December 21, 2004

Environmental Watch: Environmental Home Center reopens soon

SEATTLE — The Environmental Home Center plans to reopen its showroom in the first week of January. A fire in August destroyed the center's offices, showroom and main warehouse. The new showroom will be located at 4121 First Ave. S. in Seattle's SoDo district.

Environmental Home Center supplies sustainable building materials such as low-emission paints and finishes, natural-fiber carpets, recycled-glass tiles, energy-efficient insulation, and sustainably harvested wood flooring and cabinets.

Customers can place orders by phone — (206) 682-7332 or (800) 281-9785 — or order from the Web site, http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com.

The center last month won an award for its work to connect builders with environmentally friendly resources from CoreNet Global, a 7,500-member association of corporate real estate executives.

SEPA/NEPA workshop Jan. 26

SEATTLE — Law Seminars International will hold a Jan. 26 workshop on SEPA and NEPA compliance at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel in Seattle. The workshop covers the compliance process, from proposal through judicial review.

The workshop will be co-chaired by Charles R. Blumenfeld and Rodney L. Brown. Cost is $595. For more information, call (206) 567-4490 or (800) 854-8009. Also e-mail registrar@lawseminars.com or visit http://www.lawseminars.com. Law Seminars International presents continuing education programs in the U.S. and Canada.

Landscape firms get WALP awards

EVERETT — The Pierce County Chapter of the Washington Association of Landscape Professionals recently hosted an awards program to recognize landscape contractors, architects, suppliers and owners.

Awards went to: Landscapes by Mother Nature, Beautiful Lawns of Washington, Hedahl Landscape and Construction, and the landscape program of Clover Park Technical College.

Washington Association of Landscape Professionals is based in Everett. For more information, see http://www.walp.org, or call Andy Flood at (253) 584-3422.

County plans $600K Duwamish cleanup

SEATTLE — King County says it will spread a layer of clean sand on an area contaminated by materials that washed into the lower Duwamish River as part of a dredging project a year ago.

The projected cost for the cleanup is $600,000, which includes $280,000 for construction and $320,000 for design and monitoring. Anchor Environmental is working on design. No contractor has been named.

How did the area get contaminated?

Some of Miller Contracting's actions as part of a $6.8 million dredging, capping and disposal project allowed contaminated dredged material to escape, according to Gary Larson, media relations planner for the county's Wastewater Treatment Division. Rabanco Regional Disposal Co. was also working on the project.

Crews removed 66,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment, taking out 400 pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls to clean seven acres.

In order to reduce exposure of organisms to some of the escaped contaminants, the county will spread 5,500 tons of sand on part of the site. King County proposed this method, called enhanced natural recovery, to reduce contamination levels more quickly. Regulatory agencies and King County plan the work before March 1.

For more information, contact John Phillips of the Wastewater Treatment Division at (206) 263-6543.

Ecology finishes 30-year waste plan

OLYMPIA — After four years of public input meetings, the state Department of Ecology recently made final a 30-year plan for ways the state can reduce waste.

"We're looking at waste prevention, versus managing waste after it's made," said Ecology solid waste manager Cullen Stephenson. A third of landfill waste is organic material that can be composted. Another third comes from construction debris.

Ecology's "Beyond Waste" plan focuses on four areas: composting organic waste, promoting green building, helping businesses find ways to reduce waste, and diverting hazardous waste that comes in small quantities, like batteries from households, from landfills.

A goal is to reduce waste — such as chemicals, fertilizers and industrial solvents — from households, hospitals and businesses.

One way to do that is to change the way products are designed, manufactured, distributed and disposed. Consumers can buy items that are durable, contain little to no packaging, were manufactured from recycled ingredients or have fewer toxic ingredients.

Ecology officials say people in Washington are generating more waste. Each person is responsible for 44 pounds of hazardous waste and 2,840 pounds of non-hazardous waste per year. State law requires Ecology to develop statewide solid and hazardous waste plans and to update them regularly.

For more information, call Chris Chapman at (360) 407-7160, Statewide Hazardous Waste Plan; Cheryl Smith (360) 407-6654, Statewide Solid Waste Plan; or Jim Sachet at (360) 407-6126, Hazardous Waste Facilities Initiative.