January 13, 2004

Environmental Watch: Landau adds staff in three offices

EDMONDS -- Engineering and consulting firm Landau Associates added employees to its Edmonds, Spokane and Portland offices and hired William Park as principal and manager in Portland.

Park will manage Landau's Oregon and southern Washington services. He has nearly 15 years of experience as a contaminated site cleanup specialist and managed regional construction/remediation operations and client services for an international consulting firm.

Production/file coordinator Jayne Bloomberg, environmental technician Mario Lopez, staff geologist David Nelson and accounting specialist Charlene Kerr will work in Edmonds. Staff hydrogeologist Ryan Molsee and senior biologist Bill Towey will work in Spokane. Technician David Moser, project engineer Scott McDevitt and senior technician Michael Vedder will work in Portland.

Herrera announces promotions

SEATTLE -- Herrera Environmental Consultants promoted Mark Ewbank to principal engineer, Theresa Wood to contracts director, Sue Dunigan to administrative director, Court Harris to senior engineer, Kris Lepine to project scientist and Katie Bullock and Kevin Houck to staff engineer.

Design competition for green rest stop

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Architects, engineers and college students are competing to design an environmentally friendly rest stop along Interstate 270 near the nation's capitol.

The federally funded contest is aimed at producing a Maryland Welcome Center that will demonstrate self-sustaining technologies while serving the toilet and travel needs of 1,300 people daily.

All designs must include self-contained electrical, water and waste-treatment systems for the 1,200-square-foot structure, said an aide to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., the project's congressional sponsor. Charles B. Adams, director of environmental designs for the Maryland State Highway Administration, said the project could be the first of its kind in the country.

AdvanceMed wins Hanford contract

RICHLAND -- The U.S. Department of Energy awarded AdvanceMed Corp., a California-based Computer Sciences Corp. subsidiary, a contract to provide services for the Hanford site.

AdvanceMed will provide medical surveillance, employee counseling, health promotion and disaster and emergency preparedness and monitor legacy health issues at the Richland site, the nation's largest environmental cleanup and restoration project.

The contract could be worth up to $96 million, according to Computer Sciences Corp.

Fort Lewis enviro work goes to Anteon

FORT LEWIS -- The U.S. Army awarded Virginia-based Anteon International Corp. a contract to provide environmental support to the Fort Lewis Public Works, Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

Anteon provides information technology and engineering services to federal government and international clients. The five-year contract worth up to $15.7 million is for information technology, environmental analysis and program management, according to the company.

Comments due on Cowlitz watershed plan

TACOMA -- Tacoma Power is accepting comments on a draft plan for fisheries and hatchery management to restore wild salmon and steelhead in the Cowlitz River watershed.

The plan, required by the utility's Cowlitz River Project federal license, sets strategies for fish passage, hatchery production, water quality and fishery harvest. Submit comments by Feb. 12 to Tacoma Power Natural Resources, P.O. Box 11007, Tacoma, WA 98411 or e-mail to cowlitz@cityoftacoma.org.

The utility will hold an open house about the plan Feb. 5 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge at 2501 N.E. Kresky Ave. in Chehalis.

Hearing on Columbia dam relicensing

EPHRATA -- The state Department of Ecology will hold a public hearing Jan. 20 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. about the Grant County Public Utility District's application to relicense its dams.

The PUD operates the Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project, which includes the Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams on the Columbia River. The application includes scientific and operation information about how dams affect water quality. The PUD proposes advanced-design turbines, downstream fish-bypass facilities and programs to protect fish and wildlife.

Prior to the hearing in the Grant County PUD's office at 30 S.W. "C" St., experts will answer questions about the relicensing application from 3 to 5 p.m. For details visit www.ecy.wa.gov.

Master Home Environmentalist training

SEATTLE -- The American Lung Association of Washington is accepting applications for a Master Home Environmentalist training session from February 3 to April 6.

The training focuses on how indoor pollutants affect health, and how to recognize pollutants and get rid of them. The application deadline is Jan. 22. For details call (206) 441-5100 or visit www.alaw.org.

Kent company wins green business award

KENT -- The city named vinyl manufacturer Mikron Industries as Kent's Green Business of the Year.

Mikron's Kent facility designs and produces window frames and other building materials. According to the city, Mikron recycles about 14.5 million pounds per year including paper, metals, scrap wood and industrial plastics. It also buys recycled-content products, and collects and reuses used vinyl products.

Skokomish Tribe buys Hood Canal marshland

SKOKOMISH (AP) -- The Skokomish Tribe bought 165 acres of marshland at the mouth of the lower Skokomish River on Hood Canal.

The site provides prime habitat for fish and wildlife, tribal officials said.

The tribe's natural resources director said the tribe will develop a stewardship plan for the land, which also includes two tributaries of Skokomish, Weaver and Purdy creeks. Restoration could improve salmon spawning and rearing grounds. The area also hosts birds, otters, beavers and an occasional cougar.

The tribe used $195,000 in federal Coastal Salmon Recovery Program funds to buy the land.

Oregon forest board sees green future

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- The Oregon Board of Forestry issued its vision for the future last week, declaring that 28 million acres of state and private timberlands should be managed on an international model of sustainability that recognizes economic, social and environmental values.

The 2003 Forestry Program for Oregon represents two years of work developing an overall strategy that will be the basis for board policy decisions over the next eight years. The Department of Forestry is beginning work on a companion strategic document to guide day-to-day decisions.

The document makes Oregon the first state in the nation to formally endorse the forest management principles of the Montreal Process Santiago Declaration of 1995, an international convention signed by the United States.