June 29, 2004

Environmental Watch: Landau makes staff changes

Ramos

Michelle Ramos is a senior project geotechnical engineer, Shannon Moore is a project environmental scientist and Evalyn Albright is an environmental scientist.

April Wallace was promoted to assistant environmental scientist in the Edmonds office, Jennifer Olson to staff environmental scientist in Tacoma and Robert Bennion to assistant geotechnical engineer in Portland. Julie Bohm was named marketing proposal manager.

Landau Associates is headquartered in Edmonds and has offices in Tacoma, Spokane and Tigard, Ore.

EPA grants $200K for Harborview cleanup

SEATTLE -- King County recently won a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for cleanup at the Harborview Medical Center's future expansion site, which is contaminated with dry cleaning fluid.

Funds came from the EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Environmental Response.

The site will be redeveloped into research facilities for Harborview, Public Health Seattle-King County clinics and the King County Medical Examiner. A cleanup schedule is set from July 2005 to September 2005.

For more information, contact Lucy Auster, senior planner, King County Solid Waste Division at (206) 296-8476 or lucy.auster<@>metrokc.gov.

Stevens Pass wins water treatment award

STEVENS PASS -- Stevens Pass Ski Area and the Stevens Pass sewer district recently won a water conservation award from the publishers of Ski and Skiing magazines.

Stevens Pass and the sewer district spent $7.5 million to install new membrane bioreactor technology for the wastewater system, in order to ease reliance on the aging Cascade Treatment Facility in Skykomish.

The new system's effluent exceeds all Washington Department of Ecology requirements, officials claim. It simplifies operations and accommodates variable flows.

Resort officials say Stevens Pass is testing the technology in a high elevation. Other mountain resorts may consider using the membrane bioreactor systems.

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 it says uses forest industry waste 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.

Wetlands conference and seminars in July

SEATTLE -- The 25th Society of Wetland Scientists conference will be held from July 18 to 23 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. A separate seminar on wetlands regulation takes place on July 27 in Tacoma and July 28 in Seattle.

The Society of Wetland Scientists conference is expected to attract 1,000 scientists, policy makers and regulators. Wetland research, implications of ecosystem management and effectiveness of mitigation are topics for discussion. Speakers include Dr. Mark Sudol, chief of the regulatory program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Dr. David Goode, an expert in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Global restoration efforts, including the cultural significance of the "Eden Again" project, which aims to restore Mesopotamian marshes in Iraq and Iran, are also on the agenda.

There will be field trips to area wetlands. For more information, visit http://www.sws.org/seattle2004.

Lorman Education Services presents a separate seminar on wetlands regulation on July 27 in Tacoma, and on July 28 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Representatives from GeoEngineers, Hidden Spring Consulting, Ecological Solutions, King County Department of Development and Environmental Services and other groups will speak on state and federal legislative and regulatory developments.

Lawyers, contractors, real estate agents, architects and environmental professionals are invited to attend. Cost is $309 for Tacoma, $329 for Seattle. For more information, call Lorman at (888) 678-5565 or visit http://www.lorman.com.

Mold prevention seminar July 28

SEATTLE -- Lorman Education Services will offer a seminar on how to solve water intrusion and mold problems on July 28 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The seminar covers strategies on how to handle water intrusion and mold problems in buildings. Experts will speak on ways to approach building envelope systems that are failing.

Other topics include mold sampling and analysis, regulations and effective design. Lawyers, construction and project managers, architects, and maintenance managers are encouraged to attend. For more information, call Lorman at (888) 678-5565 or visit http://www.lorman.com.

Port OKs $14.7M for environment work

SEATAC — The Port of Seattle Commission has authorized staff members to award a series of open-order outside professional service agreements with environmental companies worth up to $14.75 million.

Commissioners voted last Tuesday to spend up to $3 million through 2009 for design and preparation of environmental review documents under the state and national environmental policy acts. Consultants will help the port obtain permits.

Up to another $11.75 million could be spent on environmental investigation and remediation services. This appropriation also was authorized through 2009.

The intent of the open-order contract mechanism is to provide more rapid responses to internal customer requests in the Economic Development, Seaport and Aviation divisions.

Port officials say the agency's current method of processing environmental service agreements can sometimes take three months from advertisement to execution. Using the open-order system will shave two months.

Under the open-order process, the port's Health, Environmental and Risk Services division and Aviation Environmental Programs department will select several consulting firms or teams and put them on a list to provide services. Being on the list is not a guarantee of work, according to a port memo.