December 17, 2002

Environmental Watch: Captain's Table site targeted for cleanup

SEATTLE -- The Washington Department of Ecology last week announced that the owner and prospective buyer of a contaminated property in the Lower Queen Anne area are volunteering to clean up the site.

The property at 333 Elliott Ave. W., formerly was the Captain's Table restaurant. Many years ago it was occupied by Coleman Creosoting Works. The current owner, Pacific Sound Resources Inc., did not contaminate the site.

The prospective buyer, 333 Elliott Ave. W. LLC, has proposed a clean-up plan. Ecology officials seeks public comment through December on the plan.

To learn more, see http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0209070.pdf. Additional documents are at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/coleman_ creosoting/coleman_creosoting_hp.html.

Seattle U builds on-site compost plant

SEATTLE -- Seattle University will begin construction of an on-site compost facility in the coming weeks, university officials say. The contractor is All Purpose Structures of Fife, and CH2M Hill worked as a consultant on the project.

The 642-square-foot facility will be the first of its kind on an urban campus in Washington, the officials added. It's to be completed this spring. The total project cost is $182,000, including equipment.

The university now collects food waste and sends it to the Cedar Grove Composting Facility in Maple Valley. With the new on-site facility, Seattle U will be able to turn its average one-ton per week pre-consumer food waste, with yard waste and other feedstocks collected on campus, into a viable soil for use on university grounds.

The compost site will be on 13th Avenue between Cherry and Columbia streets in the recycle yard.

Rivers flow through school's ecolab

TUKWILA -- A group of builders gathered in Tukwila last Thursday to celebrate 14 months of work to create an outdoor classroom called an ecolab where children can study ecology and become stewards of their school site.

Children, staff and parents from Thorndyke Elementary worked with volunteer architects, faculty and students from the University of Washington's College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

The design resulted from a curriculum developed by the UW's Center for Environment, Education and Design Studies (CEEDS). Students in different grades studied different continents to learn how a major river affects the ecology and culture of the surrounding area.

The students used pavers to tell the story of a particular continent. The pavers lead to a gazebo where students can meet to study.

Architecture Professor Sharon E. Sutton said the ecolab uses cisterns and permeable materials to reduce water run-off and incorporates plants that convey the character of different bio-geographic regions in the world.

State bans transgenic fish from saltwaters

OLYMPIA -- The state Fish and Wildlife Commission has banned transgenic fish from Washington's marine waters.

The Legislature mandated the Commission to act, and the nine-member board unanimously passed the ban that will take effect in July. The Legislature acted after large escapes from Atlantic salmon fish farms several years ago.

Environmentalists hailed the decision but an official of Cypress Island Inc., the state's only marine fish farm, thinks the ban is much ado about nothing because no one plans to raise transgenic salmon.

"It's not even on our company's radar scope to pursue it," said Kevin Bright, Cypress Island's operations manager.

The Food and Drug Administration has not yet ruled whether such fish are safe to eat, added Andy Appleby, aquaculture coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

One company, A/F Protein in Maine, has developed what environmentalists call a genetically super-charged Atlantic salmon that Appleby said grows up to six times faster than natural salmon.

"The consequences of engineering such life, and the technology used to accomplish it, is still highly experimental, poorly understood and alarmingly unpredictable," according to a statement that officials of the Northwest region of Friends of the Earth issued.

The group cites a Purdue University study that determined if 60 transgenic salmon escaped from fish farms and joined a population of wild salmon, the wild population could become extinct in 40 generations.

"Washington state has taken a bold step to protect the environment by permanently banning genetically engineered fish," said Shawn Cantrell, Friends of the Earth's Northwest regional director.

Appleby said it's important to note that the risk from an escape of transgenic Atlantic salmon on the West Coast would be minimal, according to the department's analysis. That's because Atlantic salmon and Pacific salmon "have a very difficult time hybridizing," even in carefully controlled laboratory settings.

NW study disputes UV-B effect on frogs

SEATTLE -- Two new studies dispute the belief that ultraviolet-B radiation -- resulting from the thinning of the ozone level -- is the main cause in deforming amphibian offspring and shrinking amphibian populations.

"All the concentration on UV might have misdirected our conservation and research priorities," said Wendy Palen, a University of Washington zoology doctoral student.

Laboratory and field experiments have shown that UV-B causes deformities and increases mortality in amphibian embryos. That led some scientists to contend the thinning ozone layer might have contributed to declining amphibian populations.

A new study that examined UV-B levels in natural amphibian breeding habitats in Washington and Oregon found that the amount of dissolved organic matter in the water actually protects most amphibian embryos from harmful levels of UV-B radiation.

The study was published in last month's issue of Ecology. Authors are Palen, Daniel Schindler, a UW associate zoology professor; Michael Adams, Christopher Pearl and R. Bruce Bury of the U.S. Geological Survey; and Stephen Diamond of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A corroborating study by USGS researchers P. Stephen Corn and Erin Muths, examines breeding of the boreal chorus frog at a Colorado pond.

Palen said it appears scientists need to keep looking for causes, and that they could include a number of factors that vary across geographic regions.

Nevada signs alternative energy contracts

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Nevada Power Co. has signed six contracts with renewable energy suppliers, according to Sierra Pacific Resources. Nevada Power is Sierra Pacific Resource's utility subsidiary.

Wind Energy Weekly reported that the contracts could furnish up to 227 megawatts of electricity. More than half comes from wind generation, with the remainder being electricity generated by geothermal resources. The contracts are subject to regulatory approval.

The contracts are a first step in bringing the utilities into compliance with a state law that requires a certain percentage of electricity sold in Nevada come from renewable energy sources -- solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. The law requires an electricity provider to increase the use of renewable energy by 2 percent every third year until the provider's renewables portfolio accounts for 15 percent of its total energy sales.

The contracts are expected to satisfy the utilities' forecasted requirements for the years 2005 and 2006. Additional contracts will be necessary to satisfy requirements for 2007 and beyond.

"We're very pleased to be able to reach agreements with these leaders in renewable energy," said Walt Higgins, chairman, president, and CEO for Sierra Pacific Resources. "Electricity generated by renewable energy resources is a welcome addition to our power portfolios and will help us as a state meet the needs of the growing energy demands of Nevada's communities."

Nevada Power has contracted for the power output from a new wind plant in Clark County, Nev., called the Desert Queen Wind Ranch, to be developed by Cielo Wind Power, and a project in White Pine County to be built by Ely Wind Company, LLC.