July 23, 2002

Environmental Watch: Triangle hires new senior associate

Perich-Anderson

Her duties will include dispute resolution for complex environmental issues. Perich-Anderson has over 20 years of experience as a facilitator, mediator and trainer in both the public and private sector. Her recent work includes strategic planning and large group facilitation in Pacific Northwest issues involving salmon and natural resources.

Perich-Anderson was formerly the owner and principal of JPA Associates in Seattle.

Volunteer Park trees added to 'heritage' list

SEATTLE -- The collection of trees at Seattle's Volunteer Park will be recognized this weekend as "heritage trees."

A bronze plaque proclaiming the designation will be placed near the largest copper beech tree in the city. Nearby are also several large giant sequoia trees.

The Heritage Tree Program is a partnership between the city of Seattle and PlantAmnesty. Trees are selected for recognition based on age, size, health, type, historical association and horticultural value. So far, 18 trees in Seattle have been named heritage trees.

The ceremony will be held Sunday, July 28, at 12:30 p.m. on the north side of the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Galer St.

Whitman to host renewable energy festival

WALLA WALLA -- The Northwest Renewable Energy Festival 2002 will be held Sept. 20- 22 on the campus of Whitman College.

Among the featured events and activities are presentations by Amory Lovins, author of "Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution." Also, festival participants will be able to tour the Stateline Wind Energy Center. Workshops on solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal and fuel cell energy will also be held.

For more details go to www.nerefest.org or call (509) 525-8479.

Festival sponsors include Whitman College, the Bonneville Power Administration, PacifiCorp, FPL Energy and the state Department of Ecology.

Fish-friendly hydro technology tested

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- Three hydropower producers have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to advance the development of fish-friendly, more economical hydroelectric turbine systems.

AmerenUE of Eldon, Mo., will test the Retrofit Aeration System on Missouri's Lakes of the Ozarks. The system is designed to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen coming out of hydro turbines.

At the Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River, Washington's Grant County Public Utility District will test a fish-friendly Kaplan turbine. The system allows salmon smolts to pass through the turbine without injury.

Public Utility District One of Washington's Pend Oreille County will test other devices designed for two-way fish passage.

Participants selected new turbine technologies best suited for their sites. The units will be monitored over the next two to five years for fish passage safety, water quality and instream flow.

The developers will share up to 50 percent of the costs for designing, operating, maintaining and monitoring the turbines.

DOE's nuke reclassification challenged

BOISE (AP) -- Attorneys for two environmental groups urged a federal judge on Monday to reject an Energy Department plan to reclassify rather than remove highly radioactive waste in Idaho, Washington and South Carolina.

"They want to call it something else and leave it in the ground above the Snake River aquifer," Snake River Alliance Director Gary Richardson said.

He said the Energy Department plan violates federal law and urged U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill to reject it.

But the federal government said the judge should dismiss the claim on grounds that classification of radioactive material is solely within its purview. Government lawyers have repeatedly argued that the agency is following procedures used for years and in fact has made no decisions yet that would be subject to court review.

Winmill took the government's request under advisement after a two-hour hearing.

The environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, sued last March after the Energy Department announced its plans for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

At Hanford, more than 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste are stored in 177 underground tanks, some of which have leaked over the years, sending more than 1 million gallons into the soil, contaminating groundwater and threatening the Columbia River.

Suit says Oregon seafood plant pollutes

ASTORIA (AP) -- A citizen watchdog group has filed a federal lawsuit against a Warrenton fish processing plant, claiming it discharges wastewater that harms salmon and steelhead.

Pacific Coast Seafoods says it is already cleaning up the plant after reaching an agreement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The Northwest Environmental Law Center filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Portland on behalf of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group and two local residents.

The complaint alleges Pacific Coast Seafoods and an affiliate, Pacific Surimi, have violated the federal Clean Water Act with discharges into the Skipanon River that reduced levels of dissolved oxygen and suffocated fish.

OSPIRG claims the company has released wastewater from its surimi processing facility without a Clean Water Act discharge permit and has exceeded the amount of discharge from its other seafood operations allowed under a 1999 DEQ permit. It wants the court to order the company to meet water pollution standards and pay damages for past violations.

Company officials say they have made several improvements to the Warrenton plant to reduce environmental impacts, and continue to seek a long-term solution in cooperation with the DEQ to bring the plant into full compliance with state and federal regulations.

"We have a plan that has been approved by DEQ, and is supported by local, state and federal officials," company spokesman Craig Urness said.

Idaho denies water request for power plants

SPOKANE (AP) -- Two large electricity plants proposed for the Washington-Idaho border should be denied water rights for cooling, an Idaho state official has ruled.

The power plants, which would be built near Rathdrum, Idaho, by Cogentrix Energy Inc. and Newport Northwest, have sparked a water dispute between the two states.

The plants would require huge amounts of water from the Spokane-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which supplies drinking water for more than 400,000 people in the Spokane area.

"A commitment of water for the sole purpose of power generation for a period of 30 years at the expense of other future worthwhile uses is shortsighted," wrote L. Glen Saxton, hearing officer for the Idaho Department of Water Resources. "Technology is available to reduce the amount of water required for power production."

The two natural gas-fired plants, proposed during the West's recent power crunch, would have combined to pull 17 million gallons of water a day from the aquifer.

Environmental groups and some government leaders argued the withdrawal of water was too great, since nobody knows the actual capacity of the aquifer. The two states have agreed to a joint study, funded by Congress, of the amount of water in the aquifer and how fast it is recharged