June 11, 2002

Environmental Watch: Herrera Environmental adds four

SEATTLE -- Herrera Environmental Consultants has added four new hires to boost its restoration, geomorphology and permitting services practice.

Tim Abbe, a geomorphology expert and professional geologist, joins the Seattle office as director of river restoration and geomorphology.

Maeve McBride joins the Seattle office as an environmental engineer and geomorphologist, specializing in urban creek hydrology. Tom Parker joins the Missoula, Mont., office, specializing in upland and riparian restoration projects.

Astrid Dragoy also joins the Seattle office, specializing in environmental science and permitting.

Enviro search firm opens local office

KIRKLAND -- Executive search firm Wolf Environmental Group has opened an office in Kirkland.

Wolf, headed by Judy Stockton, specializes in the recruitment of middle and senior level environmental, water and natural resources professionals in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in Portland in 1991, Stockton says she chose the name Wolf because the animal represents "intelligence, integrity, natural beauty and part of the wild most of us are striving to protect."

New firm formed in Portland

PORTLAND -- A new environmental firm with extensive experience in the Northwest has opened its doors in Portland.

Natural Resource Planning Services, Inc., headed by Nancy Olmsted, provides wetlands delineation/restoration, fish and wildlife studies, Endangered Species Act and NEPA/SEPA compliance, natural resource/land use planning and economics, and client support.

Olmsted, a plant biologist, was most recently with the White Co. in Vancouver. She also spent time in the Portland office of Shapiro and Associates.

Bill Jones, a firm principal specializing in land use planning, formerly was general manager at the Portland office of Shapiro. Two other members of the firm, Rob Dillinger and Lee Burleson, also were previously with the Portland Shapiro office.

Ousted Idaho regulator gets regional job

BOISE (AP) -- Ousted Idaho Fish and Game Director Rod Sando has been hired as the new director of the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority.

Sando, who replaces Brian Allee, had previously served as chairman of the Portland-based authority while he headed the Idaho department.

Over his career, acting authority Director Jann Eckman said, Sando "has proven the value of enhanced citizen access to agency decisions and began a strong program of community based management."

Sando begins work on June 17 at the agency comprised of representatives from Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 13 Indian tribes. It is the manager of fish and wildlife resources in the Columbia River Basin.

After running the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for eight years prior to the election of Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura as governor, Sando was hired to run the Idaho Fish and Game Department in early 2000 after the Fish and Game Commission fired former Director Steve Mealey, who had clashed with the agency staff although had built a relationship with lawmakers.

But Sando, whose philosophy ran more toward conservation than multiple use, wound up clashing with lawmakers, landowners and others outside the department and was ousted. Some legislative leaders said it was at the direction of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne.

Officially, Sando said he resigned because of philosophical differences with the commission.

The Fish and Game Commission finally settled on department veteran Steve Huffaker as Sando's replacement.

Clean Harbors' Safety-Kleen bid OKd

BRAINTREE, Mass. (Dow Jones/AP) -- Clean Harbors Inc. says that its bid for Safety-Kleen Corp.'s chemical-services division has been designated as the only "qualified bid" received by the bankrupt South Carolina company during a recent court-sanctioned bidding process.

Clean Harbors, a provider of environmental services, is based in Braintree, Mass. It has been competing for the Safety-Kleen assets with Onyx Environmental Services, a unit of France's Vivendi Environment SA.

Safety-Kleen, based in Columbia, S.C., is one of the nation's largest environmental-services companies.

Clean Harbors also said that it has been notified that Safety-Kleen won't conduct an auction of the chemical-services assets, but will present the Clean Harbors bid to the Delaware bankruptcy court for approval at a June 13 hearing.

On Feb. 25, Clean Harbors agreed to acquire the chemical-services division for $46.3 million in cash and the assumption of environmental liabilities of about $265 million.

On May 15, Onyx North America Corp., filed an objection to the sale process with the bankruptcy court.

Whitman: EPA making progress with tribes

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) -- The head of the Environmental Protection Agency told tribal leaders that she's proud of her agency's progress in tackling pollution on Indian lands but acknowledged the EPA needs to do more.

At a conference, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman also presented leaders of the Swinomish Tribal Community, located near La Conner with a $1.2 million research grant to study exposure to contaminants from eating shellfish. She said it is the biggest EPA research grant ever given to a tribe.

Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby noted that harvesting shellfish is inextricably linked to Swinomish tribal culture. He said many tribal members consume shellfish in amounts 20 times greater than the average American.

Whitman said that despite possible cutbacks in funding for many federal agencies, "we were able to protect EPA's resources designated for tribal programs" in President Bush's budget request for fiscal year 2003.

Tribal leaders agreed the EPA's work on Indian land is improving but that much more should be done.

"Given that the tribes are still 30 years behind the states, there is a lot more EPA has to do," said Derrith Watchman-Moore, the environmental director for the Navajo Nation. She estimates water and wastewater needs on tribal lands nationally at $400 million