March 23, 2004

Environmental Watch: Rachman joins Riley Group

SEATTLE -- Environmental and engineering consulting firm The Riley Group hired

Elizabeth Rachman for its Seattle office. Rachman has ten years' experience in environmental consulting, including contaminated site evaluations and aquifer testing.

Workshops set on DNR forest plan

OLYMPIA -- Washington State Department of Natural Resources will hold public workshops to revise its forest resources plan March 22-25, 30, 31 and April 1.

The department will also do an environmental impact statement analyzing the revision.

DNR manages more than 3 million acres of state-owned trust forest land and commercial properties.

Workshops are from 6 - 8 p.m. For more information and for meeting locations, visit www.dnr.wa.gov.

Surveying Capitol Hill for street defects

SEATTLE -- The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and Sustainable Seattle will work with neighborhood volunteers to survey street conditions in Capitol Hill on April 25.

Deborah Kuznitz of Sustainable Seattle said groups will look at sidewalks, alleys and crosswalks. They'll use handheld computers to record places that could be hazardous and neglected areas.

The work is being done through a grant that will maintain staff, buy handheld computers and support a partnership with the Fund for the City of New York, which owns the ComNET software being used.

Other neighborhoods that will be surveyed are North Beacon Hill and Greenwood/Phinney Ridge. For more information, contact Deborah Kuznitz at Sustainable Seattle at (206) 357-5433.

NW ranks high for green power

SEATTLE -- A report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory ranked Oregon, Montana and Washington second, fourth and 10th respectively in a study on green pricing.

Green pricing lets consumers pay a premium to support electricity generated from renewable resources like sun and wind energy.

More than 500 utilities in 33 states now offer these programs.

The report compared market trends in these services, ranking them according to total sales of renewable energy, participant numbers and the lowest price premium charged for a green pricing service.

It named the green pricing program of Austin Energy as first in the nation, followed by Portland General Electric, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, PacifiCorp, and Xcel Energy.

Northwest Energy Technology Collaborative commissioned a study that has indicated technology-driven renewable energy sources could generate as many as 30,000 new jobs in the Northwest. The study also showed the Northwest is a globally competitive innovation center for new energy efficiencies in hydrogen, biomass and solar applications, with more than 225 companies working in these fields. For more information, visit www.nwetc.com.

Complain about air quality online

SEATTLE -- Olympic Region Clean Air Agency just launched a service for residents to file air quality complaints online. The agency has a form on its Web site to take smoke, dust, odors and air emissions complaints.

"With this new online service, we are trying to make sure folks can reach us in whatever way works best for them," said agency spokesman Dan Nelson. Complaints can still be phoned in by contacting (800) 422-5623.

The agency aims to protect and enhance air quality in Thurston, Mason, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Pacific counties. It intends to enforce air quality regulations at all levels of government. For more information, call (360) 586-1044 or visit www.orcaa.org.

Small farm expo in Enumclaw

ENUMCLAW, King County -- Washington State University Extension in King and Pierce counties, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, and King and Pierce Conservation districts will sponsor a free expo on March 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the King County Fairgrounds in Enumclaw.

Lopez Island farmer Dr. Henning Sehmsdorf will speak on small acreage farming and WSU Puyallup research station's "soil guru" Andy Bary will demonstrate how compost can be used as a soil amendment and mulch. For more information or a full schedule, visit www.metrokc.gov/wsu-ce/farmexpo or call (206) 205-3206.

5,000 respond to Ore. pollution proposal

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) -- Thousands of Jackson County residents are protesting a state proposal that would allow more local industrial air pollution, even though the county's standards would remain among Oregon's most stringent.

"A clear majority that we've received did not favor the proposal," said David Collier, air quality planner with the state Department of Environmental Quality, which received 5,000 responses to the plan.

The state Department of Environmental Quality proposal would eliminate a stringent emissions requirement on new or expanding industries that annually produce five tons or more of fine particle pollutants that cause haze.

Under current regulations, industries must purchase so-called clean air credits from other existing industries that have installed emission devices to lessen pollution.

Business leaders and the DEQ say that in practice, there are no credits available, making it impossible for industries to locate in Jackson County and create more jobs.

Oregon adds residents, but saves water

PORTLAND (AP) -- The pints and gallons saved by water-saving shower heads and low-flow toilets are adding up to substantial savings for Oregon homes and businesses.

The state added 250,000 residents in the latter half of the 1990s, but it's water usage declined by 12 percent.

The official estimate, reported by the U.S. Geological Survey, highlights how effective water conservation has become since nationwide water use hit all-time highs in the 1980s.

Nationwide, total U.S. water use increased 2 percent from 1995 to 2000, while the population jumped 13 percent.

"What the data show is that we can change how we use these resources; it's not something that is out of our control," said survey hydrologist Susan Hutson.

Conflicts increase between humans, cougars

SPOKANE (AP) -- Urban sprawl and shrinking habitat are increasing conflicts between humans and cougars, an expert on carnivores said last week.

More cougars, which range throughout the West from British Columbia to South America, are living near humans, Donny Martorello, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife carnivore manager, said.

"Lions are living in very close proximity to humans, and in many cases, those people are unaware they are there," Martorello said.

In 1996, Washington state voters approved Initiative 655 to ban the use of hounds to hunt cougars, forcing the wildlife department to develop new ways of managing the animals, Martorello said.

The commission that oversees the department extended hunting seasons, doubled the bag limit and reduced the license fee to encourage harvest of the lions, he said. More cougars are being harvested now than before the ban on hounds.