April 9, 2002

Environmental Watch: BC Hydro signs 2nd wave energy deal

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- BC Hydro has signed an agreement with Ocean Power Delivery Ltd, a U.K.-based wave energy development company, to contribute to the development of BC Hydro's 3- to 4-megawatt ocean wave energy demonstration project on Vancouver Island.

The project will be part of the Vancouver Island Green Energy Demonstration Project announced by BC Hydro last June.

Ocean Power Delivery was short-listed from 10 international companies that submitted proposals for developing the ocean wave demonstration project. BC Hydro signed a similar agreement with Energetech Australia in February to demonstrate a different shore-based ocean wave technology on the Island.

Ocean Power Delivery has developed a floating offshore wave energy converter called the Pelamis, a semi-submerged, articulated machine that has several hinged joints, each with a hydraulic pump inside. The relative motion of the sections, due to wave action, activates the pumps, which drive electric generators.

BC Hydro's decision to develop ocean wave energy on Vancouver Island resulted from its study of potential green energy resources for British Columbia. The first part of the study, completed early in 2001, focused on Vancouver Island and identified strong potential wind, microhydro and ocean wave resources.

AWB annual environment conference

SEATTLE -- The Association of Washington Business will hold its annual environmental conference beginning Thursday, June 6, at the WestCoast Grand Hotel in downtown Seattle.

The two-day conference features a range of seminars,including the Endangered Species Act, wastewater discharge permits, viewsheds in the Columbia River gorge and the environmental issues involved in transportation megaprojects.

The underlying theme of this year's conference is competitiveness. Recently the state's environmental regulatory framework has been roundly criticized for harming the state's business climate.

For the first time in the conference's 11-year history it is being presented in conjunction with the Northwest Environmental Business Council. There will also be a tradeshow, with exhibits from about 30 companies. Sponsors include Preston Gates & Ellis. Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Kane Environmental, Landau Associates and URS Corp.

Pipeline bullet hole repair bill: $20M

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) -- The cost of repairing the trans-Alaska pipeline and cleaning up a 286,000 gallon oil spill caused by a bullet hole has climbed to $20 million, according to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

The company has nearly finished cleaning up the oil spilled north of Fairbanks last October after a Livengood man allegedly shot a hole in the pipeline with a high-caliber rifle.

All that remains is less than 1,000 gallons trapped in the gravel pad of the pipeline's access road, said Kalu Kalu, Alyeska project manager.

About $6 million of the $20 million cleanup bill was for labor costs and another $6 million will go toward the treatment and recovery of crude collected from the contaminated soil, Kalu said. The rest went toward equipment and remote camp costs.

About 176,000 gallons have been recovered and re-injected back into the pipeline, Kalu said.

The cleanup had to be finished before breakup so crude wouldn't be carried into the nearby Tolovana River by snowmelt. No crude should reach the Tolovana, but Alyeska will continue to test the river for crude this year, said Bill Howitt, Alyeska senior vice president in charge of the Fairbanks division.

Alyeska also will go back in May and plant willows and reseed the scrubbed area with grass, Kalu said.

Northwest Forest Plan to be revamped

PORTLAND (AP) -- The chief of the U.S. Forest Service says the Northwest Forest Plan's procedures have held logging far short of projected levels and has instructed several agencies to recommend updates to the Clinton-era plan.

Dale Bosworth told The Oregonian that the plan's cumbersome procedures have rendered the Forest Service ineffective.

Bosworth said he has instructed regional heads of the Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and other agencies to recommend alterations to the plan.

The Northwest Forest Plan, approved by the Clinton administration following a 1993 forest summit in Portland, set aside millions of acres of federal forests for protection of the threatened northern spotted owl and other wildlife while permitting logging of nearly 1 billion board feet of federal timber each year.

However, lawsuits and appeals by environmental groups, court orders and procedural demands kept logging at less than 200 million board feet last year.

Doug Heiken of the Oregon Natural Resources Council said the Northwest Forest Plan barely does enough to protect wildlife as it is. It's mired in lawsuits and delays because federal foresters have continued to log old growth timber in the face of increasing public opposition, he said.

Fish-friendly gardening workshop

SEATTLE -- Seattle Public Utilities is holding a hands-on workshop on environmentally friendly gardening. The workshop will be held Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m at the Delridge Community Center, 4051 Delridge Way S.W.

Participants will get hands-on experience creating a demonstration garden. Gardening experts Howard and Jill Stenn will teach proper soil preparation and plant selection. Participants will also learn about creek and wildlife habitats, how to reduce pesticide use and other creek-friendly gardening techniques.

The workshop is open to all residents; no gardening skill is required. Space is limited. Deadline for reservations is April 25. Call (206) 684-4163 or email bob.spencer@ci.seattle.wa.us.

Black River habitat is purchased

OLYMPIA (AP) -- The Nature Conservancy has bought two undeveloped properties totaling 124 acres in the Black River watershed, in an ongoing effort to preserve habitat there.

These acquisitions bring the total amount of salmon habitat, wetlands and uplands acquired by the national conservation group near Littlerock to 165 acres. The purchases are being made through a $300,000 Salmon Recovery Funding Board state grant.

The two latest properties are about 2 miles south of the Black River National Wildlife Refuge and across the river from the Thurston County's 1,020-acre Glacial Heritage Preserve, which includes some of the last remaining prairie habitat in the Puget Sound lowlands.

"With these acquisitions, we've protected some incredible salmon habitat and really strengthened the ecological health of Glacial Heritage," said Patrick Dunn, the conservancy's prairie restoration ecologist.

The newly acquired stretch of the river is home to salmon, several species of amphibians, river otter, mink, black bear and about 50 migratory bird species.

The Black River area in south Thurston County contains some of the best examples of undisturbed freshwater wetlands remaining in the Puget Sound area.

The slow-moving waterway originates at Black Lake near Tumwater and flows into the Chehalis River near Rochester.