May 10, 2005

Environmental Watch: Stormwater Management adds three

PORTLAND — Stormwater Management recently added three engineers in training to its technical sales team: Robert Bartels, Emily Newell and Geoff Mok. They'll provide engineering support for the company's water quality products for clients around the country.

Bartels spent six years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and received a certificate in information systems and operations through the Naval Post Graduate School. Newell was an intern at an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based consulting engineering firm. Mok will be based in Elkridge, Md., and work with East Coast clients.

Snohomish County updates shoreline plan

EVERETT — Snohomish County officials will hold open houses May 17-18 to inform people about the county's Shoreline Management Program updates. Open houses are targeted at property owners with land along rivers, lakes or marine shorelines. They will be held:

• May 17 in Everett at Snohomish County East Administration Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

• May 18 in Arlington at Arlington High School Commons, 18821 Crown Ridge Blvd., from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Low impact development seminar May 18

KIRKLAND — Lorman Education Services is offering a May 18 seminar in Bellevue on "Low Impact Development in Puget Sound." It will be at Master Builders Assocation of King & Snohomish Counties, 335 116th Ave. S.E. in Bellevue.

Principals from Kirkland-based Triad Associates will be among the speakers. Triad spokesperson David Manning says residential developers and builders are doing more with less as stormwater detention standards and land prices get higher.

The upcoming seminar will cover how low impact development works, when it should be used, and ways developers and jurisdictions can mitigate legal responsibilities.

Other speakers include CamWest Development's founder Eric Campbell, and the writers of a low impact development manual for Puget Sound, Curtis Koger and Curtis Hinman. Randolph R. Sleight is chief engineering officer of Snohomish County Department of Planning and Development Servcies, and worked on the Critical Areas Regulations.

Sessions will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration starts at 8:30 p.m., cost is $329. For more information, call (888) 678-5565.

Cedar River watershed tour May 21

NORTH BEND — Seattle Public Utilities is offering a van tour of Cedar River watershed wetlands on May 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tour starts at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center, east of North Bend.

Tour guide Clay Antieau will talk about wetlands environments in the region, such as an 80-acre bog, sedge meadows at Chester Morse Lake and a recently restored beaver wetland system in the Rock Creek basin. The tour costs $15. Register by calling (206) 233-1515 or writing to crwprograms@seattle.gov.

Snohomish PUD looks at future power

EVERETT — Snohomish County Public Utility District seeks public comment through May 31 on the types of power resources it will use in coming years. These will be in addition to power the utility gets from the Bonneville Power Administration.

The PUD is set to issue a final plan in early June on power resources it plans to use. For more information, see http://www.snopud.com or call (425) 783-8275.

Gas Works Park section may open

BELLEVUE — The Department of Ecology seeks public comment on a proposal to open the northwestern part of Gas Works Park to the public, following completion of a cleanup of contaminated soil.

Opening the area would mean amending an agreement between Ecology, the city of Seattle and the former property owner, Puget Sound Energy. The agreement covers overall park cleanup and monitoring.

A public comment period on the proposal runs through June 2. Send comments to John Keeling, site manager, Washington Department of Ecology, Toxics Cleanup Program, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue WA 98008. Or call (425) 649-7052 or e-mail jkee461@ecy.wa.gov. For more information, see http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/gaswkspk/gaswks.htm.

Seattle garbage truck driver wins award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seattle garbage truck driver Darrell Merkel was picked by the Environmental Industry Associations as public sector driver of the year.

Bruce Parker, the association's president and chief executive officer, recognized Merkel for his safety record. Merkel has been driving for 30 years without an accident on record. "I get along with the customers because I try to stay out of the way," he said.

He is a senior member of Seattle's trucking team, and shows new drivers how to operate equipment.

Environmental Industry Associations is a nonprofit trade association that represents for-profit companies in the waste service and equipment industry.

Trucking company fined $24,500 for I-5 spill

BELLEVUE — The Department of Ecology has fined the owner of a tank truck that crashed and burned on July 12, 2003, on Interstate 5 in Lynnwood $24,500 for spilling gasoline into nearby waters and wetlands.

Ecology found that Portland-based Harris Transportation Co.'s negligence contributed to that spill.

According to a Washington State Patrol report, the truck and trailer — carrying 11,300 gallons of gasoline — veered off the right side of the northbound roadway, striking the railing of the 44th Avenue overpass after the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The driver has been sentenced in Snohomish County District Court for reckless driving.

The truck and trailer caught fire after hitting the rail. The trailer rolled onto its side. About 2,244 gallons of gasoline and an undetermined amount of fire-fighting foam entered drainage channels, a freeway stormwater pond and wetlands of Scriber Creek. The creek feeds into Swamp Creek, which drains to Lake Washington.

About 2,835 gallons of gasoline soaked into soil along the freeway. As part of cleanup, more than 70 cubic yards of contaminated soil were removed. About 3,449 gallons of gasoline were recovered from the wreck.

Harris can appeal the penalty to Ecology or to the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board.