October 7, 2003

Environmental Watch: SPU sets meetings on new drainage plan

SEATTLE -- Seattle Public Utilities will discuss its proposed Comprehensive Drainage Plan at two community meetings this month.

SPU is examing how it manages flood protection, habitat preservation and enhancement, water quality, public assets and other stormwater issues.

The agency will discuss the plan at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Camp Long Environmental Education Center at 5200 35th Ave. S.W. in West Seattle; and at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at Seattle City Light North Service Center at 1300 N. 97th St. For information contact Darla Inglis at (206) 733-9196 or e-mail drainage.plan@seattle.gov.

Seattle wetlands conference Oct. 30-31

SEATTLE -- Regulation of wetlands by local, state and federal agencies will highlight a Oct. 30-31 conference at Renaissance Seattle Hotel.

"Wetlands in Washington -- Regulation and Development" will discuss isolated wetlands, tribal perspectives, agricultural lands, shoreline regulations, "best available science," ESA consultations, 404/401 permits, interagency cooperation, ethical issues and wetland mitigation banking.

The co-chairs will be Buck & Gordon partner Brent Carson and Dearborn & Moss partner Alison Moss. Tuition is $695, but group, government, student and new employee rates are available.

For registration, course or faculty details call Law Seminars International at (206) 621-1938 or (800) 854-8009, e-mail registrar@lawseminars.com or visit www.lawseminars.com.

Stormwater Management opens Calif. office

PORTLAND -- Stormwater Management Inc. opened a Sacramento, Calif., regional office to support municipalities, engineers and developers, from the Bay area to Lake Tahoe and north to the Oregon border.

The Portland-based company hired Neil Erickson as regional manager. The Sacramento office will help cities with populations over 50,000 launch stormwater management plans, as required by Phase Two of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems.

For information, visit www.stormwaterinc.com or call (800) 548-4667. Reach Neil Erickson in Sacramento at (916) 635-0760.

Comments due on Sumas pipeline proposal

BELLEVUE -- The state Department of Ecology is accepting comments until Oct. 25 on a draft supplemental environmental impact statement for a proposal by Williams Gas Pipeline Co. and B.C. Hydro to build an 85-mile natural-gas pipeline from Vancouver, B.C., to Sumas in Whatcom County.

The GSX pipeline, or "Georgia Strait Crossing," would be routed through Whatcom and San Juan counties and would connect the Terasen (formerly "Centra") and Westcoast Energy pipelines. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave conditional approval to the proposal last summer. State, local and Canadian agencies are reviewing the proposal.

To download the draft SEIS, visit www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/gsx/. Submit comments to Sheila Hosner, Dept. of Ecology, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue, WA 98008-5452 or shos461@ecy.wa.gov.

Public workshops and hearings are Oct. 14 on San Juan Island and Oct. 15 in Bellingham. Details are available at the public meetings calendar at www.ecy.wa.gov.

BetterBricks green building awards Oct. 24

PORTLAND -- Architects, engineers, developers and green-building specialists will be recognized at the first-ever BetterBricks Awards luncheon Oct. 24.

Awards will be given for architecture, engineering, professional services, development and advocacy. Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc., will be guest speaker. The luncheon is $30. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Oregon Zoo's Cascade Crest Banquet Center at 4001 S.W. Canyon Rd.

BetterBricks, a program of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, provides information and services to commercial builders in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. For information call (888) 216-5357 or visit www.betterbricks.com.

BPA reports record fall Chinook return

PORTLAND -- Record-setting numbers of salmon are returning this season, including more than 581,000 fall Chinook, according to the Bonneville Power Administration.

Fish counters recorded three consecutive days in mid-September when more than 40,000 fall Chinook passed the Bonneville Dam viewing window, the highest daily counts in 65 years of record-keeping, according to BPA.

Officials with the Federal Caucus -- a group of nine federal agencies that manage salmon recovery in the Columbia Basin -- said salmon returns improved due to not only to favorable ocean conditions but to salmon recovery programs.

Federal Caucus officials cited technical improvements to hydroelectric dams, better management of hatcheries and restoration of streamside habitat. For more information visit www.salmonrecovery.gov.

Nike hosts renewable power workshop

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Business, government and nonprofit representatives will discuss the commercial and environmental ramifications of renewable power at a workshop at Nike's Beaverton, Ore., campus Oct. 16.

Speakers at the 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. workshop in Nike's Tiger Woods Center will include representatives of Stoel Rives, Batdorf, Clark County, Bronson Coffee Roasters and Nike, which buys a percentage of green power from local sources. Topics will include types of renewable power, how to overcome internal barriers, and how green power fits into Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

The $55 fee includes lunch. For information, call Diane Zipper of the Renewable Northwest Project at (503) 223-4544 or Barry Fuchs of the Northwest Public Power Association at (360) 254-0109. To register visit www.nwppa.org/GoGreen.shtml.

Booster shots may help save oak trees

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- The secret to preventing sudden oak death in coastal trees may be a gigantic booster shot.

University of California scientists have found that trees dosed with a chemical product normally used as a fertilizer can fight and resist the deadly microbe that has killed over 100,000 oak trees throughout California and Oregon since 1995.

The new application, approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, stimulates parts of the tree that produce disease-fighting chemicals.

At least 60 percent of the oak trees susceptible to sudden oak death are on private coastal property, so homeowners may benefit most from the treatment, said Matteo Garbelottoin, a University of California forest pathologist who discovered the effects of phosphite on infected trees in 2001.

Arborists and foresters who use the phosphite product, which is expected to cost about $30 per application, will have to be trained and certified before they can use the chemical on private trees.