June 10, 2003

Environmental Watch: County plans two more co-gen facilities

SEATTLE -- The Cedar Hills Regional Landfill isn't the only spot where King County plans to convert waste to clean energy. The county's Wastewater Treatment Division is preparing to issue requests for proposals to build co-generation facilities at the South Treatment Plant in Renton and West Point Treatment Plant in Magnolia near Discovery Park, said county program manager Greg Bush.

The facilities will generate electricity using gas and heat produced by the plants. The estimated construction cost for the South Treatment Plant is $15.5 million. The project will use gas turbine generators, which work like jet engines. The construction estimate for West Point is $6 million. A RFP has been issued for engine generators, which are comparable to car engines. The equipment deadline is July 15.

In other waste-to-energy news, a fuel-cell gas-to-energy facility also at the South Treatment Plant is scheduled to begin operations in September, Bush said. Hawk Mechanical is the contractor and Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy Inc. is scheduled to ship equipment July 9.

Locke backs three new water bills

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Gary Locke is pressing state lawmakers to pass three bills that he says would boost conservation efforts, clarify water rights and transfer more water-management decisions to the local level.

House Bill 1336 would provide continued state funding and the authority for local communities to put watershed plans into action, according to the Washington Department of Ecology. House Bill 1338 would let cities, towns and other public water suppliers use existing water rights to meet future community growth needs; it also would offer conservation incentives.

Senate Bill 5028 would forbid Ecology from using water-quality law to restrict diversion or withdrawal allowed under existing water rights. It would also boost the maximum daily illegal water-use penalty from $100 to $5,000. Locke is urging lawmakers to pass the three laws by the end of this week's special session.

EnviroIssues expands staff in Seattle

SEATTLE -- The Seattle-based technology and policy consulting firm EnviroIssues added four employees to its 26-employee staff.

Susan Serres, who has managed projects and studies for the Washington State Department of Transportation and Bellevue Transportation Department, will specialize in transportation and environmental issues. University of Puget Sound graduate Tom DePonty will work on transportation projects. Kristine dos Remedios, a graduate student in urban and regional planning at Portland State University, will support EnvirIssues' Seattle and Portland offices. Courtney Caughey will support public outreach efforts as a summer intern.

Cleanup plan drafted for North Creek

BELLEVUE-- People who come in contact with water from North Creek risk illness due to pollutants including failing septic systems, pet and horse wastes, and lawn and garden products, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.

Ecology is seeking public comment on a proposed water quality action plan aimed at making the creek clean enough to play in.

The plan outlines steps that local governments and private property owners can take to reduce fecal coliform bacteria in the creek, which runs from Everett to Bothell before entering the Sammamish River. Ecology proposes pet-waste programs, stormwater management improvements, assistance for septic-system owners and monitoring streams to track progress.

Ecology will hold a public meeting June 11 at the Knights of Columbus Meeting Hall, 24323 Bothell-Everett Highway (SR 527) in Bothell. An open house starts at 6 p.m. and presentations at 7 p.m. E-mail comments on the draft plan by June 20 to rsvr461@ecy.wa.gov, or mail to Ralph Svrjcek, Department of Ecology, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue, WA 98008-5452. For more information, call Svrjcek at (425) 649-7165.

(Note: An incorrect date for the public meeting was listed in the first publication of this story. The meeting will be held June 11, not July 11.)

Cedar River Watershed tours to start

NEAR NORTH BEND -- Those interested in seeing firsthand where most of King County's water comes from are invited by Seattle Public Utilities to tour the protected Cedar River Watershed.

Located in the Cascade Foothills, the 91-339-acre watershed provides nearly 70 percent of the drinking water the utility delivers to 1.3 million county residents. Scheduled for weekends and selected weekdays from June 28 to Aug. 31, the naturalist-led tours will start at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center, which offers a cultural heritage library and an interactive watershed display.

For more information or to reserve a spot, call the SPU public programs information line at (206) 233-1515, or e-mail celese.brune<@>seattle.gov. For a preview, visit http://www.seattle.gov/util/virtualtour/.

Two groups assess state forestry practices

OLYMPIA -- Two accredited forest-certification groups will begin independent assessments of forestry on state-owned lands.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources will use independent assessments by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative to determine whether to apply either of the certification systems to state-owned forests, public lands commissioner Doug Sutherland said in a DNR news release.

The Forest Stewardship Council was established in 1993 by business, environmental and business groups. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative was established in 1994 by the American Forest & Paper Association, the national trade association of the forest products industry. Forest management policies in Washington are guided by DNR's Forest Resource Plan. The plan will be updated over the next two years with information gathered during assessments by both groups.

Policymakers asked to protect oceans

SEATTLE -- Environmental advocates are asking elected officials to be more aggressive in safeguarding the region's ocean environment.

Responding to a recent study by the Pew Oceans Commission that recommended a dramatic shift in federal ocean policy, Northwest scientists and activists are asking regional policymakers to pursue similar changes to policies that impact Pacific environments and coasts.

In "America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Chance," the independent commission concluded that ocean ecosystems are collapsing and ocean wildlife is declining due to overfishing at sea, overdevelopment along the coasts and increasing pollution from cities and fields. The three-year study of the nation's oceans calls for immediate reform of U.S. ocean laws.

Noting environmental concerns and the importance of ocean ecosystems to the region's tourism and fishing economies, organizations including the California-based Surfrider Foundation and Seattle-based People for Puget Sound want stronger pollution and coastal habitat laws, and a system of protected marine reserves.