July 26, 2005

Environmental Watch: Tri-Cities groups buy land for park

Photo courtesy of the Trust for Public Land People can keep hiking on Badger Mountain near the Tri-Cities, recently bought to be kept as a park.

SEATTLE — Governments, individuals and a group with money for Hanford-related mitigation work recently pooled $685,000 to buy land that will be preserved as a park.

The 574-acre site includes the sides of Badger Mountain, which is near Richland, Pasco and Kennewick, but excludes 20 acres on top. The deal closed at the end of last month. Plans call for the area to be protected as a hiking area, to be called Badger Mountain Centennial Preserve.

Funds came from individuals, the city of Richland, and Benton County, but most came from a group called the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. This group has $3.5 million set aside as mitigation for impacts caused by a Hanford facility, according to Peter Dykstra of the Trust for Public Land. He managed the project to buy the Badger Mountain site.

A landowner there allowed people to hike on unpaved trails, Dykstra said, but development pressures could have changed that. Large houses might have been built on the ridge, which he said is the longest scenic ridgeline in the Tri-Cities area.

The city of Richland recently acquired an adjacent site, he said, a hiking access point for the park will be located there. Community groups are working to come up with a plan to manage the site.

Farallon Consulting adds geochemist

Cammarata

Farallon is an environmental consulting firm specializing in site characterization and remediation services, litigation support and engineering services.

Cammarata has 25 years of experience in geological and environmental sciences, including work negotiating federal and state Agreed Orders, Consent Decrees and determinations for No Further Action.

Cammarata is a geologist and hydrogeologist and has worked on contaminated properties with upland areas and marine sediments. At Farallon, he will manage contaminated property projects and oversee new approaches to mitigation. The company has a professional staff of 33 people, and offices in Issaquah and Bellingham.

Stormwater companies launch new identity

PORTLAND — Two stormwater management companies have combined and have rebranded themselves as Stormwater360.

Stormwater Management and Vortechnics launched their new identity last week at StormCon, a North American Surface Water Quality Conference & Exposition in Orlando.

The companies joined earlier this year when Vortechnics became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Contech Construction Products. The Middletown, Ohio-based Contech offers civil engineering site solutions products and services.

Stormwater360 offers stormwater treatment technologies, including: filtration, hydrodynamic separation, screening, and oil/water separation.

Renewable energy seminar here August 11-12

SEATTLE — Law Seminars International will hold a seminar in Seattle August 11-12 on renewables and energy efficiency. It will be at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel.

Federal and state policymakers are expected to attend, along with developers of renewable energy and people who invest in these technologies.

Speakers will talk about federal policies on renewables and energy efficiency, federal investment in related research and development, and the role utilities play in clean energy. Program co-chairs are Robert D. Kahn of Mercer Island-based Robert D. Kahn & Co. and Peter D. Mostow of the Portland office of Stoel Rives.

Puyallup group to talk about flood plains

TACOMA — Experts in flood plains will talk Wednesday to business and property owners about which areas in the Puyallup River watershed are especially vulnerable to floods.

This is part of a series of meetings Puyallup River Watershed Council holds on the fourth Wednesday of every month except in November and December. It will be in Sumner at City Council Chambers, 1104 Maple Street, Suite 205, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Flood plain specialist Kevin Farrell of the Washington Department of Ecology will talk about state flood plain regulations and resources to support county and city programs, such as offering grants and technical assistance. Civil engineer Dennis Dixon with Pierce County Water Programs will cover the county's recent work to update flood plain maps for the first time since 1987. A computer-based map which will allow everyone to more easily see where they are in relation to the flood hazards. He will review how levees below the city of Puyallup affect people living in these areas.

Jeff Johnson, a principal at Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, will answer questions about technical studies required to prepare the new maps.

For more information, call Linda T. Burgess at (253) 863-1860 or Barbara Skinner at (253) 299-5790. Also see www.prwc.org.