March 8, 2005

Environmental Watch: New enviro firm: Clear Creek Solutions

Beyerlein

EVERETT — Three people have bought the Northwest offices of Everett-based Aqua Terra Consultants to start Clear Creek Solutions, an environmental consulting firm that will provide stormwater-related software and consulting services.

Co-founders Doug Beyerlein, Joe Brascher and Shanon White have 50 years of combined experience creating and using computational tools for stormwater and water resources design.

Clear Creek works on software development and support services for the Washington state Department of Ecology and San Francisco Bay Area local government agencies. It also provides hydrologic modeling to local jurisdictions and engineering consulting firms.

Clear Creek will publish a book next month to help stormwater design specialists use some of the Department of Ecology's modeling software. For more information contact Doug Beyerlein at (425) 337-6778 or e-mail Beyerlein@clearcreeksolutions.com.

Stormwater Management adds staff

Hagen

PORTLAND — Portland company Stormwater Management added Tim Hagen as a filtration media specialist. The company provides stormwater treatment products and expertise.

Hagen has 19 years of experience in finding ways to pelletize peat and other organic materials. He will work on new types of filtration media to treat stormwater. Hagen got a patent in 2002 for a method of turning peat into a dense pellet with unique disintegration and expansion properties when it is exposed to water.

USDA offers energy grant workshops

OLYMPIA — U.S. Department of Agriculture's rural development group is offering free workshops today and tomorrow to tell rural small business owners and agricultural producers about energy efficiency grants they may be eligible for.

The workshop will be today in Mount Vernon at Skagit 911 Center Training Room at 2911 E. College Way. On Wednesday it will be in Port Hadlock at Washington State University Extension, 201 W. Patison.

Business owners can get grants to help cut their energy costs. Agricultural producers can apply for funds for projects designed to boost the market value of their products.

Eligible projects include systems that generate energy from wind, solar, biomass, or geothermal sources, or that produce hydrogen derived from biomass or water using a renewable energy source. Energy efficiency improvement projects also count.

Since the program started four years ago, more than $2 million has been distributed to 25 recipients in Washington. For more information, contact Cassandra Gonzalez at (360) 428-4322 ext. 156. Find out about the USDA Rural Development at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/wa.

EnviroIssues adds staff in Portland

PORTLAND — Local public involvement and facilitation firm EnviroIssues added Nate Lesiuk as an associate in Portland. Lesiuk was an associate account executive at global public relations firm Weber Shandwick.

EnviroIssues consults with government and industry groups on complex technical and regulatory projects. The company provides services in public involvement, facilitation, mediation and technical integration. Lesiuk will work on the city of Portland's watershed planning efforts. EnviroIssues also has offices in Seattle and Richland. This is its 15th year.

New board members for USGBC chapter

PORTLAND — The Cascadia chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council has added new board members and invites its members to meet them in Portland on Friday. The meeting will be at the chapter's office building, the Ecotrust Building, 721 N.W. Ninth Ave., from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. No RSVP is required.

Newly elected board members are Dennis Wilde of Gerding/Edlen Development in Portland, Freda Pagani of University of British Columbia Sustainability in Vancouver, and Dale Mikkelsen of the city of Vancouver.

The board named Rob Bennett as chair, Peter Clark as vice chair, Randell Leach as treasurer and Kathleen O'Brien as secretary. The chapter has 19 board members.

Two EcoBuilding Guild events in Spokane

SPOKANE — Tomorrow Alan Durning of Northwest Environment Watch will give a presentation on energy issues. The talk will be held at Spokane City Council Chambers, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., Spokane, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Durning is the founder and executive director of Northwest Environment Watch, a research center that promotes sustainability in the Northwest. He will cover the Cascadia Scorecard, a project that tracks what the organization says are indicators of progress in the Northwest.

On March 17 the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild holds its chapter meeting in Spokane at Valley Library, 12004 E. Main Ave., Spokane, from 7 to 9 p.m. Members and guests are invited to meet officers and board members.

For more information contact Ginger Denning ernestlee11@msn.com or Thomas W. Angell, president of EcoBuilding Guild's Inland chapter at (509) 747-7647 or tomangell@earthlink.net.

Volunteers needed for salmon projects

SEATTLE — King County seeks volunteers to help plant native trees and shrubs along the Snoqualmie River on Saturday. The goal is to reforest an area next to prime spawning grounds for chum, pink and chinook salmon. Volunteers are needed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chinook Bend Natural Area in the Snoqualmie Valley.

Volunteers are also needed April 2 for habitat restoration projects at Tolt MacDonald Park, which is located in Carnation.

For more information, contact Tina Miller at (206) 296-2990 or see http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/waiver.htm.