February 5, 2002

Environmental Watch: Skinner

SEATTLE -- Lloyd Skinner has been named senior vice president at Adolfson Associates, Inc., an environmental consulting firm specializing in natural resource management, planning, Endangered Species Act compliance and environmental impact analysis.

For the past six years Lloyd has served as vice president and director of environmental services at Adolfson. In addition to continuing his role as a senior project manager, Lloyd will concentrate on strategic planning, quality assurance and business development for the firm.

2 Columbia dredge disposal sites nixed

PORTLAND -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has removed two potential sites from consideration for the disposal Columbia River dredge spoils.

The two sites are the nearshore site on the southwest Washington coast and the site south of the south jetty.

While the sites could be considered again at a later date, the corps said both sites needed additional evaluation and design work.

Six sites remain under consideration. The disposal of dredge spoils near the mouth of the Columbia has caused some controversy. Many fisherman in the area believe the spoils are a hazard to navigation.

Public comment on the remaining sites will be accepted until Feb. 22. A public hearing will be held Feb. 12 at the Red Lion Inn, 400 Industry St., in Astoria from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information go to https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/mcr/pubs.htm.

Corps reviews Fanno Creek project

PORTLAND -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating a restoration of Fanno Creek in Beaverton, Ore. The project, proposed by Clean Water Services, would place gravel and woody debris in the creek, in hopes of reducing flooding and improving fish habitat.

Work would be conducted at five different locations. As part of the work, wetlands will be reconnected to the creek and a culvert will be removed and replaced concrete, vertical slot weir.

The corps, as part of its permit evaluation, is accepting comments on project number 2001-00029. Email Kathryn.L.Harris //www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/g/notices/200100029.pdf.

Testing ultrasound to count salmon

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Ultrasound technology will be tested as a way to estimate the number of salmon that make it upriver to spawn.

Engineers at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory developed a long-range ultrasound video system about a year ago and will test it on the Kenai River in July.

State biologists long have used sonar to count fish swimming up the Kenai, but it has been, at times, impossible to differentiate between red salmon and king salmon or to calculate whether enough kings make it up river to spawn.

The new ultrasound device delivers images crisp enough to resemble video of salmon moving upstream. It shoots 96 sonar beams at high frequency and can discern objects up to 100 feet away, designers say. Software accompanying the sonar automatically counts and measures the length of passing fish.

If the camera can successfully peer through the Kenai's cold, silt-choked water and dense fish this summer -- conditions known to trip up less sophisticated sonar systems -- the state will begin buying the $80,000 units, said Debby Burwen, a state fisheries biologist who specializes in sonar counting.

With the current system, biologists rely on those pulses to open, close and restrict fishing, affecting the Kenai's multimillion-dollar sport and commercial fisheries.

Kings may be giants among fish, but their numbers are relatively small. They are counted in the thousands, compared with reds, which reach the Kenai by the hundreds of thousands.

If the king run looks weak, state biologists move swiftly to limit or close sportfishing.

Plan to breach Condit Dam moving forward

PORTLAND (AP) -- The nation's dam-licensing agency has not yet officially approved a local utility's plan to breach Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in southwest Washington.

But the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says PacifiCorp's plan to blast a hole in the 125-foot dam "would provide the best and most cost-effective means" for removing the dam and the sediments behind it while protecting the environment.

In a draft environmental impact statement, the commission said the plan has "unilateral support by all relevant federal and state fish and wildlife agencies and tribes."

PacifiCorp has proposed breaching the 14-megawatt dam in 2006 at a cost of $17 million, rather than spending $30 million to fit the dam with fish ladders.

The utility negotiated the dam-removal plan in 1999 with 14 environmental groups, the Yakama Nation and several state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Interior.

The plan calls for tunneling and blasting a 12- by 18-foot hole in the base of the dam, which would release 2.3 million cubic tons of sediment downstream.

Opponents call it the "blow-and-go" option, and say it would wreak environmental havoc. They contend PacifiCorp should have to dredge the sediments first. A 1996 environmental study, however, rejected two sediment-dredging proposals -- one expected to cost $56.7 million, the other $65.2 million.

To win FERC's final approval, PacifiCorp would have to agree to: Develop plans to protect public safety, control pollution from petroleum and hazardous substances during dam removal, protect and relocate western pond turtles in Northwestern Lake (the reservoir behind the dam) and address effects on private wells as groundwater levels drop after the reservoir is drained.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has the final say. It must find that the "blow-and-go" proposal doesn't jeopardize the river's threatened salmon and steelhead runs.

Only 13% of replacement wetlands work

EVERETT (AP) -- For nearly 10 years, developers who destroyed wetlands have been required by federal law to replace them -- 1.78 acre of replacement wetlands for every acre destroyed.

But a state Department of Ecology study -- as reported by The Herald of Everett -- has determined only about 13 percent of the man-made wetlands in Washington are fully successful.

Millions of dollars have been spent with questionable results, the study found. Mitigation projects typically cost $10,000 to $100,000 an acre.

Wetland projects by private developers were about twice as likely to succeed as public projects funded by taxpayer dollars, the study found.

Of 24 wetlands creation or restoration projects, the study found only three were fully successful. Eight were moderately successful, eight were minimally successful and five were not successful.

Last year, the National Academy of Sciences determined that the government is not enforcing the mitigation requirement. The rule was established because wetlands, dismissed for many years as just useless swamps, are now understood to be critical to watershed health.

Besides providing food for fish, birds, frogs and other animals, wetlands can reduce damage from flooding and help purify water.

The Ecology Department agreed to not identify projects by name in exchange for cooperation with the study. The department checked to see whether projects met permit requirements, then assessed whether the man-made wetlands provided ecological benefits and made up for lost natural wetlands