May 13, 2003

Environmental Watch: Aspect adds two staff members

SEATTLE -- In response to what the company says is a growing need for environmental data management services, Aspect Consulting has hired two staff members.

Gayle Thompson is a new associate specializing in relational database design, implementation and management. Her expertise is developing database interfaces to GIS mapping, CAD and other graphing tools.

Ian Rashkin has joined the company as an information management specialist. His technical background includes SQL Server programming and development of Web-based data sharing tools.

Aspect Consulting, an environmental consulting firm with offices in Seattle and Bainbridge Island, provides earth science and engineering services, with expertise in water resources and groundwater hydrology, contaminant assessment and environmental restoration, and geotechnical and geological engineering.

Geotech specialist joins AMEC

KIRKLAND -- Timothy Huntting, P.E., has been added to AMEC's Earth & Environmental office in Kirkland as a senior project engineer. He has more than 20 years' experience in geotechnical engineering.

Huntting has conducted foundation design and site development projects for government agencies and private developers. Projects have included freeways, roads, stormwater and wastewater treatment plants, and buildings. He has done surface evaluations, deep excavations, geologic interpretations, laboratory testing and slope-stability analyses.

AMEC operates 90 Earth & Environmental offices in North America that specialize in environmental, geotechnical, water resources and materials engineering.

Portland shop may qualify for Superfund

PORTLAND (AP) -- Authorities have closed a Portland metal-plating shop, saying it posed an extreme threat to its employees, the environment and neighboring industries.

Columbia American Plating was shut down with little warning Friday afternoon, the day after a Fire Bureau hazardous-materials inspector discovered numerous violations at the industrial shop, including open containers of cyanide, hundreds of barrels containing dangerous or suspicious chemicals, and massive electrical problems.

Fifteen employees, all uninjured, are out of a job after the closure.

General manager Larry Anson said he probably would sell instead of reopen because he didn't have enough money to pay for the cleanup. He said he also expected to receive a sizable fine.

Authorities said a cleanup could take months, and the property probably would qualify as a federal Superfund site, which would trigger federal aid to help cover costs.

$46M Foss Waterway contract up for vote

TACOMA -- The Tacoma City Council is scheduled to vote on a $46.2 million purchase resolution with Manson Construction today to continue the Superfund cleanup of the Thea Foss Waterway.

Council members will consider a resolution to hire the Seattle firm to construct a sediment disposal site in the St. Paul Waterway, dredge and/or cap contaminated sediments, and construct habitat mitigation projects. If the council approves the contract, Manson will start construction this summer and finish in December 2005, according to a news release from the city.

Tacoma's Wastewater Management will pay $26 million of the cleanup costs, the city will pay $6.5 million and the Foss Waterway Development Authority will pay $2.2 million. Other parties deemed responsible for the contamination will pay the remaining $11.5 million.

Alaska Senate wants more roads

JUNEAU, Alaska -- The state Senate is backing a plan by Gov. Frank Murkowski to build roads to foster oil, timber and mining development.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Senate budget leaders want to give the governor $10 million in state funds to explore the potential of building roads in areas from the flat tundra of the North Slope to the mountainous rain forest of the panhandle. It is nearly half the $21 million state general fund spending increase the Senate Finance Committee has proposed over the current year for the capital budget for state infrastructure projects.

The $10 million is to start preliminary work on four or five potential road projects, said John MacKinnon, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The money will go to finding routes and starting the permit process, he said.

The state capital budget must go to the full Senate for a vote, then to the House. It calls for $131 million in state general fund spending and more than $1 billion in federal spending on a range of road, airport, water/sewer and port/harbor projects.

Habitat home will be Built Green

OLYMPIA -- A South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity project in Olympia is being constructed according to Built Green specifications.

Built Green is a residential program of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, though it serves other areas. The program promotes environmentally intelligent practices and products.

The Olympia project, for instance, is using HomePlate Siding. Boise Building Solutions makes the siding from post-commercial recycled wood materials.

Cascade Conservancy awards honor 5

SEATTLE -- The Cascade Land Conservancy will honor five individuals and organizations today at its annual Conservation Awards Breakfast.

Winners are King County Executive Ron Sims; West Seattle High School's Environmental Science Academy for the Hamilton Viewpoint restoration project; the Denny Creek Neighborhood Alliance's fish ladder team for a fish passage project; Skip Rowley and Rowley Enterprises of Issaquah for the Tibbetts Creek Greenway Project; and Oly/Intracorp for the Talus development in Issaquah.

BEST awards breakfast sold out

SEATTLE -- The Business and Industry Resource Venture's second-annual BEST Awards ceremony will be at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, 2211 Alaskan Way.

BEST stands for Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow, and the awards go to notable achievements in waste prevention and recycling, water and energy conservation, stormwater pollution prevention and sustainable building.

All tickets to the breakfast have been sold.