August 7, 2001

Environmental Watch: Bremerton avoids water restrictions

BREMERTON (AP) -- City water customers have cut their usage by 10 percent compared with last summer, thereby likely avoiding mandatory watering restrictions.

Kathleen Cahall, the city's water resources manager, said usage dropped from 10 million gallons last July to 9 million gallons this year. Rainfall totals were about the same during both periods.

Mandatory restrictions, such as assigned days for watering, had been under consideration because the city's Casad Reservoir is 20 percent lower than officials would like. But Cahall said it now appears such restrictions won't be necessary -- barring unforeseen circumstances, such as a breakdown in equipment.

Some people have allowed their yards to go brown, Cahall said. Others have taken steps to reduce indoor water use, such as taking shorter showers.

Large water customers, such as parks, schools, cemeteries and golf courses have learned to be more efficient in keeping their grass green, she said.

People also seem to be spreading out their water use, which helps reduce peak demands that cause water pumps to run more often.

In a normal year, about 65 percent of Bremerton's water comes from the reservoir; the rest comes from wells. This year, those numbers are reversed.

Since last October, rainfall at the reservoir has been about 32 percent below normal.

Overlake Transit Center underway

REDMOND -- A major Eastside employment center is getting a new a transit facility.

This morning, Sound Transit and partners King County, the city of Redmond, the Federal Transit Administration and Microsoft will hold an official groundbreaking ceremony for the new $8.5 million Overlake Transit Center.

The nine acre facility will provide 230 park and ride stalls and bus transfer facilities for riders of Sound Transit King County Metro and Community Transit buses. Shuttles from nearby employers, like Microsoft, will also use the transit center.

Bicycle commuters will have three different options for securing their bicycles as well as lockers and a changing room.

An estimated 20,000 jobs are within a short distance of the transit center site. Wilder Construction won the $5 million contract for the heavy civil portion of the job.

Hastings joins EHS-International

BELLEVUE -- David Hastings, a Certified Industrial Hygienist, has joined EHS-International, Inc. as manager of industrial hygiene and safety services.

Hastings has over 20 years of experience in the field, 15 of those in the Pacific Northwest. Most recently he was industrial hygiene manager for NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. He also served as senior compliance officer for the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries for eight years.

EHS-International is an engineering and industrial hygiene firm specializing in the hazardous materials identification, management and abatement and occupational health and safety.

Built-e adds sales staff

SEATTLE -- Patty Southard has joined Built-e, Inc. as an outside salesperson.

Southard comes to Built-e from Duluth Timber Co. where she was a manager and salesperson. She will be Built-e's first staff member dedicated to outside sales.

Built-e provides sustainable building materials as well as project consulting and referral services from its e-commerce web site, , and the Seattle retail operation at the Environmental home Center.

Bremerton avoids water restrictions

BREMERTON (AP) -- City water customers have cut their usage by 10 percent compared with last summer, thereby likely avoiding mandatory watering restrictions.

Kathleen Cahall, the city's water resources manager, said usage dropped from 10 million gallons last July to 9 million gallons this year. Rainfall totals were about the same during both periods.

Mandatory restrictions, such as assigned days for watering, had been under consideration because the city's Casad Reservoir is 20 percent lower than officials would like. But Cahall said it now appears such restrictions won't be necessary -- barring unforeseen circumstances, such as a breakdown in equipment.

Some people have allowed their yards to go brown, Cahall said. Others have taken steps to reduce indoor water use, such as taking shorter showers.

Large water customers, such as parks, schools, cemeteries and golf courses have learned to be more efficient in keeping their grass green, she said.

People also seem to be spreading out their water use, which helps reduce peak demands that cause water pumps to run more often.

In a normal year, about 65 percent of Bremerton's water comes from the reservoir; the rest comes from wells. This year, those numbers are reversed.

Since last October, rainfall at the reservoir has been about 32 percent below normal.

Portland water supply protected

WASHINGTON (AP) -- All that stands between the Little Sandy watershed and nearly 3,000 additional acres is President Bush's signature.

The Senate on Friday passed a bipartisan bill that would add 2,980 acres of federal land to the watershed as a southern buffer for Portland's Bull Run water supply system.

The bill, which has the support of most of Oregon's congressional delegation, now heads to the White House where Bush is expected to sign it into law.

It would prohibit logging, road construction and public access on the acreage, enhancing the 95,382-acre Bull Run system which supplies drinking water to 800,000 residents in the Portland metro area.

The Little Sandy serves as crucial habitat for endangered fish and trout runs, supporters said, particularly because Portland General Electric plans to decommission its fish-impeding dam on the river. The bill authorizes $10 million to be spent on watershed restoration in Clackamas County to benefit endangered fish runs. "The Little Sandy will be the centerpiece of a very aggressive effort to restore salmon," said Portland Commissioner Erik Sten, who oversees the city's response to the Endangered Species Act.

Advocates have been trying to secure protection for the Little Sandy since 1994.

EPA considers limiting special gasoline blends

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said she is considering reducing the number of special gasoline blends used around the country to help promote cleaner air.

In an interview published Monday in USA Today, EPA administrator Christie Whitman said that limiting the number of so-called "boutique blends" to three or four formulas could increase fuel supplies and help prevent large spikes in the prices drivers see at the pump.

She said, however, that the approach, which is also under consideration in Congress, is not without problems.

"It is very much a states' rights issue," Whitman, the former governor of New Jersey, told the newspaper. "Boutique fuels are a result of states making independent decisions about (meeting) their clean-air requirements. ... That's not to say we wouldn't eventually" cut the number of fuels.

Currently a dozen or so gasoline blends are in use nationwide.

According to the oil industry, specialty blends designed for local needs lead to increases in gasoline prices as refiners switch to producing them each summer and fall.

Environmentalists, the newspaper reported, said they wouldn't object to fewer boutique fuels so long as the states are allowed to try new blends to make the air cleaner.

Free trips offered for clean air

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Need a car for a quick spin around town? Help yourself.

A new clean-air program is giving low- to moderate-income residents access to city-owned electric vehicles for free as part of a $300,000 state pilot program to cut pollution. Anaheim purchased 10 electric cars and placed them in areas targeted for redevelopment.

Following a drivers' license check, any resident living in a complex where the cars are garaged can borrow one and go for a drive.

The cars, called neighborhood electric vehicles, are not designed to replace full-sized automobiles but are useful for making quick neighborhood trips, said Tom Zabriskie, a division manager for a dealership that sells the vehicles.

"It's designed for 75 percent of those trips we take that are local," he said.

Now what about those geese

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A bar owner in the tourist town of Te Anau has introduced a special: beer-for-birds.

Fed up with the damage magpies are doing to Fiordland's native birds, Neil McDowall has offered a free two liter jug of draft beer for each dead magpie presented to staff at Moose Care and Bar.

The magpies, which are not native to New Zealand, also have become aggressive toward children and adults in parts of the town.

Magpies are known for protecting their young by swooping down at humans who stray too close to nesting areas. Magpies also kill the fledglings of native birds and break unhatched eggs.

McDowall said the bounty has so far cost the bar about four 50-liter kegs of beer -- or a total of 52 gallons. The beer-for-birds offer will end when the local duck-shooting season finishes next month, he said.