Soundview hires Gangl as scientist

GIG HARBOR — Soundview Consultants LLC, an environmental, natural resource and land use consulting firm specializing in aquatic assessments, permitting and regulatory compliance, has added a new team member.

Kristen Gangl has been hired as an entry-level staff scientist with a background in fish and wildlife. She has experience in fisheries management, flow monitoring, water quality data collection, and biological sampling and monitoring, waste consulting and environmental policy.

Soundview has offices in Gig Harbor.

PSE redesigns contractor referral program

BELLEVUE — Puget Sound Energy said its Contractor Alliance Network program, CAN, has been recognized by the Association of Energy Services Professionals.

The referral program connects PSE residential and business customers to pre-qualified independent firms. It started in 1995 but was redesigned in 2012 to focus on energy efficiency and streamline operations.

AESP said CAN demonstrates how best to design and implement an energy efficiency services program.

PSE said it has started new management and training procedures, and improved the rating system for CAN firms. It also expanded the network to offer services to multifamily and business customers, and added a new “digital storefront” to expedite referrals and bidding.

From 2012 to 2013, PSE said the program had a 53 percent growth in network membership. From January to September 2013, more than $3.5 million in energy rebates went to more than 9,000 residential customers.

City looking for more ‘tree ambassadors'

SEATTLE — The city's reLeaf program is looking for people who want to be trained as tree ambassadors to care for urban trees.

There are three main parts of the program:

• Tree Walks show people local trees and engage the community. Learn about identifying trees and creating walking routes at the next trainings: Wednesday, March 12 and Saturday, March 15.

• Landscape Renewal organizes small projects such as removing invasive plants, planting trees and understory plants, and mulching. Next trainings are Wednesday, April 2 and Saturday, April 5.

• Street Tree Stewards adopt street trees and help them with work parties. Next training is May 17.

Learn more at http://www.seattle.gov/trees e-mail or call: treeambassador@seattle.gov or (206) 615-1668.

Forum Feb. 27 on Kirkland corridor, parks

KIRKLAND — A community forum will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Peter Kirk Community Center in Kirkland on the Cross Kirkland Corridor and the city's Parks, Recreation & Open Space Plan.

The CKC master plan includes intersection treatments, trail location, trail width and connections for pedestrians and bikers. The Berger Partnership is developing the plan and will have information about trailheads, restrooms, access points, parking and lighting. The city's goal is to adopt a plan in June.

The parks department is seeking feedback on updates to the plan, which is also expected to be adopted in June.

Information will also be available on the CKC Interim Trail construction and the Juanita Aquatic Center replacement project.

To learn more visit http://www.kirklandwa.gov/kirkland2035.

BLM forming new San Juans committee

SPOKANE — The Bureau of Land Management wants to fill 12 positions on the new San Juan Islands National Monument Advisory Committee.

Nominations are being accepted for:

Memebers are needed to represent a variety of interest such as tourism, ecological, cultural, tribal, public, educational and private landowners.

On March 25, 2013, President Obama designated the San Juan Islands National Monument, which covers 1,000 acres of land on rocks and islands and managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

To nominate yourself or someone else, submit a nomination form and a letter of recommendation from the groups or interests to be represented to the BLM Spokane District Office, attn. San Juan Islands RAC, 1103 N Fancher Road, Spokane, WA 99212.

The deadline is March 22.

Timber sales may be canceled for murrelet

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Department of Forestry has agreed to cancel more than two dozen timber sales on state forests because they threaten the survival of the marbled murrelet.

The proposed settlement was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Eugene in a lawsuit by conservation groups.

The lawsuit alleged the department violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect stands of trees on the Elliott and other state forests where the sea birds nest.

If a judge accepts it, the settlement will cancel 26 timber sales on the Elliott, and one on the Tillamook State Forest. It modifies one each on the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests.

It represents a blow to efforts to increase logging on state forests, which generate money for schools and counties and logs for mills.

Craig Ware joins Farallon in Portland

Ware

PORTLAND — Farallon recently added Craig W. Ware as a principal hydrogeologist in Portland. He has 27 years of experience in geologic and environmental consulting experience on the West Coast and nationwide.

Ware's experience includes due diligence, remedial investigation and feasibility studies, site remediation, redevelopment of landfills, stormwater permitting and source control evaluations, and sediment characterization and dredge permitting.

Farallon is an Issaquah-based environmental consulting firm with offices in Seattle, Bellingham, Portland and Sacramento, Calif.

NEBC lunch topic: streamlining MTCA

SEATTLE — Dave Bradley with Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program will discuss how the department is working to streamline the Washington State Model Toxics Control Act process and speed up the pace of cleanups at the NEBC Olympic Chapter Luncheon Wednesday from 11:30-1 at McCormick & Schmicks in Seattle.

For more information and to register go to http://nebc.org/EventDetail.aspx?Id=110 or call NEBC at (503) 227-6361.

Yakima switching to LED street lights

YAKIMA — Ameresco said it has been selected by the city of Yakima for an LED street light project.

The city upgraded 400 street lights to LEDs in 2009 using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. The new project will convert the remaining 4,000 remaining high pressure sodium street lights, as well as parking, parks and other outdoor lighting, to LEDs. The city will apply for state grants to help pay for the work.

In the past year, Ameresco said it has installed nearly 10,000 street lights in Washington cities including Longview, Olympia and Renton, and it was recently selected by Everett, Kirkland and Oak Harbor for similar projects.

The Framingham, Mass.-based company provides energy efficiency services, infrastructure upgrades and renewable energy solutions.

New simulator at Richland PNNL lab

RICHLAND (AP) — A new building at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will help the lab study how to integrate wind power into the power grid.

Director Mike Kluse says construction is scheduled to start in April on the $10 million building on the lab's campus in Richland. It will house a control room simulator that operates with live grid data.

Although the national lab has lost staff in recent years of tight budgets, The Tri-City Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1n13uuR ) it still employs 4,300 people and spent $936 million on research in the last fiscal year.

Bend landfill to turn waste to diesel

BEND, Ore. (AP) — Deschutes County commissioners approved a company's plan to convert waste from a southeast Bend landfill into diesel fuel.

The California energy firm — Waste to Energy Group — has been negotiating with the county for more than two years to install a steam boiler and fuel collection system at the Knott Landfill.

The company plans to inject steam under the landfill surface, speeding up waste decomposition. It will then transform the methane gas beneath the surface into liquid fuel.

The Bend Bulletin reports (http://is.gd/uui8D2) the project won't get going for at least another year because it needs environmental and land use reviews.

Some neighbors are worried about noise and pollution.

Ecology fines AvtechTyee $28,000

BELLEVUE — The Washington Department of Ecology fined AvtechTyee $28,000 for unsafe handling and disposal of dangerous waste.

Ecology said in a press release it observed violations during inspections between 2011 and 2013 before the aerospace electronic systems company at 6500 Merrill Creek Parkway in Everett came into compliance.

The violations include placing dangerous waste in regular garbage, lack of secondary containment for liquids, and failure to cover liquid wastes to prevent the release of vapors.

AvtechTyee can appeal to the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board.

Master plan workshop for Kopachuck Park

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a public workshop Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. on a master plan for Kopachuck State Park, a 109-acre marine park with 5,600 feet of saltwater shoreline near Gig Harbor.

The meeting is in the Commons at Kopachuck Middle School at 10414 56th St. N.W. in Gig Harbor.

The park was infested with laminated root rot in mature Douglas-fir trees and many were removed in 2012, but the forested campground is closed.

Kopachuck is now a day-use park and the plan needs to be updated.

Information is at http://www.parks.wa.gov/plans/kopachuck-jarrellcove/ Comments may be shared at the meeting or sent via e-mail to planning@parks.wa.gov.

TerraGraphics joins mentorship program

MOSCOW, Idaho — TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, a HUBZone environmental science and engineering consulting firm founded in Moscow, Idaho, has entered the Department of Energy's Mentor-Protege Program with Washington River Protection Solutions, an LLC owned by URS Corp. and Energy Solutions.

The program pairs prime contractors with established small businesses to meet subcontractors with critical skills and get help with government contracting.

WRPS is reducing environmental risks from the 56 million gallons of waste stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford. TerraGraphics recently opened a regional office in Richland. It will begin provide WRPS with assessment, monitoring, engineering, design and data management support.

Fairbanks subdivision plan withdrawn

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A controversial plan for a subdivision in Fairbanks has been withdrawn after a settlement.

The Daily News-Miner newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/1fy8IwS ) the Fairbanks North Star Borough withdrew the plan and opponents withdrew a lawsuit.

Last January, the borough's Platting Board approved the plan for a subdivision of 115 residential lots and a school site on more than 600 acres in North Pole — despite protests from area residents.

A local veterinarian appealed the decision to the Planning Commission, citing air pollution and density concerns, but the commission upheld the plan.

The borough and the appellants decided to settle without going to court.

City says Denny substation site is clean

SEATTLE — Seattle City Light has completed cleanup of the site where it plans to build the Denny substation, but construction won't begin until environmental reviews and design are complete.

The site is near Denny Way and Stewart Street. In 2009, City Light purchased the former Greyhound maintenance facility, which was contaminated with gasoline, diesel and waste oil. The utility demolished a maintenance building, and removed underground storage tanks and contaminated soils. A stormwater detention system has been installed.

The substation will provide power for fast growing areas such as South Lake Union, Cascade, Denny Triangle, Uptown, Belltown and First Hill.

Information is at http://www.seattle.gov/light/dennysub

Hearing Wednesday on changes to SEPA

OLYMPIA — The public is invited to comment and attend a hearing Wednesday on proposed changes to the State Environmental Policy Act.

SEPA was enacted in 1971, and requires identification and evaluation of probable environmental impacts before making decisions on projects, plans, programs and policies.

The changes would add flexibility for cities and counties in determining exemption levels, and expand the comment period.

The comment period runs until Feb. 5. To comment, email separulemaking@ecy.wa.gov, fax (360) 407-6904 or mail Fran Sant, Department of Ecology, PO Box 47703, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 .

The presentation on Wednesday will cover the proposed changes and have time for questions and answers. It will be at the Department of Ecology offices in Lacey at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

New national monument in Idaho?

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) — Blaine County commissioners in central Idaho have agreed to draft a resolution describing what they'd like to see in a presidential proclamation designating a Boulder-White Clouds National Monument.

Commissioners say they want to take additional comments from the public before drafting the resolution.

The Boulder-White Clouds is a 500,000-acre roadless area in east-central Idaho. Parts of lands have been considered before for either monument or protected wilderness status.

Presidents have the sole authority to protect land under national monument status. Motorcycle riders and snowmobilers say monument status could prevent them from entering the area.

Peters named to state parks board

OLYMPIA — Douglas D. Peters of Selah was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to a six-year term on the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Peters was a founder of the Yakima Greenway Foundation and is on the board of Yakima Greenway Endowment, a group formed to create an 11-mile recreation trail along the Naches and Yakima rivers near Yakima.

He was the city attorney for Selah and Naches, and had a law practice in Central Washington.

New name for Northwest Energy Angels

SEATTLE — Northwest Energy Angels, founded in 2006 as an angel funding group focused on clean technology and sustainability, has changed its name to Element 8, which is the atomic expression for oxygen, and redesigned its website at http://www.element8angels.com.

The group says it has a portfolio of 43 early-stage companies with a range of products, services and market sectors in North America.

Stoke, a brand design firm, worked on the name and messaging. Element 8 said in a press release that the name “evokes the aspirations of our work: clean air, clean water, an abundant element essential for life and health. And oxygen is a change agent, as are we.”