December 3, 2002

Environmental Watch: Study: It's either salmon or hydro

SEATTLE -- The Pacific Northwest can have salmon or hydroelectric power but probably not both, according to a new study.

The study examines the difficult choice to be made in the coming decades as global warming alters the region’s climate.

"The choices are rather stark," said Dennis Lettenmaier, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington and one of the researchers contributing to the study. "We asked the question, ‘Could you mitigate the effects by operating the reservoir system differently?’ And the answer, at least in terms of the fish, is probably not."

The study looks at climate impact as it relates to water resources in three major hydrologic basins in the western United States: the Columbia River; California’s Central Valley, which includes the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers; and the Colorado River.

Bill Pennell, director of the Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said the study underlines the need for planners and policy makers to pay attention to climate change.

Of particular note is the physics of the model, developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. In general, the model is somewhat conservative with respect to its projections of global warming, in part because of its representation of the thermal inertia of the world’s oceans. Also, use of Department of Energy computers allowed evaluation of a broader range of possible future outcomes, in recognition of the chaotic nature of the earth’s response to changes in global emissions of greenhouse gases.

Espinosa, Jones join Marten Law Group

SEATTLE -- Marten Law Group has hired Deborah K. Espinosa and Steven G. Jones.

Espinosa had been with the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of Interior in Washington, D.C., where she advised federal resource agencies on endangered species and public land issues.

Jones has more than 10 years' experience litigating environmental and land-use issues. As a partner at Foster Pepper & Shefelman, he litigated air, water, wetlands and hazardous-substance disputes in federal and state courts.

GZA expands into the Seattle market

SEATTLE -- GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., a geotechnical engineering and environmental remediation company based in Norwood, Mass., is expanding into the Seattle area with the appointment of Stephen Spencer as senior design engineer.

Spencer, who lives in Sammamish, worked at GZA in Massachusetts from 1994-97 and has supported GZA's East Coast operations from the Seattle area since.

In his new role, he will work with the company's Solid Rock Instrumentation Division, focusing on design and construction support services to contractors.

Celebrating an end to one cleanup...

LaCONNER -- The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Shell and Chevron oil companies will mark completion of a $4.5 million dollar cleanup of a hazardous waste site at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The event, which includes a news conference and a traditional blessing of the land, will be at the PM Northwest site, off Highway 20 in Skagit County, south of the March's Point Road intersection.

The PM Northwest Cleanup site was used in the 1960s to bury waste chemicals from refineries in four disposal ponds. About 58,000 tons of chemicals and contaminated soils have been removed and disposed.

...and the beginning of another

TACOMA -- The city of Tacoma will mark the beginning of the cleanup in the Thea Foss and Wheeler Osgood waterways at a 10 a.m. Dec. 12 ceremony at J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., 401 E. 15th St.

Elected officials, resource agencies, tribal representatives, environmental groups and business leaders will share their perspectives.

A one-hour boat tour of the cleanup sites aboard the My Girl begins at 11 a.m.

Early cleanup activities at six sites on the Foss and part of the Wheeler Osgood Waterway include removing old pilings, capping some of the less-contaminated sediment with several feet of clean sand, installing a sheet-pile bulkhead and performing bank restoration.

The total bill for the city’s portion of the cleanup is estimated at $35 million.

The city will clean up 80 percent of the Foss, an area extending from near the state Route 509 bridge to the mouth of the waterway. Three companies -- Puget Sound Energy, PacifiCorp and Advance Ross Sub Co. -- are negotiating separately with EPA to clean up the other 20 percent.

To sign up for the event, telephone (253) 233-1995. Let the city know if you intend to participate in the ceremony, the boat tour or both. More information is available by calling the above number or at www.cityoftacoma.org/fosscleanup.

Environmental workshops and events

SEATTLE -- Following is a list of environment workshops and other events in the greater Seattle area:

• King County is hosting public hearings on the draft EIS of the Brightwater Treatment System on Wednesday at the University of Washington Bothell campus in Building UW2, 18115 Campus Way N.E.; Dec. 10 at the Edmonds Floral Conference Center, 201 Fourth Ave. N.; and Dec. 11 at the Northshore Utility District Office, 6830 N.E. 185th St., in Kenmore. Each hearing is from 5 - 8 p.m. Two possible sites -- one along state Route 9 in unincorporated Snohomish County and the Unocal site in Edmonds -- have been identified for the plant.

• Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, will speak on "Natural Capitalism and Environmental Restoration for Fun and Profit" at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. Natural capitalism recognizes the interdependency between human-made capital and the maintenance and supply of natural capital. Lovins has made breakthroughs in fields ranging from automobiles to energy. He is an adviser to heads of state, author or co-author of 27 books and has won numerous awards, including Time Magazine's Hero of the Planet Award in 2000. For information, call the Bainbridge Island Graduate Institute at (206) 855-9559. A $10 donation is requested.

• Building with Rastra Workshop will be from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at 6527 21st Ave. N.E. in Seattle. Rastra is a recycled-content, four-hour fire rated, resource and energy conserving wall building system alternative to stick-framed homes. Participants will spend most of the workshop outside, learning handling and building techniques as they build foundation walls for a real home. Tom St. Louis, president of T.R. Strong Building Systems Inc. and a Rastra distributor, is the workshop presenter. Workshop sponsors are the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild (Central Puget Sound Chapter) and the Business and Industry Resource Venture. Cost of the workshop is $20 for guild members, $25 for non-members and $15 for students with ID. Pre-registration is required. To register, contact St. Louis at tom_st_louis@msn.com or (360) 705-2868. For details and directions, see www.ecobuilding.org/cal. For more on Rastra, see www.baubuilder.com.