling process.

DNR will phase out the old system of protection known as "owl circles" after 2007, and defer harvest until 2006 in the best available habitat areas. Also, DNR will use thinnings to help develop habitat in areas identified as good quality habitat, and will include owl habitat alternatives when considering sustainable harvest calculations.

There are no other restrictions on harvest in areas where DNR has little or no land within the old identified owl circles.

DNR manages about 3 million acres of state-owned trust forest, agricultural, range lands and commercial properties that earn income to build schools and other state institutions plus help fund local services in many counties.

Time running out for 'e' exhibitors

SEATTLE -- Companies can save $300 by applying for booth space by Feb. 15 at the Environmental Conference of Washington.

The trade show, which showcases advanced environmental technologies and services, often sells out.

This year's conference is June 11 and 12 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle.

For booth space, telephone the Northwest Environmental Business Council at (503) 227-6361 or see http://www.nebc.org.

To register to attend the conference, call the Association of Washington Business at (800) 521-9325 or see http://www.ecwashington.org.

Upcoming events for the environmental community

SEATTLE -- The following classes have been announced:

• Whaling, water wars, dam removal and fish farms will be on the agenda at the first Tribal Fisheries Co-Management Symposium Jan. 30 at Smith Memorial Center at Portland State University. To register, telephone the Institute for Tribal Government at (800) 485-7146 or see www.critfc.org.

• The University of Washington Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will present How to Evaluate and Condition Wetland and Mitigation Design Plans Feb. 12-13 at the Seattle campus. The course is for planners and designers and is sponsored by the Washington State Chapter of the American Planning Association. For more details, telephone (206) 543-5539 or toll-free at (866) 791-1275; see www.engr.washington.edu/epp/cee or write uw-epp@engr.washington.edu.

• The Pacific Northwest Pesticide Issues Conference will be Feb. 26 at the Doubletree Hotel in Yakima. The conference targets grower associations, growers, foresters, agri-chemical dealers and industry, crop consultants, state and federal regulators, the medical community, university researchers and extension educators. It's sponsored by Washington State University and the University of Washington. The fee is $90 before Feb. 4 and $120 after that. For information, contact the WSU Cooperative Extension Event and Program Support Office at (509) 335-2830 or see http://depts.washington.edu/pnash/ceconference/main.html.

Environmental Watch: Callie Ridolfi wins state ACEC honor

Ridolfi

Ridolfi's goals and the mission of her company, Ridolfi Inc., are to build a sustainable culture and restore natural resources.

"I’ve never classified myself as an environmentalist, but my heart is really in restoring polluted lands and waterways to uses that enhance public good," she said.

Her work includes award-winning projects for habitat restoration at Commencement Bay in Tacoma and the Moon Creek reclamation project for the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho. She also works on water-quality assessments, remediation plans and environmental mitigation projects for federal agencies throughout the West.

Last year, Ridolfi’s firm was recognized with the Seattle Mayor’s Small Business of the Year Award for creative use of financial resources, strong business planning and problem solving, human resources practices, creative marketing and community involvement.

Nordin joins Berryman & Henigar

SEATTLE -- Dennis Nordin has been named project manager at Berryman & Henigar's Seattle office.

The company provides municipal management consulting, civil engineering, public finance, building safety, asset management, and program and construction management services to public agencies.

Nordin has experience in planning and designing water, wastewater and solid waste projects. He began working as an engineering technician for the Minnesota Highway Department and most recently spent 20 years as a project manager with Earth Tech.

He is currently a design team member for the new leachate facility for Refuse Area 6 at the Cedar Hills Landfill, and he is completing wetland mitigation work for the Sultan Local Improvement District.

Who is the greenest of them all?

SEATTLE -- The Business and Industry Resource Venture invites organizations to apply for its second-annual BEST Awards.

BEST stands for Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow. The application deadline is Feb. 21.

The awards celebrate notable "green" achievements by companies in the Seattle area. Categories include waste prevention and recycling, water conservation, energy conservation, stormwater pollution prevention, sustainable building, innovation and environmental leadership.

The Business and Industry Resource Venture is a partnership between the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Seattle Public Utilities.

Any Seattle business is eligible to apply. The water conservation award is open to customers of the 26 water providers in the Saving Water Partnership, which includes the Seattle metro area.

Companies can apply at http://www.resourceventure.org/app.htm or through an application requested from the Resource Venture by telephoning (206) 389-7304.

Partnership to provide environmental classes

SEATTLE -- King County Executive Ron Sims has announced a new partnership between the county and Nature Vision, a non-profit organization, to continue environmental education classes in schools.

The county's budget deficit forced it to cut its interpretive programs for 2003. Among the targeted programs was an environmental science school program, Nature Connections. By cutting Nature Connections, the county estimates it's saving $40,000.

Three former county naturalists, Clay Heilman, Shelley French and Sheila Dearden, started Nature Vision in Redmond to offer the classes they once put on as county employees. Heilman said their fees now will be paid for by PTSA's.

California miscalculates vehicle emissions

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California air quality officials have underestimated vehicle emissions by almost a third and now worry they won't be able to clean up the pollutants by 2010, the year mandated by federal law.

Reduction measures are being taken across the state, but progress at easing the levels of ozone and haze, two of the most abundant pollutants, is slower than the officials had hoped.

"I'm not ready to give up, but we need to move as aggressively as possible," said Jack Broadbent, director of air programs in California for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "I have concern and alarm."

The revised vehicle emission levels were reported in a preliminary draft of the 2003 air quality management plan, the blueprint for clean-air efforts for the Los Angeles region. The final draft, to be released at the end of January, will be sent to the EPA.

Southern California, home to about half of the state's population, is known to have some of the nation's dirtiest air. Pollutants common to the region are known to cause headaches, asthma, heart attacks and cancer, air-quality officials said.

Solar power arrives at the White House

WASHINGTON -- Evergreen Solar last week announced the installation of a 9-kilowatt photovoltaic system at the White House for the National Park Service. The solar roof is the first solar electric project on the White House grounds, according to Marlboro, Mass.-based Evergreen Solar.

"It's an important milestone in building awareness for solar energy usage in residential and commercial buildings, and a step in the right direction in promoting energy independence," said Steven J. Strong, president of Solar Design Associates, which designed and oversaw installation on the roof of the main building used for White House grounds maintenance.

The system feeds solar-generated power into the White House grounds' distribution system, providing electricity wherever it is needed. Two solar thermal systems, one to heat the pool and spa and one to provide domestic hot water, were also installed.

E-community events coming up

SEATTLE -- The following courses and hearings have been announced:

Environmental Watch: Chinese coming to talk about cleanups

SEATTLE -- A delegation of Chinese environmental decision makers will be in town next week to talk to consultants about hazardous waste work.

China appears to be a promising market for U.S. environmental products and technology. In 1999, the nation produced 750 million tons of industrial solid waste. It's estimated China produces up to 30 million tons of hazardous waste a year.

China is searching for equipment, technology, engineering and management to develop and maintain hazardous-waste treatment sites.

Delegates will talk about many of China's 26 top priority hazardous waste projects at a Jan. 22 meeting that the Washington State China Relations Council is sponsoring. Officials are particularly interested in talking to companies that specialize in handling medical waste, florescent light disposal or resource recycling and recovery.

The day-long event begins at 8:30 a.m. at Seattle's China Harbor Restaurant, 2040 Westlake Ave. N. The cost is $35. Pre-registration is required and can be done at www.wscrc.org or by calling the WSCRC's Scott Heinlein at (206) 441-4419.

I-80 petition deadline is today

SEATTLE -- Attention will be on City Hall today to see if the backers of Initiative 80 meet the deadline to collect enough signatures to put their measure on the city ballot.

I-80 calls for restoring urban creeks by requiring certain actions by private developers and the city. For instance, developers of creekside projects of more than half an acre would be required to restore surface and buried creeks. Twenty-six creeks and their tributaries would be affected.

Concerned about the broad scope of the measure, Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed an alternative ballot measure. The City Council could adopt I-80 as law, put it on the ballot by itself or put it on the ballot with an alternative.

As of Friday, initiative proponents had collected 16,523 valid signatures, according to elections officials. That was 706 shy of what's needed for the measure to make the ballot.

City Councilwoman Margaret Pageler, chairwoman of the city's Water and Health Committee, says she thinks the city can use existing mechanisms to improve watersheds.

"I don't think voting is a good way to make public policy on environmental issues," she said, "so, no, I wouldn't put (an alternative to I-80) on the ballot."

Report looks at state's water quality progress

OLYMPIA -- A new Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team publication outlines the progress of the last two years to improve the sound's health.

"Successes and Challenges of the 2001-03 Puget Sound Water Quality Work Plan" highlights several projects from Bellingham Bay to the Port of Olympia. Go to http://www.wa.gov/puget_sound/Publications/ 01_03_biennial_report/0103_report/biennial_rpt_index.htm to view a copy.

Also, the Action Team has released its Work Plan for 2003-05. Among the nearly $33.4 million plan's priorities: salmon and other at-risk species; shellfish protection; stormwater, on-site sewage systems; aquatic nuisance species; monitoring; and education.

Go to http://www.wa.gov/puget_sound/Publications/workplan_03/ wp03/04_intro.htm to see the plan.

Is kudzu a threat in Washington?

OLYMPIA -- A weed that has wreaked havoc in the southeastern United States could soon be on Washington's list of Least Wanted Weeds.

Kudzu, a vine native to Asia, was discovered in Clark County in 2001 and destroyed. The aggressive weed hasn't been seen in Washington since, but several recent sightings in Oregon prompted a proposal to classify it as a Class A weed in Washington.

Spartina densiflora, an invasive, aquatic weed, is also suggested for Class A designation. Two small infestations of the cordgrass, discovered in 2001 in Grays Harbor and Island counties, have been cleared. The weed, native to Chile, is closely related to other grasses that invaded marine tide flats in 10 counties in Western Washington, threatening the native plant and fish population.

Class A weeds cannot be grown on purpose, and must be destroyed.

A committee of the state Noxious Weed Control Board has proposed classifying several other weeds as noxious, adding them to the 114 already listed. The board will hear comments on the proposed weed list for 2003 at a 1 p.m. hearing Jan. 22 in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St., Olympia.

To get a copy of the proposed 2003 weed list, contact Steve McGonigal of the Noxious Weed Board at (360) 902 2053 .

The deadline for written comments is Jan. 17. Comments can be mailed to the board at P.O. Box 42560, Olympia, WA 98504, e-mailed to smcgonigal@agr.wa.gov or faxed to (360) 902-2094.

NW missing from big green exhibit

WASHINGTON -- Recent chatter among the Puget Sound area's environment industry is that the region could cash in on its green reputation and position itself as a world center of sustainable technology.

Based on the number of Northwest contributors to a major sustainability exhibit opening Friday in Washington, D.C., sustainability experts in Cascadia need to tune up their public relations engines.

"Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century," which demonstrates the possibility of large-scale sustainable building, features not one Northwest project, according to a National Building Museum spokeswoman. She said it does not appear that any Northwest firms worked on any of the 50 featured projects, either.

This occurred even though 16 percent of all U.S Green Building Council LEED-registered projects are from the Northwest and 18 percent of LEED-accredited designers reside in the Northwest. LEED stands for Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design. The LEED Green Building Rating System is a national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.

Upcoming events for the 'e' community

SEATTLE -- The following environmental conferences and events are coming up soon in Washington state:

• "Science and Technology for Sustainability," a free lecture by Harvard University's William Clark will be at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the University of Washington Husky Union Building's West Ballroom. The presentation is an Oceans to Stars Lecture that the UW's College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences sponsors. Clark focuses on linking research to policy decisions by moving from arguments over statistics and reports to mutually agreed-on environmental data. For more information, see www.cofs.washington.edu/oceanlecture/index.html or call (206) 616-6692.

• Eileen Sobeck of the U.S. Department of Justice will present the keynote address at the 10th annual Endangered Species Act Conference Jan. 23- 24 in Seattle at the Renaissance Madison. "Owls to Salmon, the Evolution of ESA Law in the Pacific Northwest" is the title of her speech. The Seminar Group is presenting the conference, which ranges in cost from $297 per student to $595 for single registrations. For more details or to register: www.theseminargroup.net; registrar@theseminargroup.net; 1 (800) 574-4852 or (206) 463-4400; or The Seminar Group, PO Box 523, Vashon, WA 98070.

• Pacific Northwest Pesticide Issues Conference will be Feb. 26 at the Doubletree Hotel in Yakima. The conference targets grower associations, growers, foresters, agrichemical dealers and industry, crop consultants, state and federal regulators, the medical community, university researchers and extension educators. It's sponsored by Washington State University and the University of Washington. The fee is $90 before Feb. 4 and $120 after that. For information, contact the WSU Cooperative Extension Event and Program Support Office at (509) 335-2830 or see http://depts.washington.edu/pnash/ceconference/main.html.

Environmental Watch: North Creek Analytical buys Inland lab

Wells

Company officials say the move strengths Bothell-based NCA’s position as the largest Pacific Northwest environmental laboratory network.

Inland Environmental Laboratory, a division of Inland Environmental Resources Inc., provides environmental testing services for industrial and consulting firms in Eastern Washington and Idaho. Operating from its new 6,000-square-foot facility, Inland provides a variety of testing services. NCA also has a lab in Spokane.

North Creek Analytical Vice President Dennis Wells has been named laboratory director for the two facilities. NCA will operate both facilities separately for an interim period before consolidating labs into the former Inland Environmental facility.

Dick Handley, president of Inland Environmental Resources, will lend his knowledge of the local market to the venture.

NCA bills itself as the largest environmental laboratory company in the Pacific Northwest, with 185 staff members, four labs in Washington and Oregon, a service center in Alaska and a fleet of mobile laboratories.

Environmental litigator joins Ater Wynne

SEATTLE -- Steve Parkinson, an environmental litigator, has joined Ater Wynne's Litigation, Environmental and Land Use Groups at the law firm's Seattle office. He helps businesses resolve environmental problems, meet regulatory requirements and defend against environmental claims and liability.

He has experience with Superfund cleanup sites, and also represents clients in environmental litigation involving real property transactions, insurance claims and permitting. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Planners call for GMA adjustments

SEATTLE -- Washington state's Growth Management Act does work but further action is needed if it is to remain successful.

That's the assessment of the state chapter of the American Planning Association, whose members spent months studying what has occurred since the Legislature passed the act in 1990. The association's 1,300 members were asked to participate in a Web-based survey. Comments were analyzed at a conference.

To show the act is working, the association cited Puget Sound Regional Council statistics. Even though the region's population growth was a robust 8 percent from 1995-2000, 87 percent of the population growth occurred within urban growth areas, or UGAs. Employment growth jumped almost 19 percent, and 96 percent of it occurred within UGAs.

To improve the act, the chapter offers 19 recommendations. Among them: require every state agency to comply with GMA; develop a statewide economic development strategy; refine the state's role in determining annexations; mandate revenue sharing agreements to enhance city and county cooperation; articulate a vision for rural areas; and fully integrate the growth management, shorelines management, state environmental protection and watershed management acts.

The group outlined its proposals in "Livable Washington." Free copies of the report are available by calling the association's Washington chapter at (206) 682-7436.

$24M goes to NW Superfund sites in 2002

WASHINGTON -- A total of $23.8 million was allocated to Superfund cleanups in Idaho, Oregon and Washington last year, according to officials of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Among the affected sites are:

• The 8-acre wood treating site at Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor project on Bainbridge Island received $4.6 million. The work includes what the EPA calls an innovative pilot project using steam injection to recover wood treating contaminants from soil and groundwater.
• Bunker Hill in Kellogg, Idaho, received a total of $13.2 million. The Central Treatment Plant at Bunker Hill, the largest source of metals pollution in the Coeur d'Alene River, received $4.7 million for an upgrade, $5 million went to clean up Bunker Hill residences and $3.5 million was allocated for other projects.
• The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality received $4 million to build a barrier wall designed to prevent creosote contamination at the former McCormick and Baxter wood treating site from entering the Willamette River in Portland.
• The Hamilton/Labree waterline project in Chehalis received $2 million. The line supplies 19 homes and businesses with clean drinking water to replace water from wells contaminated with the industrial solvent perchloroethylene.
• Vancouver's Frontier Hard Chrome Superfund site received $530,000 to start work, which includes demolition of buildings to provide access to soil contaminated with high levels of chromium. Construction of soil and groundwater treatment systems is to start early this year.

Among the affected sites are:

<@_Round Bullet>l<@$p> The 8-acre wood treating site at Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor project on Bainbridge Island received $4.6 million. The work includes what the EPA calls an innovative pilot project using steam injection to recover wood treating contaminants from soil and groundwater.

<@_Round Bullet>l<@$p> Bunker Hill in Kellogg, Idaho, received a total of $13.2 million. The Central Treatment Plant at Bunker Hill, the largest source of metals pollution in the Coeur d'Alene River, received $4.7 million for an upgrade, $5 million went to clean up Bunker Hill residences and $3.5 million was allocated for other projects.

<@_Round Bullet>l<@$p> The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality received $4 million to build a barrier wall designed to prevent creosote contamination at the former McCormick and Baxter wood treating site from entering the Willamette River in Portland.

<@_Round Bullet>l<@$p> The Hamilton/Labree waterline project in Chehalis received $2 million. The line supplies 19 homes and businesses with clean drinking water to replace water from wells contaminated with the industrial solvent perchloroethylene.

<@_Round Bullet>l<@$p> Vancouver's Frontier Hard Chrome Superfund site received $530,000 to start work, which includes demolition of buildings to provide access to soil contaminated with high levels of chromium. Construction of soil and groundwater treatment systems is to start early this year.

Wildlife brings $2.2B to Washington

OLYMPIA -- The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that fish and wildlife activities contribute $2.2 billion to the state's economy.

Using U.S. Census data, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service detailed the economic contribution made by people pursuing fish- and wildlife-related activities across the country.

State officials examined the annual effect on Washington communities. Results are in a publication called "Adding It Up" that examines benefits from the sale of items from bait to boats, and chronicles the growth of annual fish and wildlife-themed festivals.

The report is at http://www.wa.gov/wdfw; click on the "Adding It Up" link on the right side of the page.

Energy group makes push for better windows

PORTLAND -- The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance has launched a program to increase the number of efficient manufactured windows in small- to medium-sized commercial buildings.

According to the group, the commercial building sector consumes about a quarter of the electricity in the Northwest, where about 28 million square feet of commercial window glazing is installed annually. The program seeks to increase market share for energy-efficient products by working with architects, developers and window manufacturers.

The goal is increase the market share of the products from an estimated baseline of 12 percent to 50 percent by 2005 and to 70 percent by 2010.

The alliance has awarded a nearly $1.5 million contract for the new commercial windows program to The West Wall Group LLC, a Salem, Ore.-based energy-efficiency consulting company. The company will work with the window industry to help it communicate the benefits of energy-efficient windows to the commercial building sector, according to Gary Curtis, president and founder of the West Wall Group.

It's big, it's green and it's in D.C.

WASHINGTON -- On Jan. 17, the National Building Museum will open a major exhibition, "Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century."

Through in-depth profiles of about 50 green projects worldwide and an examination of global ecological and economic forces, the exhibition will demonstrate the transformative powers of sustainable design. Big & Green will be on view through June 22.

As part of the exhibit, the museum is publishing a 200-page catalogue about the exhibit, hosting a range of public programs and conducting public tours of award-winning sustainable buildings in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Environmental Watch: Drought portends busy year for water experts

SEATTLE -- Consultants who specialize in water could have a busy 2003 if the drought continues.

Now if only nature would cooperate in helping the water experts get the word out.

Consider what happened in the days after Dec. 9, when Seattle officials called for the winter's first voluntarily water conservation measures. The skies opened up and dropped more than an inch of precipitation.

The city issued another call to conservation last week. "Recent precipitation not enough to end water worries," read the headline on the release. As if on cue, the rains started falling again.

"It's been really hard to try to convince people to conserve when you look outside and it's pouring," says Guillemette Regan, Seattle Public Utilities' regional water policy manager.

But rain in the city doesn't translate into relief where it counts: the watershed. Up in the hills, rainfall as of Thursday was half of the total normally received in December. Chester Morse Lake in the Cedar River Watershed is 9 feet below normal for this time of year.

The new year, therefore, could be a banner year for experts ranging from water resource consultants to the vendors of low-flow plumbing equipment.

"Businesses have been very interested in finding out about how they can conserve water," says Bill Anderson, director of the Business and Industry Resource Venture. A partnership of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Seattle Public Utilities, the venture helps companies improve their environmental performance.

Through its Water Smart Technology program, the venture offers financial rebates to businesses for replacing inefficient water equipment with low-flow toilets and other devices.

Seattle Public Utilities is working with researchers at the University of Washington on the impacts of global climate change. Sometimes the utility calls on the private sector to help analyze such data. But whether it does this time, Regan said she couldn't say.

Bob Wheeler a senior associate at Triangle Associates, a Seattle consulting firm that helps resolve public policy issues and environmental conflicts, said knowing what to expect is about as easy as predicting, well, the weather.

Wheeler, who's working on several watershed plans, said people are nervous about the continued dry weather. "The feeling I have from people is the uncertainty," he said. His water management advice mirrors what Seattle Public Utilities is telling the public: be conservative.

Environmentalists won't challenge water ruling

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) -- Environmentalists will not challenge Idaho's refusal to ban new water withdrawals from a regional aquifer, saying they want to work with the state.

"We will not appeal this decision though we continue to have concerns," said Dale Marcy, water coordinator for the Kootenai Environmental Alliance. "We don't know how much water is down there, yet there is every indication that we're exceeding the limits of the aquifer."

The coalition of environmental groups asked Idaho to place a moratorium on new permits from the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer earlier this year, but the state declined. Instead, Idaho tightened rules governing new water withdrawals by designating the supply a groundwater management area.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources will form a nine-member committee to consider how to protect the aquifer, which is the sole source of drinking water for 400,000 people in North Idaho and Eastern Washington.

Last spring, water requests from two power companies triggered a debate about how much water is in the aquifer and how much is already being used.

State officials said at least 610 cubic feet of water per second are being sucked out of the aquifer -- roughly 396 million gallons a day.

Studies show that recharge to the aquifer may be as much as 1,450 cubic feet per second measured or as little as 571 cubic feet per second.

Environmental leaders are expressing a willingness to work with the state's advisory committee. But they also worry that Idaho will continue to issue water rights while Washington has a de facto moratorium on new withdrawals.

"The history of water in the West is littered with over-allocated aquifers, de-watered rivers and streams, dried up wells, water wars and costly legal battles," said Rachel Paschal Osborn, a Spokane environmental attorney. "Both Idaho and Washington water resource agencies have an opportunity, and a public trust responsibility, to keep that from happening here."

Asarco moving ahead with Everett cleanup

EVERETT -- Asarco Inc. is proposing to remove soil contaminated by operations of its former smelter in Everett.

The company wants to remove soil contaminated with 150 parts per million or more of arsenic in part of northeast Everett where, nearly 100 years ago, the company produced arsenic and arsenic-based products. Two feet of clean fill would replace the removed soil and cover the area. The land would be left as a grass-covered slope to be sold for residential development.

A public-comment period on the company's cleanup plan began yesterday and ends Jan. 28. The state Department of Ecology will hold a public meeting on Jan. 16 in the Jackson Hall conference room at Everett Community College, 2000 Tower St., in Everett. An open house will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a 7 p.m. presentation.

"Certainly for different parts of the project there will be an opportunity to work with outside firms," says Clay Allen, Asarco spokesman.

But first the project has to be approved.

The project would take place on a 5-acre fenced area just southwest of the intersection of East Marine View Drive and state Route 529, where arsenic-producing facilities were located. Some soil on the site contains up to 76 percent arsenic.

The company also proposes to remove soil containing elevated levels of arsenic from about 30 additional residential properties outside and to the south and west of the fenced area, but located on other parts of the former smelter site. Asarco owns 14 of the homes.

Asarco proposes to haul the soil removed from the Everett Smelter to the company's Tacoma smelter cleanup site, where it would be placed in facilities constructed there to hold much greater volumes of similar soil from the Tacoma smelter cleanup.

Asarco has said that carrying out its proposal depends upon obtaining approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to accept the soil at the Tacoma smelter site. Asarco is working with the EPA and the cities of Tacoma and Ruston on this aspect of the proposal.

"We would welcome final cleanup on this part of the site," said Ecology's site manager, David South. "But if Asarco's proposed plan can't be carried out, the company still must remove the most highly contaminated soil, as we've ordered."

The complete cleanup proposal is available at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/asarco/es_main.html.

Various courses planned for new year

SEATTLE -- The following courses are scheduled for Seattle:

Environmental Watch: NEBC: E-business at risk in state budget

SEATTLE -- The Northwest Environmental Business Council fears that Washington state lawmakers could discontinue at least two state tax breaks that have benefited its members.

The programs in jeopardy are tax incentives for environmental remediation and tax credits for research and development in environmental technology.

These programs have, according to the council, provided millions of dollars in benefits to members but will expire in the next biennium unless legislators extend them.

According to the council's newsletter, the group also worries that lawmakers could increase business and occupation taxes and sales taxes on services.

The council's Olympic Chapter will have a program on the upcoming legislative session at its luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 15 at McCormick & Schmick's Harborside Seafood Restaurant, 1200 Westlake Ave. N., in Seattle. NEBC lobbyists Jerry Smedes, and Linda Dennis will speak. For more information, telephone the council at 1 (888) 609-NEBC.

1000 Friends not in the consulting business

SEATTLE -- There have been minor grumblings in the environmental business community that 1000 Friends of Washington is cutting in on the action of private companies.

But Aaron Ostrom, executive director of the non-profit group dedicated to managing growth and stopping sprawl, says consultants have nothing to worry about.

Yes, the organization submitted a proposal to work on one project, but only one. That was to do some federal Department of Transportation work on transit-oriented developments with King County. "It was to do a review and evaluation of development regulations in different cities and how they support or don't support TODs," Ostrom said, adding he's unsure if the work has been awarded yet.

He noted that in recent years the organization has followed TODs as a means to limit sprawl. The submittal was a continuation of that work.

"To say we are showing up on submittals is not really accurate," Ostrom said. "It's not really like a new business model or anything."

UW study is bad news for reindeer

SEATTLE -- New research at the University of Washington indicates the world's changing climate imperils the food of reindeer and other hoofed animals.

Scientists have long known that rain falling on snow in the far-northern latitudes during winter affect such herds, including caribou and musk ox that feed on lichens and mosses that grow on the soil surface. In one recent instance on the far-north island of Spitsbergen, soil temperatures that normally stay well below freezing rose to near freezing and remained there for about 10 days because rainwater seeped through the snow and water pooled at the soil surface. When temperatures dropped again, the water froze, and the ice coating kept the animals from their food supply.

"You have an ice layer at the surface several centimeters thick that even a person couldn't get through without tools," said Jaakko Putkonen, a research assistant professor of earth and space sciences at the UW.

The ice layer lasts until summer. "During those periods, the herders have to start bringing out hay because the reindeer just can't get food."

It appears that climate change will make things substantially worse. Putkonen developed a model of snow and soil heat generation to gauge the effects of climate change. Putkonen and his UW colleague Gerard Roe studied the results of the global climate model.

Projecting ahead to 2080-89, the model shows a 40 percent increase in the land area affected by rain-on-snow events. Typically those events happen closer to coastal areas, but the model predicts they will move much farther inland.

"This is a consequence of climate change that specifically affects native peoples, said Putkonen.

Putkonen and Roe's findings will be published in an upcoming issue of Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.

Eco-Tile is newest LinkUp partner

SEATTLE -- Quarry Tile Co., the maker of Eco-Tile, is the newest member of King County's LinkUp recycling program.

Eco-Tile is made of approximately 70 percent recycled materials, including glass, grinding paste from the computer industry, and soil and rock waste from the sand and gravel industry. The tiles also contain reprocessed glaze waste from Quarry Tile's other manufacturing operations.

The county developed LinkUp to encourage businesses to use more recycled materials in manufacturing processes.

One of the reasons the county named Quarry Tile of Spokane a LinkUp partner is because it uses mixed-color glass cullet. The county's Solid Waste Division has designated this as a priority material for increased recycling. TriVitro, another LinkUp participant, is located in Kent and supplies the glass cullet.

TriVitro makes recycled tumbled glass pebbles for home decor and crafts as well as a recycled-glass grit used for blasting abrasive. After crushing glass for its use, TriVitro collects the dust and finely ground particles and sends it to Quarry Tile. Previously, the glass dust was shipped to a landfill.

Biofiltration company ready to take off

TUALATIN, Ore. -- Pollution fighting biofiltration technology has not been widely accepted, but that's changing.

The Portland Tribune reports that Bio-Reaction Industries of Tualatin is honing its patented biofiltering system. Now the company is reading to "take off and run," says company cofounder, President and CEO Randall Thom.

Thom said the 9-year-old company should become profitable for the first time next year when its revenue climbs from $500,000 to a projected $5.5 million.

Thom started Bio-Reaction with Bill Stewart. At the time, Thom headed a Tualatin paint manufacturing company, Strategic Finishing Inc. It had to deal with paint emissions from its processes, and that’s how Bio-Reaction got started.

Bio-Reaction officials say they have found a less expensive, lower-energy method to handle emissions. It takes living organisms -- bacteria and fungi found in yard debris -- and turns them into pollution-munching air cleansers.

The organisms are kept alive in warm, humid environments and provided with enough "food" to keep the system working. Bio-Reaction has patented indestructible balls of bacteria-bearing compost, called Bio-Airspheres, that form the "filter" through which contaminated air passes. The system can reduce pollution by 80 percent to 95 percent, according to the company.

Environmental Watch: Captain's Table site targeted for cleanup

SEATTLE -- The Washington Department of Ecology last week announced that the owner and prospective buyer of a contaminated property in the Lower Queen Anne area are volunteering to clean up the site.

The property at 333 Elliott Ave. W., formerly was the Captain's Table restaurant. Many years ago it was occupied by Coleman Creosoting Works. The current owner, Pacific Sound Resources Inc., did not contaminate the site.

The prospective buyer, 333 Elliott Ave. W. LLC, has proposed a clean-up plan. Ecology officials seeks public comment through December on the plan.

To learn more, see http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0209070.pdf. Additional documents are at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/coleman_ creosoting/coleman_creosoting_hp.html.

Seattle U builds on-site compost plant

SEATTLE -- Seattle University will begin construction of an on-site compost facility in the coming weeks, university officials say. The contractor is All Purpose Structures of Fife, and CH2M Hill worked as a consultant on the project.

The 642-square-foot facility will be the first of its kind on an urban campus in Washington, the officials added. It's to be completed this spring. The total project cost is $182,000, including equipment.

The university now collects food waste and sends it to the Cedar Grove Composting Facility in Maple Valley. With the new on-site facility, Seattle U will be able to turn its average one-ton per week pre-consumer food waste, with yard waste and other feedstocks collected on campus, into a viable soil for use on university grounds.

The compost site will be on 13th Avenue between Cherry and Columbia streets in the recycle yard.

Rivers flow through school's ecolab

TUKWILA -- A group of builders gathered in Tukwila last Thursday to celebrate 14 months of work to create an outdoor classroom called an ecolab where children can study ecology and become stewards of their school site.

Children, staff and parents from Thorndyke Elementary worked with volunteer architects, faculty and students from the University of Washington's College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

The design resulted from a curriculum developed by the UW's Center for Environment, Education and Design Studies (CEEDS). Students in different grades studied different continents to learn how a major river affects the ecology and culture of the surrounding area.

The students used pavers to tell the story of a particular continent. The pavers lead to a gazebo where students can meet to study.

Architecture Professor Sharon E. Sutton said the ecolab uses cisterns and permeable materials to reduce water run-off and incorporates plants that convey the character of different bio-geographic regions in the world.

State bans transgenic fish from saltwaters

OLYMPIA -- The state Fish and Wildlife Commission has banned transgenic fish from Washington's marine waters.

The Legislature mandated the Commission to act, and the nine-member board unanimously passed the ban that will take effect in July. The Legislature acted after large escapes from Atlantic salmon fish farms several years ago.

Environmentalists hailed the decision but an official of Cypress Island Inc., the state's only marine fish farm, thinks the ban is much ado about nothing because no one plans to raise transgenic salmon.

"It's not even on our company's radar scope to pursue it," said Kevin Bright, Cypress Island's operations manager.

The Food and Drug Administration has not yet ruled whether such fish are safe to eat, added Andy Appleby, aquaculture coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

One company, A/F Protein in Maine, has developed what environmentalists call a genetically super-charged Atlantic salmon that Appleby said grows up to six times faster than natural salmon.

"The consequences of engineering such life, and the technology used to accomplish it, is still highly experimental, poorly understood and alarmingly unpredictable," according to a statement that officials of the Northwest region of Friends of the Earth issued.

The group cites a Purdue University study that determined if 60 transgenic salmon escaped from fish farms and joined a population of wild salmon, the wild population could become extinct in 40 generations.

"Washington state has taken a bold step to protect the environment by permanently banning genetically engineered fish," said Shawn Cantrell, Friends of the Earth's Northwest regional director.

Appleby said it's important to note that the risk from an escape of transgenic Atlantic salmon on the West Coast would be minimal, according to the department's analysis. That's because Atlantic salmon and Pacific salmon "have a very difficult time hybridizing," even in carefully controlled laboratory settings.

NW study disputes UV-B effect on frogs

SEATTLE -- Two new studies dispute the belief that ultraviolet-B radiation -- resulting from the thinning of the ozone level -- is the main cause in deforming amphibian offspring and shrinking amphibian populations.

"All the concentration on UV might have misdirected our conservation and research priorities," said Wendy Palen, a University of Washington zoology doctoral student.

Laboratory and field experiments have shown that UV-B causes deformities and increases mortality in amphibian embryos. That led some scientists to contend the thinning ozone layer might have contributed to declining amphibian populations.

A new study that examined UV-B levels in natural amphibian breeding habitats in Washington and Oregon found that the amount of dissolved organic matter in the water actually protects most amphibian embryos from harmful levels of UV-B radiation.

The study was published in last month's issue of Ecology. Authors are Palen, Daniel Schindler, a UW associate zoology professor; Michael Adams, Christopher Pearl and R. Bruce Bury of the U.S. Geological Survey; and Stephen Diamond of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A corroborating study by USGS researchers P. Stephen Corn and Erin Muths, examines breeding of the boreal chorus frog at a Colorado pond.

Palen said it appears scientists need to keep looking for causes, and that they could include a number of factors that vary across geographic regions.

Nevada signs alternative energy contracts

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Nevada Power Co. has signed six contracts with renewable energy suppliers, according to Sierra Pacific Resources. Nevada Power is Sierra Pacific Resource's utility subsidiary.

Wind Energy Weekly reported that the contracts could furnish up to 227 megawatts of electricity. More than half comes from wind generation, with the remainder being electricity generated by geothermal resources. The contracts are subject to regulatory approval.

The contracts are a first step in bringing the utilities into compliance with a state law that requires a certain percentage of electricity sold in Nevada come from renewable energy sources -- solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. The law requires an electricity provider to increase the use of renewable energy by 2 percent every third year until the provider's renewables portfolio accounts for 15 percent of its total energy sales.

The contracts are expected to satisfy the utilities' forecasted requirements for the years 2005 and 2006. Additional contracts will be necessary to satisfy requirements for 2007 and beyond.

"We're very pleased to be able to reach agreements with these leaders in renewable energy," said Walt Higgins, chairman, president, and CEO for Sierra Pacific Resources. "Electricity generated by renewable energy resources is a welcome addition to our power portfolios and will help us as a state meet the needs of the growing energy demands of Nevada's communities."

Nevada Power has contracted for the power output from a new wind plant in Clark County, Nev., called the Desert Queen Wind Ranch, to be developed by Cielo Wind Power, and a project in White Pine County to be built by Ely Wind Company, LLC.

Environmental Watch: Marlys Palumbo joins Van Ness Feldman

SEATTLE -- Marlys Palumbo, who most recently was senior vice president for law with Philip Services Corp., joined Van Ness Feldman, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm. She will work out of the firm's Seattle office, and her practice will focus primarily on matters arising under state and federal environmental statutes.

She will represent clients before regulatory authorities and defend them in administrative and judicial enforcement actions. She also will advise clients on compliance activities and strategies, as well as current regulatory developments, and assist them in conducting environmental investigations.

"The addition of Marlys to our environment practice will greatly complement and enhance our ability to serve clients facing a wide range of hazardous waste and corporate matters," said Bill Van Ness, head of Van Ness Feldman's Seattle office.

Recycler 'wheels' out a new idea

SEATTLE -- If Recycled Plastic Products has its way, thousands of broken trash cans and recycling bins in the Puget Sound area will be recycled to make heavy-duty trash can wheels.

RPP is the most recent partner in King County's LinkUp program, which encourages businesses to use more recycled materials in the products they make.

RPP collects trash cans and recycling bins that are broken and no longer in use. After metal parts are removed, the cans are prepared for grinding, which is done at the company's facility in Bluffdale, Utah.

Because RPP uses a thermo-kinetic manufacturing process, it can use waste plastic without first cleaning it. After the plastic is ground, it's compressed, routed and drilled. The result: trash can wheels that are solid and made of 100 percent recycled plastic.

RPP is working to introduce recycled plastic wheels to trash haulers, solid waste utilities and waste bin manufacturers in the Northwest. Its long-term goal is to open a processing plant in the Puget Sound region.

Seven named Founders of a New Northwest

PORTLAND -- Seven groups and businesses in Washington state are among the 23 recipients of this year's Founders of a New Northwest award, which Sustainable Northwest presents.

Washington winners are A-1 Builders of Bellingham, Environmental Home Center of Seattle, Fort Lewis, Lopez Community Land Trust and Island Grown Farmers' Cooperative of Lopez Island, Mike and Jean's Berry Farm of Mount Vernon, Procession of the Species Celebration in Olympia and the Quillisascut Cheese Co. of Rice in Stevens County.

The Portland-based Sustainable Northwest promotes environmentally compatible economic development in the Pacific Northwest. The group created the award in 1997 and so far has recognized 140 Founders.

The Environmental Home Center and Procession of the Species will be profiled along with this year's other founders in a book that Sustainable Northwest will publish in May.

Sims honors plant salvage volunteers

REDMOND -- King County Executive Ron Sims honored five Native Plant Salvage Program volunteers Saturday as Earth Heroes.

Janka Hobbs, Val Moore, Rick Thompson, Richard Tinsley, and Janet Wall -- leaders of the plant program -- were honored at the Redmond Ridge planned community as part of the 10-year anniversary of the salvage program at an all-day salvage event.

Operated by the county's Department of Natural Resources and Parks, the program recovers native plants from development sites, maintains the plants at a holding facility and supplies salvaged plants to environmental restoration and enhancement projects. The program also educates volunteers and the public about watershed health and the use of native plants in revegetation efforts.

Since its inception, the program has worked to protect and conserve the environment, with 4,270 volunteers contributing more than 20,350 hours to this program. County officials estimate 40,000 plants have been salvaged, close to 80,000 native plants have been replanted, and the county has saved more than $450,000.

Undergrounding Portland reservoirs opposed

PORTLAND -- A group of neighborhood residents has banded together to try to block a construction project that would replace three open water reservoirs in Mount Tabor Park with underground water tanks, the Portland Tribune reports.

The $65 million project is scheduled to begin next fall. Almost 70 percent of Portland’s drinking water passes through the open Mount Tabor reservoirs, flowing untreated to the tap. The city has been considering covering the reservoirs for more than 30 years.

Water bureau spokeswoman Ross Walker said Portland is the only city in the nation with drinking water reservoirs that are both exposed and easily accessible to the public -- and terrorists. "That’s like being the only airport in the nation without security checks," she said.

But members of the new citizens group Friends of the Reservoirs question whether the project is a necessary investment for the cash-strapped water bureau. They wonder whether the reservoirs can be saved, for less money, without sacrificing water quality.

The City Council officially approved the reservoir plan during budget sessions last spring, voting to boost water rates $1 per month to raise the necessary money.

HP backs computer recycling legislation

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -- Computing giant Hewlett-Packard Co. is backing state legislation that would require it and other PC manufacturers to cover the costs of recycling old computers, which environmentalists say would keep tons of toxic waste out of landfills and scrap shops in the developing world.

HP had lobbied against the bill and was instrumental in persuading Gov. Gray Davis to veto the measure earlier in the year. But the company said it reversed course after press reports detailed how toxin-laden computers, cast off in favor of faster equipment, are haphazardly disposed, often in southern China.

Now with HP's support, the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Byron Sher, has resubmitted the recycling legislation. Its supporters say the measure could spur federal regulations on computer recycling.

Dry cleaning solvent banned in California

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (AP) -- Southern California air quality officials have voted to impose the nation's first ban of the most commonly used dry cleaning solvent because of health concerns.

Dry cleaning businesses would have to stop using perchloroethylene, known as perc, by 2020. The South Coast Air Quality Management District also approved $2 million in grants to help dry cleaners switch to other chemicals.

A study done by the board staff showed about 50 percent of the perc used by dry cleaners finds its way into the air. Previous studies put that number at only 15 percent.

The board said the chemical is among six major airborne toxic substances in the region.

Scientists estimate the cancer risk posed by long-term exposure to perc is between 20 and 140 in 1 million. Studies have linked the compound to cancers of the lung, cervix, esophagus and bladder in dry cleaning workers.

Energy expert to speak in Seattle tomorrow

SEATTLE -- Volker Hartkopf, a nationally renowned expert on energy effectiveness, sustainable building design and human productivity from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, will speak at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Seattle's Lighting Design Lab in Suite 100 at 400 E. Pine St. The event, sponsored by BetterBricks, is the lab's annual open house. Hartkopf's speech, "Global implications of energy use in buildings and the role of the United States of America," will outline how to make buildings more productive, more efficient and smarter, how to make workers more productive and about how to export expertise. The event is free. For more information, telephone the design lab at (206) 325-9711, Ext. 0.

Environmental Watch: Study: It's either salmon or hydro

SEATTLE -- The Pacific Northwest can have salmon or hydroelectric power but probably not both, according to a new study.

The study examines the difficult choice to be made in the coming decades as global warming alters the region’s climate.

"The choices are rather stark," said Dennis Lettenmaier, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington and one of the researchers contributing to the study. "We asked the question, ‘Could you mitigate the effects by operating the reservoir system differently?’ And the answer, at least in terms of the fish, is probably not."

The study looks at climate impact as it relates to water resources in three major hydrologic basins in the western United States: the Columbia River; California’s Central Valley, which includes the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers; and the Colorado River.

Bill Pennell, director of the Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said the study underlines the need for planners and policy makers to pay attention to climate change.

Of particular note is the physics of the model, developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. In general, the model is somewhat conservative with respect to its projections of global warming, in part because of its representation of the thermal inertia of the world’s oceans. Also, use of Department of Energy computers allowed evaluation of a broader range of possible future outcomes, in recognition of the chaotic nature of the earth’s response to changes in global emissions of greenhouse gases.

Espinosa, Jones join Marten Law Group

SEATTLE -- Marten Law Group has hired Deborah K. Espinosa and Steven G. Jones.

Espinosa had been with the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of Interior in Washington, D.C., where she advised federal resource agencies on endangered species and public land issues.

Jones has more than 10 years' experience litigating environmental and land-use issues. As a partner at Foster Pepper & Shefelman, he litigated air, water, wetlands and hazardous-substance disputes in federal and state courts.

GZA expands into the Seattle market

SEATTLE -- GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., a geotechnical engineering and environmental remediation company based in Norwood, Mass., is expanding into the Seattle area with the appointment of Stephen Spencer as senior design engineer.

Spencer, who lives in Sammamish, worked at GZA in Massachusetts from 1994-97 and has supported GZA's East Coast operations from the Seattle area since.

In his new role, he will work with the company's Solid Rock Instrumentation Division, focusing on design and construction support services to contractors.

Celebrating an end to one cleanup...

LaCONNER -- The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Shell and Chevron oil companies will mark completion of a $4.5 million dollar cleanup of a hazardous waste site at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The event, which includes a news conference and a traditional blessing of the land, will be at the PM Northwest site, off Highway 20 in Skagit County, south of the March's Point Road intersection.

The PM Northwest Cleanup site was used in the 1960s to bury waste chemicals from refineries in four disposal ponds. About 58,000 tons of chemicals and contaminated soils have been removed and disposed.

...and the beginning of another

TACOMA -- The city of Tacoma will mark the beginning of the cleanup in the Thea Foss and Wheeler Osgood waterways at a 10 a.m. Dec. 12 ceremony at J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., 401 E. 15th St.

Elected officials, resource agencies, tribal representatives, environmental groups and business leaders will share their perspectives.

A one-hour boat tour of the cleanup sites aboard the My Girl begins at 11 a.m.

Early cleanup activities at six sites on the Foss and part of the Wheeler Osgood Waterway include removing old pilings, capping some of the less-contaminated sediment with several feet of clean sand, installing a sheet-pile bulkhead and performing bank restoration.

The total bill for the city’s portion of the cleanup is estimated at $35 million.

The city will clean up 80 percent of the Foss, an area extending from near the state Route 509 bridge to the mouth of the waterway. Three companies -- Puget Sound Energy, PacifiCorp and Advance Ross Sub Co. -- are negotiating separately with EPA to clean up the other 20 percent.

To sign up for the event, telephone (253) 233-1995. Let the city know if you intend to participate in the ceremony, the boat tour or both. More information is available by calling the above number or at www.cityoftacoma.org/fosscleanup.

Environmental workshops and events

SEATTLE -- Following is a list of environment workshops and other events in the greater Seattle area:

• King County is hosting public hearings on the draft EIS of the Brightwater Treatment System on Wednesday at the University of Washington Bothell campus in Building UW2, 18115 Campus Way N.E.; Dec. 10 at the Edmonds Floral Conference Center, 201 Fourth Ave. N.; and Dec. 11 at the Northshore Utility District Office, 6830 N.E. 185th St., in Kenmore. Each hearing is from 5 - 8 p.m. Two possible sites -- one along state Route 9 in unincorporated Snohomish County and the Unocal site in Edmonds -- have been identified for the plant.

• Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, will speak on "Natural Capitalism and Environmental Restoration for Fun and Profit" at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. Natural capitalism recognizes the interdependency between human-made capital and the maintenance and supply of natural capital. Lovins has made breakthroughs in fields ranging from automobiles to energy. He is an adviser to heads of state, author or co-author of 27 books and has won numerous awards, including Time Magazine's Hero of the Planet Award in 2000. For information, call the Bainbridge Island Graduate Institute at (206) 855-9559. A $10 donation is requested.

• Building with Rastra Workshop will be from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at 6527 21st Ave. N.E. in Seattle. Rastra is a recycled-content, four-hour fire rated, resource and energy conserving wall building system alternative to stick-framed homes. Participants will spend most of the workshop outside, learning handling and building techniques as they build foundation walls for a real home. Tom St. Louis, president of T.R. Strong Building Systems Inc. and a Rastra distributor, is the workshop presenter. Workshop sponsors are the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild (Central Puget Sound Chapter) and the Business and Industry Resource Venture. Cost of the workshop is $20 for guild members, $25 for non-members and $15 for students with ID. Pre-registration is required. To register, contact St. Louis at tom_st_louis@msn.com or (360) 705-2868. For details and directions, see www.ecobuilding.org/cal. For more on Rastra, see www.baubuilder.com.

Environmental Watch: Herres is new CEO for WebPE

EDMONDS -- WebPE has appointed Phil Herres CEO and announced that Fred Illich, the company cofounder, will assume the duties of president and represent the company to the environmental engineering market.

Herres' previous experience includes positions at Nortel and Aldus.

The company also announced that it won a three-year, $3 million contract along with BHE Environmental of Cincinnati to perform automation projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Edmonds-based WebPE provides software products that collect, manage and communicate environmental compliance, prevention and restoration information for government and industry.

Mactec now has 2 operating units

BELLEVUE -- Mactec Inc. has a new organizational structure and two operating units: Mactec Engineering and Consulting Inc. and Mactec Development Corp.

In 1975, Mactec started providing services to the electric utility and nuclear power plant construction industries, and in the 1980s, expanded into nuclear site remediation. Five years ago, Mactec began a series of strategic acquisitions of design/build and environmental services companies.

With the 2000 merger of Harding Lawson Associates and Environmental Science & Engineering (formerly Harding ESE), Mactec expanded into the oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, consumer product, chemical and pharmaceutical, aerospace, transportation, telecommunications and waste management industries.

In 2000, Pacific Environmental Services brought Department of Defense contracts and value engineering, occupational health and safety, water/wastewater management and pollution-prevention expertise to Mactec.

The acquisition of Law Engineering and Environmental Services earlier this year nearly doubled Mactec's size and revenues, and added geotechnical engineering, construction, quality assurance, facilities engineering and industrial risk management expertise, while increasing the geographic coverage of environmental capabilities.

Mactec, a $524 million company, has more than 4,000 employees and more than 100 offices nationwide, including Bellevue and Richland.

Dodge now senior scientist for Intertox

SEATTLE -- David Dodge has joined Intertox Inc., a scientific consulting and research firm, as a senior scientist. His professional focus is on assessment of human exposure and toxicity associated with chemicals in products and the environment.

His responsibilities with Intertox will include project management and the analysis of complex risk problems in human health and the environment.

Founded in 1995, Intertox is a scientific consulting and research firm that specializes in assessing the impact of chemicals and microbes on public health and the environment.

MID honored for urban stewardship

SEATTLE -- The Metropolitan Improvement District was recognized during the Sunday Seahawks game for being one of the city's Urban Stewards by promoting recycling and conservation.

The MID's Downtown Ambassadors annually remove more than 8 tons of leaves from city sidewalks, and since May of this year, removed more than 5,000 cubic yards of trash and 26,000 graffiti tags. The Downtown Seattle Association provides oversight for the MID.

Groups fear BPA cuts in fish programs

SEATTLE -- A coalition of organizations fears the Bonneville Power Administration will cut more than $300 million from its expenses through 2006 and up to another $200 million from salmon restoration programs.

"We’ve heard from BPA and federal sources that BPA is planning to cut $150 (million) to $200 million from salmon over the next four years," says Pat Ford, executive director of the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition. Ford wants to know where the cuts will be made.

BPA spokesman Bill Murlin said some cuts are necessary. The agency's financial picture is in "dire straits" as a result of the drought, the high cost of energy during the drought and the current low price for energy it has to sell. "We're $1.2 billion short over the next four years."

But, he said, the BPA is not unilaterally planning to cut fish programs. The agency works with the Northwest Power Planning Council, tribes and, according to Murlin, some of the groups questioning the BPA's plans.

No decisions have been made, he said, adding the agency will ensure federal mandates for fish protection will be met.

Save Our Wild Salmon, along with Friends of the Earth, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the NW Energy Coalition say the cuts will further weaken what they call an already failing federal salmon plan.

Irrigators, state settle water rights case

KENNEWICK (AP) -- The state and Columbia Basin irrigators have ended years of conflict by accepting a historic water rights agreement that ensures water during drought years in exchange for payments to mitigate fish losses.

The mediated agreement, reached after two days of talks last week, ends litigation over irrigator demands that the state Department of Ecology issue permits to withdraw Columbia River water without conditions.

The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association feared Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons would buckle to federal demands that no more water be taken from the river to protect salmon runs.

The parties called the agreement progressive, because it supports irrigation efficiency and a program to give irrigators certainty that water supplies won't be interrupted in drought years.

Details still have to be worked out, but the money essentially will buy "replacement" water in years when permits would have been interrupted.

Irrigation leaders don't expect trouble selling farmers on the minimal fee, which is substantially less than the market rate for water.

Groups oppose Snake River dredging

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) -- Environmental groups are forming organized opposition to a 20-year federal plan to dredge the lower Snake River that would begin this winter.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to deepen the shipping channel and remove sediment from ports and recreation areas.

But the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition says the plan will harm salmon and steelhead, is based on faulty economics and ignores alternatives.

"Numerous agencies and tribes have urged them not to do it and as usual, you have the corps barreling ahead with their preferred approach," said Jan Hasselman of the National Wildlife Federation at Portland.

Hasselman said the corps used economic analysis that is outdated and has been discredited and removed from other corps documents.

A corps spokeswoman said the figures were updated with newer figures and run again and still showed dredging will have a positive economic impact.

Hasselman would not say whether the coalition will file a lawsuit to try to stop the dredging plan but hinted the group was leaning in that direction.

Dredging in the Lower Granite Pool is to begin this winter. The draft plan covers the Snake River from the Port of Lewiston on the Clearwater River to McNary Dam on the Columbia River.

Environmental Watch: Oregon gets $25M to remove New Carissa

COQUILLE, Ore. (AP) -- A Coos County Circuit Court jury has decided the damage caused by the grounding of the New Carissa was temporary, not permanent, and awarded the state $25 million to hire a contractor to remove the remaining wreckage from a public beach.

The verdict may not be the end of the story that grabbed headlines three years ago as rescue attempts hit one snag after another.

The ship's owners were disappointed with the verdict and have not decided whether to appeal, said spokeswoman Melinda Merrill.

Depending on whether there is an appeal, the state's attorney, William Wheatley, said it could be years before Oregon receives the money to clean up the beach. "The state would like to get started, but the legal process might have a few more bumps in the road before we get there."

The jury deliberated less than seven hours over evidence presented in the month-long trial before reaching the 10-2 verdict Wednesday.

Jurors said they agreed with the state's argument that the captain of the ship was negligent in deciding to anchor in a winter storm, rather than steaming in circles while waiting for the weather to subside enough for a pilot to take the ship into port.

The ship was owned by Green Atlas S.A. of Panama and operated by TMM Co. of Japan. Both companies are owned by Taiheiyo Kaiun Co. of Japan.

Roman Silberfeld, the lawyer for the ship's owners, argued there was no negligence by the crew. Silberfeld blamed the grounding on three primary factors: faulty marine charts, unexpected weather and the failure of the pilot who was bringing the ship into port to warn the ship about the dangers of anchoring.

He said there was no reason to remove the wreckage because the oil has all run out of it and it poses no obstacle to navigation, shipping or use of the beach.

But the jury found all three defendants negligent in allowing the ship to trespass on the state's beach. Moreover, it found that the trespassing caused injury to the beach.

Jurors Willie Sadler and King Frey were not convinced the New Carissa's crew was negligent.

Frey, a former tugboat owner, said he fully agreed with the captain's decision to anchor off the mouth of Coos Bay to wait out the storm.

But jurors Jill Donaldson, Cindy Jorgensen and Mickey Ivey, who voted with the majority, all agreed with the state.

"I felt it was just common sense not to anchor a big, old flat-sided boat in a gale," Jorgensen said.

All jurors who agreed to be interviewed said the toughest part of their decision was deciding whether the damage to the beach was temporary and should be cleaned up.

"I just they felt they had to get back in there and clean up their mess," Jorgensen said.

The New Carissa ran aground on Feb. 4, 1999. After a week of being pounded by the surf, the hull cracked and oozed oil from the engine fuel supply, posing a threat to the endangered western snowy plover, Dungeness crabs and an oyster farm.

The U.S. Coast Guard set the ship on fire in a dramatic attempt to burn off the 400,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil, but the effort was not completely successful. The fire was blamed for weakening the hull, which broke in two, and approximately 70,000 gallons of oil leaked into the surf.

A tug hauled the bow off the beach, but it got away when the tow cable parted in a storm and ran aground off Waldport. Hauled off again, the bow was sunk by a torpedo fired by a Navy submarine on March 11, 1999.

Recycling continues at Seahawks Stadium

SEATTLE -- You might think that after kickoff, football fans aren't too interested in recycling, but you'd be wrong.

In Seattle this season, Seahawk fans at the new stadium have saved an estimated 100,000 plastic bottles (that's more than 5 tons) and 35 tons of cardboard. The Seahawks, First & Goal and Seattle Public Utilities celebrated the milestone Thursday, which was America Recycles Day.

The Seahawks Stadium program relies, in part, on its simplicity and color coding. With the slogan, "Go Blue to Recycle!," the program features distinctive blue bins distributed throughout the stadium to allow fans to recycle plastic bottles.

The bins are part of the utility's Public Place Event Recycling pilot program, which collected more than 25 tons of plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard at 10 community festivals this year.

$500,000 for Columbia ballast water study

PORTLAND -- Portland State University's Center for Lakes and Reservoirs has started to work on the Columbia River Aquatic Nuisance Species Initiative.

The initiative is a joint effort by PSU, the ports of Astoria and Portland and Sen. Ron Wyden. The goal is to reduce the threat of invasive aquatic plants and animals introduced to the Columbia through shipping activities.

With a $500,000 federal grant, officials of the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs say they will develop tools to enforce ballast water management regulations and examine the organisms introduced to the river from the discharge of ballast and through hull fouling.

Through support of the initiative, the Oregon Legislature last year established a program that requires, with certain exceptions, that cargo vessels on transoceanic voyages exchange their ballast water in mid-ocean before calling on Oregon ports. The law also requires that vessels on coastal voyages from domestic ports to Oregon ports exchange any ballast taken onboard in a West Coast port south of 40 degrees north latitude and north of 50 degrees north latitude. The exchange replaces port water with the more saline ocean water, which kills invasive species adapted to lower-salinity.

The Center for Lakes and Reservoirs will conduct research to develop protocols to verify ships have exchanged ballast water. Current verification methods are inadequate, according to the center.

D.C. museum going 'Big & Green'

WASHINGTON -- The National Building Museum will open a major exhibition, "Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century," Jan. 17.

Through in-depth profiles of 50 contemporary green projects worldwide, along with a broad examination of global ecological and economic forces, the exhibition will demonstrate the powers of sustainable design. The project lineup focuses on large-scale buildings, such as skyscrapers, factories, stadia, apartment complexes, convention centers, shopping complexes and other megastructures.

Meetings and events on the environment

SEATTLE -- The following conferences and meetings are scheduled in the Puget Sound region:

• Commencement Bay cleanup. A key environmental cleanup of Commencement Bay will begin in less than a year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a two-hour meeting about the project at 7 p.m. in Room 104 of the World Trade Center, 3600 Port of Tacoma Road. EPA staff members will present project plans and discuss the activities planned for the next 2 1/2 years. More than 1 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment will be dredged in 2003 through 2005.

• Building Imagination. Learn what builders are doing in Seattle to foster the local living economy while delivering environmentally responsible development, designs and materials at "Building Imagination." The Nov. 21 event will be at NewHolly Community Center, 7050 32nd Ave. S. in Seattle. There will be a tour of NewHolly from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and a 7 p.m. panel discussion. Panelists are Chris Luboff, who works in waste management for the city of Seattle; Jeff Wartelle, a timber and forest management expert; Matt Freeman Gleason, founder of Environmental Home Center; architect Paul Olson of Jones and Jones; Mark Huppert, principal of Catapult Community Developers; and architect Christine Magar, who will moderate the discussion. Sponsored by the Seattle chapter of Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and underwritten by the Seattle Housing Authority and Windermere, registration is not required. For more information, telephone Ben Kaufman of BALLE at (206) 300-0115.