March 29, 2005

Environmental Watch: WWU students study sea grass, volcano

Photo courtesy of WWU WWU student Richard Davis uses a submersible to take samples from an underwater volcano. Dives were funded by NOAA.

BELLINGHAM — Two Western Washington University graduate students recently won grants for environmental studies.

Graduate student Richard Gwozdz won a $10,000 scholarship to research sea grasses in Padilla Bay, an estuary at the northern edge of the Skagit River delta. Biology graduate student Richard Davis dove nearly a mile deep to collect samples from vents at an underwater volcano near Hawaii.

Gwozdz will study how sea grasses react to changes in sedimentation, elevation and sea level in the bay. Data will be used to predict how floodwater diversion affects sea grass habitat.

Davis collected microbial samples near a large crater at the summit of Loihi Seamount, a volcano that will one day be the next island in the Hawaiian Islands chain. The volcano had a major eruption in 1996 and has since been expelling hot hydrothermal fluids that support the growth of microbial mats. Changes can be tracked by correlating shifting bacteria species with nutrients coming out of vents. Work is part of the Iron Microbial Observatory project, a five-year study funded by the National Science Foundation.

Safeway fined $96K for pollution

OLYMPIA — The Department of Ecology fined Safeway $96,000 for actions by its contractors that polluted underground and surface water.

Ecology said this pollution occurred between September 2003 and December 2004 at the corner of Northwest Ellingston Road and C Street Southeast in Auburn, at a 105-acre site where a 766,000-square-foot grocery warehouse and a 514,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse were being constructed. Contractors mixed concrete and cleaned concrete equipment without proper safeguards to protect water quality, according to Ecology officials.

They say Safeway agreed to install bermed asphalt pads and lined detention ponds to keep contaminated water from discharging into the ground, as part of Ecology's permit for the project. But Ecology said inspectors found places where safeguards weren't used or were incomplete.

Safeway's director of public and government affairs, Cherie Myers, said Safeway will carry out its own investigation. Safeway may appeal the fine to Ecology or to the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board.

Ecology may take sites off toxic list

BELLEVUE — The Department of Ecology has proposed removing two properties from its list of hazardous sites. A property known as the General Disposal site at 1415 N.W. Ballard Way has undergone cleanup. So has a two-acre lot in Kirkland known as the former Katco Sales site at 12735 Willows Rd.

Ecology invites public comment through April 21 before it removes the sites from the list. For more information, see http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0509061.html and http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0509062.html.

Puget Sound/Georgia Basin conference

SEATTLE — The 2005 Puget Sound/Georgia Basin Conference starts today and runs for three days at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center downtown.

The focus is on recent research and ongoing efforts to improve the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin ecosystem. Topics include coastal science research, stormwater management and the nearshore environment. One thousand people are expected to participate, including researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, who will cover ways to deal with climate change. For more information, see http://www.engr.washington.edu/epp/psgb/save.html.

Local company wins NOAA award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently gave Taylor Shellfish Farms of Shelton an award for business leadership.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell visited the company's Mason County headquarters to view expansion efforts there, and nominated Taylor for the award.

NOAA officials presented the award to Taylor Shellfish Farms President Bill Taylor and his brother Paul in Washington, D.C. The company was recognized for leadership in promoting coastal stewardship.

Taylor Shellfish Farms is a family-owned company with 370 employees farming shellfish on 9,000 acres of tideland, both owned and leased, in Puget Sound and Willapa Bay. The company produces Manila clams, Mediterranean mussels, geoducks and frozen oysters for national and international markets.

Workshops on drought-tolerant plants

SEATTLE — King County and Seattle Public Utilities are offering free workshops today and tomorrow on how to make landscapes that can tolerate droughts. Today's workshop will be at Rainier Beach High School, 8815 Seward Park Ave S., in Seattle. Tomorrow's is at Carnation Elementary School, 4950 Tolt Ave. in Carnation.

Workshops will cover native plants, how to improve soil, shrink lawns and reduce the amount of time and energy spent on yard work. Participants will be eligible to travel to a site to dig native plants for personal projects.

To learn more about naturescaping with native plants or for directions to the workshops, see http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/PI/calendar.htm or contact Greg Rabourn at (206) 296-1923 or greg.rabourn@metrokc.gov.

Seattle's series on sustainability

SEATTLE — The city of Seattle is running a series on urban sustainability, and here are some of the upcoming events:

• Local Politics of Sustainability on April 4 with Robert Costanza, director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont.

• Building Healthy Places on April 26 with Richard Jackson, state public health officer of the California Department of Health Services.

• Inspiring Urban Revitalization on May 2 with Tom Bloxham, co-founder of Manchester, U.K.-based Urban Splash.

• Civic Innovation & Sustainable Communities on May 9 with William Shutkin, chief executive officer of the Orton Family Foundation.

Other events are scheduled for June through August. For more information, contact Lynne Barker, DPD Sustainable Development Planner, at (206) 684-0806 or lynne.barker@seattle.gov.