March 1, 2005

Environmental Watch: Anchor Environmental adds six

Koellmann	Raney	Delabar
Takeuchi	Williams

SEATTLE — Anchor Environmental has recently hired Derek Koellmann, Carolyn Raney, Bob Delabar, David Takeuchi, Kelly Titkemeier and Regina Williams.

Koellmann is a senior biologist in Anchor's Seattle office, with experience in fisheries resources and environmental permitting, Delabar is a CAD designer. Raney is a receptionist. Takeuchi is an information technology specialist and manages the company's computer network and information systems.

Titkemeier joins the Portland office as a geologist and will do field soil, groundwater and sediment investigations. Williams joins the Boston office as a coastal and hydraulic engineer with a focus on groundwater and sediment transport.

Anchor is an environmental science and engineering firm that works on shoreline projects. Areas of expertise are in sediment management, environmental review, natural resources and geotechnical engineering.

Farallon's Brock gets geology license

Brock

ISSAQUAH — Carla Brock, a project geologist with Farallon Consulting in Issaquah, was recently licensed as a geologist in the state of Washington. The National Association of State Boards administers the licensing exam.

Brock joined the company four years ago and has done environmental investigations, and managed remedial actions. Brock earned a master's in geology at the University of Montana.

Farallon is an environmental consulting firm that focuses on site characterization and remediation services. It has a staff of 32 and offices in Issaquah and Bellingham.

EPA meeting on T-117 cleanup March 15

SEATTLE — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host a March 15 public meeting about the Lower Duwamish Waterway site. The meeting will be at Concord Elementary School, 723 S. Concord, in Seattle from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Attendees can learn about a proposal for cleanup of contaminated mud and the riverbank at Terminal 117, which is between South Park Marina and Boeing South Park on the Lower Duwamish Waterway.

Written comments on the proposal should be sent by April 7 to: Ravi Sanga, U.S. EPA, 1200 Sixth Ave., ECL-111, Seattle, WA 98101. The cleanup proposal will be posted at http://www.epa.gov/r10earth on March 8.

For more information, contact Cindy Schuster of EPA at (206) 553-1815 or schuster.cindy@epa.gov. Or call the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition at (206) 954-0218.

State has plan for Little Bear Creek

BELLEVUE — The state Department of Ecology seeks public comment on a proposed cleanup plan that aims to reduce bacterial pollution at Little Bear Creek in Snohomish County. Fecal coliform bacteria is a problem there.

Ecology will host public meetings on the Little Bear Creek Water Cleanup Plan on Thursday at Woodinville City Hall, 17301 133rd Ave. N.E., in Woodinville from 3 to 5:30 p.m. and on March 10 at Fernwood School, 3933 Jewell Road in Bothell from 7 to 9 p.m.

The Little Bear Creek basin is 15 square miles and extends from its headwaters in South Snohomish County near Silver Firs to Woodinville, where it empties into the Sammamish River, which flows to Lake Washington.

Seven stretches of streams in the basin do not meet state swimming and wading standards. Pollution comes from thousands of sources, including failing septic systems, livestock and pet wastes, and other daily activities that either release bacteria or promote its growth.

Ecology's plan targets thousands of small pollution sources, and pulls together state and local water cleanup initiatives, including efforts to control pet waste, help homeowners care for septic systems and improve stormwater management.

The proposed plan is posted at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/tmdl/watershed/tmdl_info-nwro.html and is also available at public libraries in Mill Creek and Woodinville, and at Ecology's regional office at 3190 160th Ave. S.E. in Bellevue.

Comments are due March 31. Send to: Anne Dettelbach, Department of Ecology, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue WA 98008-5452, or by e-mail adet461@ecy.wa.gov.

UI helps Chile study hydropower

BOISE, Idaho — University of Idaho water researchers are part of an Idaho delegation looking at ways countries in Latin America and the European Union can collaborate with the U.S. on hydropower research.

As Chile faces an unprecedented energy crisis, there is pressure to develop more hydropower now, UI officials say.

Similarities exist between Pacific Northwest geography and that of the Chile's continental interior, said Steven Daley Laursen, dean of UI's college of natural resources. A goal for the effort will be to share lessons learned from Columbia Basin with people working in places like Patagonia, where there is unique biodiversity and cultural heritage.

With funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, UI researchers and graduate students recently ran a workshop at the University of Concepcion in Chile. They collaborated with the University of Montana, the University of Michigan and the European Union-Latin America Center for the Environment.

A group of scientists working on the riverine physical process and ecosystem research came to the workshop, including researchers from Brazil, Germany, Italy, Columbia, Uruguay and Costa Rica.