September 18, 2001

Environmental Watch: City Light plans wind power buy

SEATTLE -- The massive Stateline Wind Project being built on the border between Washington and Oregon near Walla Walla may have a wind power customer in the city of Seattle.

Seattle Mayor Paul Schell yesterday announced a proposed ordinance that would have Seattle City Light purchase up to 175 megawatts of installed capacity by 2004. Initially, the proposal calls for the purchase of 50 megawatts of installed capacity in January of 2002, increasing to 100 megawatts in August.

Wind power generally delivers one-third of the actual turbine capacity. Stateline is scheduled to be operational this January. One megawatt of electricity is enough to power about 1,000 homes.

The purchase, to be made from wind farm developer PacifiCorp Power Marketing, Inc., would be the largest wind power purchase by a public utility, according to the mayor's office.

Brightwater plant sites down to 2

SEATTLE -- The potential sites for the new Brightwater wastewater treatment plan have been narrowed to two.

In a joint announcement by King County Executive Ron Sims and his Snohomish County counterpart, Bob Drewel, the Edmonds Unocal site and a site near the intersection of state Route 522 and Highway 9 in Woodinville were recommended for further study.

The next step is review of both options under the State Environmental Policy Act and the Growth Management Act. Sims has said that a new wastewater plant must be up and running by 2010 to accommodate growth in north King and south Snohomish counties. A final site is expected to be selected by 2003.

It's estimated that the Edmonds Unocal site, on the Edmonds waterfront, would cost from $997 million to $1.12 billion to construct. The Route 9 site, in unincorporated Snohomish County, is estimated at $1.33 billion to $1.73 billion.

Snohomish airs critical areas update

EVERETT -- As part of its update of its critical areas ordinances, Snohomish County will hold a community forum to describe the intent of the regulations and solicit public comment.

Critical areas are environmentally sensitive lands that require special protection or impact public health and safety. Wetlands, steep slopes and aquifer recharge areas usually fall into the critical areas category.

The county is required to update its critical areas rules under the Growth Management Act.

The forum will be held on Monday, Oct. 1, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2624 Rockefeller Ave., in Everett. More information on the rules can be obtained by calling project manager Randy Middaugh at (425) 388-3311, extension 2306.

New reservoir underway in Des Moines

SEATTLE -- Ground has been broken on a new reservoir that will serve Des Moines and Normandy Park. The facility being built by King County Water District 54 is located on 11th Avenue South in Des Moines, by the current reservoir.

The new reservoir, combined with the existing reservoir, are expected to meet the district's water needs through 2020. Completion is expected in 2002. The new reservoir, with a capacity of 660,000 gallons, will enable Water District 54 to reduce its reliance on the Highline Water District for emergency water needs.

Skaar Construction is the prime contractor for the project, which is being funded through state Public Works Trust Fund and Drinking Water Revolving Fund loans. The loans will be repaid from district revenues.

Water District 54 serves 1,000 homes and businesses in downtown Des Moines and the southern portion of Normandy Park.

Seafood exec is new NW EPA chief

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) -- A Washington state seafood industry executive will lead the Environmental Protection Agency's operations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

John Iani, 44, UniSea Inc.'s corporate affairs vice president and general counsel for UniSea Inc., in Redmond, will become administrator of EPA Region 10, the agency said.

UniSea is one of the country's largest seafood companies. It operates processing plants and a hotel in Dutch Harbor and a storage plant in Redmond. The company is one of the largest subsidiaries of the Japan-based Nippon Suisan Kaisha.

Iani, a former aide to Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Friday he has had limited professional contact with the federal government's lead environmental agency. He praised the acting regional administrator, Chuck Findley, with whom he has "had a few conversations" and described the current staff as "professional."

Iani said he wants to make sure the agency provides timely and consistent answers to the industries it regulates.

"I am hoping to try and provide some real life experience in the job in terms of having to deal with agencies from an industry side," he said.

Iani said he was not active in President Bush's election campaign but was "very, very active" in Sen. Slade Gorton's failed re-election campaign last year.

Environmentalists cancel anti-Bush ads

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Environmental groups that have been the biggest critics of President Bush his first seven months in office said Monday that in light of the terrorist attacks they are pulling advertisements and withholding statements that criticize his policies.

"In deference to the fact that we need to pull together as a nation, we're not going to be making any kind of statements on the issues at this point," said Elliott Negin, communications director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"We want to show our support for the administration. This was a heinous act and it's unseemly for anyone to try to exploit this tragedy by pushing a pre-existing agenda. So we're basically just sitting tight," he said.

NRDC pulled an ad urging the administration to lower arsenic standards for drinking water and started posting Web site information on relief efforts. Other groups, such as the Sierra Club, sent memos to staff telling them to stop criticizing Bush publicly. The Sierra Club also pulled television, radio and print ads, shut down phone banks and removed Internet material seen as critical of Bush.

The two groups along with other environmentalists had been gearing up for Senate action on an energy package. They say how long they will sit on the sidelines depends largely on what Congress does.

Duwamish officially Superfund site

SEATTLE (AP) -- A 6-mile stretch of the heavily polluted Duwamish River has been named to a national priority list for cleanup. The listing was first proposed late last year.

The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the lower Duwamish River added to the Superfund list, which includes the nation's most heavily polluted industrial sites -- 48 of which are in Washington state.

The lower segment of the stream -- a drainage system for a heavily industrialized part of Seattle for more than a century -- will be studied to determine the extent and location of pollution, risks to humans and the environment, and possible cleanup methods.

The EPA hopes to identify sites that pose the greatest hazard and start cleanup there by early next year, said EPA Superfund program manager Lori Cohen.

Those responsible for the pollution -- and the cleanup -- have not yet been identified, though the listing followed failed negotiations between the EPA and two historic polluters, Boeing and the Port of Seattle.

The river carries chemicals such as PCBs, volatile organic compounds and heavy metals -- some found more than 4 feet below the river bottom. Pockets of mercury hundreds of times higher than state limits have been reported in areas of the river, and tests of some fish show increased levels of carcinogens, said B.J. Cummings, coordinator for the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, an environmental group.

The river, which empties into Elliot Bay at Harbor Island, also is home to threatened Puget Sound chinook salmon and coho.