June 22, 2004

Environmental Watch: City prepares for West Nile fight

SEATTLE -- The city of Seattle may start using larvicide in water bodies on city-owned properties in response to concerns about illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes. Treatment areas may include water bodies used for fishing or recreation.

Crews may start the treatment soon and continue through October. The treatment area includes areas in Whatcom, King, Snohomish, Pend Oreille and Skagit counties where the city owns or operates facilities.

Among the likely application sites are: stormwater detention ponds, catchbasins and conveyance structures; electrical utility vaults; rights-of-way for transmission lines and roads; hydroelectric projects and parks/recreation areas.

Notification will be posted when insecticides with water-use restrictions are applied to water used for fish and shellfish harvesting or recreation. For information call Tracy Morgenstern at the Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment, 700 Fifth Avenue, telephone (206) 386-4595.

Short Cressman adds Acebedo

Johnson Acebedo

SEATTLE -- Cindy Johnson Acebedo joined Seattle law firm Short Cressman & Burgess as an associate. She will work on environmental and land use law, such as permitting, and on trial, mediation and arbitration litigation.

Short Cressman & Burgess is a full service law firm, with emphasis on construction, environmental and land use, municipal, real estate and tax law.

Farallon Consulting promotes two

ISSAQUAH -- Farallon Consulting promoted Lauren Carroll to principal hydrogeologist and Amy Essig Desai to associate scientist.

Carroll consults on risk analysis and remediation for dry cleaning and industrial sites. She uses forensic tools to study contaminant release dates and has provided expert testimony for mediation and litigation support.

Desai will work on site assessments, hazardous waste management, regulatory compliance and auditing. Desai's experience includes technical work on litigation support and managing cost allocations.

Farallon is an environmental consulting firm that works on litigation support, engineering and site remediation. It has a staff of 35, with offices in Issaquah and Bellingham.

NEBC golf tournament Thursday

MUKILTEO -- The Northwest Environmental Business Council will hold its annual golf tournament and barbecue on Thursday at the Harbour Pointe Golf Club in Mukilteo.

The program starts at 11817 Harbour Pointe Boulevard at 8 a.m. Costs start at $140. Call the golf course at (425) 347-2200 or NEBC at (888) 609-9322 or www.nebc.org for more information.

City panel looks at invasive plant plan

SEATTLE -- Seattle Board of Park Commissioners will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday at 100 Dexter Ave. N. There will be a staff briefing on the Green Seattle Partnership, an initiative that aims to restore in 20 years 2,500 acres of forest that are at risk of failure because of invasion by non-native plant species. For more information, visit www.seattle.gov/environment.

For more information, contact Sandy Brooks at (206) 684-5066 or sandy.brooks@seattle.gov.

Permaculture workshop this weekend

COCOLALLA, Idaho -- A workshop on permaculture, the design of sustainable human settlements, will be held Saturday and Sunday in Cocolalla, Idaho, near Sandpoint. Topics covered will include food production, sustainable housing, water harvesting, renewable energy and waste treatment.

The workshop will focus on small acreages, with discussions, hands-on projects and presentations. It is sponsored by Inland Northwest Eco-Center, Sustainable Urban Solutions, and the Northwest Eco-Builders Guild. Cost is $95. For more information, call (208) 263-9801 or visit www.gentleharvest.org.

Enviro justice efforts get EPA funding

SEATTLE -- The Environmental Protection Agency awarded three Northwest organizations grants as part of an environmental justice program for local environmental and public health projects.

Beach monitoring along the east shore of Puget Sound, toxicity monitoring by the Indochinese Cultural and Service Center in Pierce County, and a neurotoxin education program for residents in South Park, White Center and Beacon Hill are among the projects to receive $100,000 each.

Around the country 30 projects will share $3 million in grants. They aim to ensure fair environmental protection for people of different races, national origins or income levels.

Canada funds clean technology efforts

OTTAWA -- Sustainable Development Technology Canada approved $32.4 million (Canadian) to fund 11 new clean technology demonstration projects, three of which will take place in Vancouver, B.C. Demonstration projects focus on greenhouse gas emissions.

Lignol Innovations Corp. of Vancouver, B.C., will demonstrate a cellulose-biomass biorefinery process that claims to use forest industry wastes to create marketable products such as ethanol.

NxtPhase Corp. will use optical current and voltage sensors to control and monitor large-scale electricity electric power grids.

Sacre-Davey Engineering of North Vancouver, B.C., will demonstrate hydrogen fuel refining and distribution, showcasing fuel cells.

Records: smelter dumped tons of mercury

SPOKANE (AP) -- Newly obtained documents reveal the Teck Cominco smelter in British Columbia dumped tons of highly toxic mercury into the Columbia River for decades.

The smelter's record of dumping contaminated slag, a smelting byproduct, has been known for years. But documents The Spokesman-Review obtained from British Columbia's Ministry of the Environment shed new light on the extent of mercury releases from the lead-zinc smelter in Trail, B.C., about six miles north of the Washington border.

Calculations based on two Canadian estimates indicate that 1.6 tons to 3.6 tons of mercury were discharged into the river each year since the 1940s, the newspaper reported.

An October 1981 memo from B.C.'s environment ministry said Cominco had deposited about 20 pounds of mercury a day into the Columbia over many years.

Washington state officials said they were surprised by the numbers.

"We weren't aware of the quantities you are talking about," said Flora Goldstein, director of the Washington Department of Ecology's toxics program in Spokane, told The Spokesman-Review. "The province and the company have not been forthcoming about this."

Mark Edwards, Teck Cominco Ltd.'s manager for environment, safety and health, said he doubts the plant's releases were that high in the early 1980s. He said the company estimates the smelter released 9 pounds of mercury into the Columbia each day and has since reduced releases to .07 pounds a day.

Teck Cominco officials are resisting a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order to study the contamination, insisting that U.S. cleanup laws don't apply to them.