June 18, 2002

Environmental Watch: Presentation on solar power June 26

SEATTLE -- The Central Puget Sound Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is hosting a presentation on photovoltaic solar power systems Wednesday, June 26, in the basement of the brick building, located behind the Phinney Neighborhood Center at 6532 Phinney Ave. N.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. It is free to EcoBuilding Guild members; $5 donation requested from non-members.

Presentations include Tom Allsopp, a Seattle homeowner who put a 1.5kw PV system on his roof. The house was featured in the 2001 National Tour of Solar Homes. Mike Nelson, director, Western S.U.N. (Solar Utility Network), will discuss how solar is being promoted throughout the state.

Also, Jeremy Smithson, co-owner of Puget Sound Solar, will discuss the nuts and bolts of installing panels. For more information visit the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild's Web site at http://www.ecobuilding.org/ or call Chris Herman at (206) 525-3969.

Shell kicks in for diesel reduction

ANACORTES -- A joint effort by Skagit Transit, the Northwest Air Pollution Authority and Shell Puget Sound Refinery will help reduce diesel emissions in Skagit County.

Skagit Transit, the local transit agency for the county, is converting its 18 buses to ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel operation. The conversion is expected to be completed by early fall, years ahead of federal mandates for low-sulfur fuel usage.

The project, aimed at removing up to 90 percent of hydrocarbons and particulate matter from diesel emissions, was funded by a $250,000 grant from Shell Puget Sound Refinery.

Those funds were used to cover the costs of installing soot filters and a fuel storage system. Soot filters in conjunction with cleaner fuel remove approximately 90 percent of the hydrocarbons and particulate matter from diesel exhaust, Shell officials said.

Wild steelhead return to Palouse streams

CLARKSTON (AP) -- Wild steelhead are spawning in tributaries to the Snake River in Whitman, Asotin and Garfield counties.

Biologists and technicians for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently completed the second year of a project to determine the extent steelhead are using small tributaries of the Snake River for spawning.

The department has long heard from landowners that steelhead use the streams, but had never documented spawning in many of them.

Doing so will help landowners and conservation districts secure money for habitat improvement projects and identify measures, such as replacing impassable culverts, that can improve spawning conditions for the threatened fish.

The number of fish counted was down this year compared to last year but that may be because higher stream flows made it tougher to detect the redds: gravel areas where eggs are laid.

The majority of fish surveyed by the department had not been marked by having their adipose fins removed, indicating they are likely wild steelhead.

But genetic analysis has not been done to determine if the fish are indeed wild.

Kalama, DOE agree on sewer upgrade

KALAMA (Cowlitz County) -- A cooperative agreement signed by the city of Kalama and the state Department of Ecology limiting new sewer hookups will increase the city's chances of competing for state funding to upgrade its sewer plant, according to the agency.

Because of ground water and faulty infrastructure, the Kalama treatment plant has been operating at its maximum capacity, with a growing number of permit violations even though only 2,000 residents discharge into it

The plant was originally designed for 3,300 hook-ups. Ecology says the discharge violations threaten the water quality of the Columbia River.

Ecology says the agreement provides a schedule for the city to complete planning, design and construction for the new plant, while allowing Kalama to grow.

Oregon students start Eugene Biosource

EUGENE (AP) -- Two University of Oregon students have established a nonprofit business promoting and educating the public about biodiesel, fuel derived from used cooking oil.

The nonprofit agency started when Ian Hill and Thomas Endicott gave up on their plans to market biodiesel they made from recycled restaurant grease.

The fuel worked perfectly -- Hill used it to run his diesel van -- but they couldn't turn a profit making 40-gallon batches in the garage. The smallest production volume that would be economically viable is about 3 million gallons a year, Hill said.

Rather than creating biofuel, they decided to promote its use.

Hill, a 28-year-old environmental science major at Oregon, and Endicott, a 30-year-old with a master's degree in public policy and planning, were joined by Endicott's brother, Josh, who has degrees in English and Spanish from Amherst College.

The trio will soon incorporate their new company, Eugene Biosource, as a nonprofit agency that acts as an information and education center for biodiesel and other sustainable fuels.

But they also expect to create a for-profit entity as well, one that brokers biofuel deals and helps market the product.

Despite the higher cost of biodiesel, they believe people will buy it.

"It parallels organic foods," Thomas Endicott said. "People will pay more for fuel that's cleaner."

Rathdrum Prairie gets open space plan

COEUR D'ALENE (AP) -- As homes creep across the Rathdrum Prairie into areas once reserved for farmland, Kootenai County leaders are mulling whether local residents will pay to protect open spaces.

Increasingly, cities and counties across the West are raising taxes to buy surrounding lands with cultural, recreational and aesthetic value.

Last year, Boise voters approved a $10 million levy to buy land in the foothills. In Missoula, citizens approved a $5 million bond in 1995 to purchase 1,500 acres. Since 1993, a Spokane County property tax has raised more than $6 million to buy wildlife habitat throughout the county.

Development pressure has increased on the prairie, as the surrounding towns of Post Falls and Rathdrum more than doubled in population in the last decade.

"It's a great approach if you have the ability to raise some money to do it," county planner Rand Wichman, who is spearheading a comprehensive plan for growth on the prairie, said.

But, Wichman said, "This area is pretty well known for not wanting to pay higher taxes."

Sharen Hauri, an open space consultant hired to produce a plan for the Rathdrum Prairie, said purchasing land is the most expensive option, best used in concert with other alternatives, such as tax breaks for farmers, purchasing conservation easements, and restrictions on development.