May 4, 2004

Environmental Watch: Chantal Stevens heads Sustainable Seattle

Stevens

SEATTLE -- Chantal Stevens joined Sustainable Seattle as executive director. Stevens has worked on natural resource management and environmental issues, including as manager of People for Salmon and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe's environmental division.

Stevens' background is in public policy and environmental law, watershed planning and public education.

Sustainable Seattle is non-profit that aims to enhance the long term quality of life in Puget Sound. Sustainable Seattle says its community sustainability indicators became an international model for how citizens can track quality of life in their communities. The organization was recently award an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant to apply its indicator work to Seattle neighborhoods.

Pleus joins EPA science panel

Pleus

SEATTLE -- Dr. Richard C. Pleus, director and toxicologist of the Seattle-based health consulting and research firm Intertox, will serve on a science review board of the U.S. EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel in Arlington, Va.

Congress established the 11-member panel to give scientific advice to EPA on pesticides' impact on human health and the environment. The review will look at sensitive populations, such as pregnant women, children and the elderly, and the possible risk to workers.

Meeting Wednesday on shoreline rules

SEATTLE -- Peter Skowlund from the Department of Ecology will discuss the Shoreline Master Program Guidelines Wednesday at McCormick & Schmick's Harborside on Lake Union at 1200 Westlake Ave. from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The guidelines set rules for local planning and regulations of shorelines and give information on sources of funding available to put them into practice. The talk is hosted by the Olympic chapter of Northwest Environmental Business Council. Cities and counties must update shoreline master programs over the next decade.

Cost for the lunch is $45 for non-members. For more information, contact NEBC at (888) 609-NEBC or visit www.nebc.org.

Streamkeeper Academy offers classes

EVERETT -- The Adopt-A-Stream Foundation's Streamkeeper Academy is offering courses on Pacific Northwest streams, wetlands, woods, beaches and the creatures that inhabit them. Classes are held at the Northwest Stream Center east of Interstate 5 in McCollum Park, Everett.

Bird expert Sue Minger gives a slide talk on birds on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Seattle Audubon Society's Neil Zimmerman gives a talk on creating a garden for wildlife on Friday at 7 p.m. Native plant steward Donna Gleisner leads a walk through the area surrounding the Northwest Stream Center on May 15 from 10 a.m. to noon. Wildlife biologist Julie Stofel talks on the bald eagle on May 21 at 11 a.m.

Use It Again event this Saturday

SEATTLE -- Seattle Public Utilities is hosting a free event for citizens to pick up or drop off reusable items. The next "Use It Again, Seattle!" event takes place Saturday at the Northwest Center at 1600 W. Armory Way, behind Animal Control off 15th Avenue West.

SPU will accept clean items in good condition for recycling or donation, including furniture and appliances, except refrigerators and freezers. Reusable clothing will be accepted.

For more information, call (206) 615-0701 or visit www.seattle.gov/util/useitagain. For information on household hazardous waste disposal, call (206) 296-4692.

SPU presents BEST awards May 13

SEATTLE -- A forum on sustainable strategies takes place on May 13 at Bell Harbor International Conference Center from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Gifford Pinchot III, director of the center for business ecology at Bainbridge Graduate Institute, will make the keynote speech.

Seattle Public Utilities will present Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow awards to companies that recycle and conserve resources.

Sessions will include "Designing for the Next Industrial Revolution," "Increasing Profits and Saving Money" and a session with Sam Anderson, executive officer of the Master Builders of King & Snohomish Counties.

Cost is $75 for the forum. For more information, contact KaDeena Lenz at (206) 389-7302. Or visit www.ecd-sea.org/News_Events/events.cfm.

Septic tank workshops coming up

BELLEVUE -- Public Health Seattle & King County will hold workshops on how septic systems work and how to prolong their life spans. Safety precautions, maintenance, signs of system failure, and tips will be covered at workshops Thursday and May 15. The events take place at Eastgate Public Health Center, 14350 S.E. Eastgate Way in Bellevue.

For more information, contact Michelle Britt, operations and maintenance program manager, at (206) 205-8962. To find out about Public Health's wastewater programs, visit www.metrokc.gov/health/wastewater.

Soundkeeper cleanup May 15

SEATTLE -- Seattle-based Puget Soundkeeper Alliance is organizing an cleanup on May 15 at Seattle's South Lake Union Park.

More than 300 volunteers from environmental and community groups, Lake Union area businesses and associations are expected to participate in the cleanup from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at locations throughout Lake Union and Portage Bay. The event is made possible by a King County Waterworks grant.

Mayor Greg Nickels will kick-off the event at 9 a.m. at South Lake Union Park. For more information contact Chris Wilke of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance at (206) 297-7002 or visit www.pugetsoundkeeper.org.

Lead found in 6 Seattle schools' water

SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle Public Schools officials report the first six schools to have their water tested all exceeded federal limits for lead.

Dangerous levels were found at dozens of drinking fountains that children have used for years. Results announced last week were from samples taken at Fairmount Park, Olympic Hills, Schmitz Park, John Rogers and Wedgwood elementary schools and Nathan Hale High School.

The Seattle School District, which has been under mounting pressure from parents, recently ordered testing at all of its 100-plus school sites and began to provide bottled water at schools with older water systems.

The district will divert funds from other capital projects to pay for any remedial work needed after the tests and remediation plans are complete. The plans are expected to cost between $400,000 and $500,000.

Oregon county eyes West Nile tax

BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Deschutes County commissioners are expected to decide soon whether the county needs a new tax to pay for mosquito control.

The mosquito control district could cost taxpayers as much as six cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, the county's public health director said in an e-mail to The (Bend) Bulletin.

A recent study of the region's mosquito population found that the species of mosquito that transmits West Nile is abundant throughout Deschutes County.