October 25, 2005

Environmental Watch: Prezant industrial hygienist gets award

Gleason

SEATTLE — The Pacific Northwest section of the American Industrial Hygienist Association named Rick Gleason Industrial Hygienist of the Year. He was recognized at a conference on occupational health earlier this month in Bellingham.

Gleason has 25 years of experience in industrial hygiene, and is a consultant with Prezant Associates in Seattle. He also teaches at the University of Washington's School of Public Health & Community Medicine.

Prezant Associates has moved to the Metropolitan Park East Tower 1730 Minor Ave., Suite 900, in Seattle. For more information, see http://www.prezant.com.

A look at the Puyallup River's flood hazards

TACOMA — Tomorrow owners of flood-prone properties in the Puyallup River watershed can learn about the local government's plans to prepare for potential disasters.

The Puyallup River Watershed Council will hold a talk on flood awareness and disaster preparedness in Sumner City Council chambers from 5 to 7 p.m. The talk will cover plans, potential dangers, and the ways citizens and jurisdictions can prepare.

Pierce County Emergency Management Director Steve Bailey will talk about the lessons learned from hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the flooding aftermath. He will cover the county's role in the event of a local flooding emergency.

Tony Fantello manages maintenance for Pierce County Water Programs. He will speak on flood damage potential on the Puyallup, Carbon and White rivers, and explain how much protection levees provide.

For more information, call Linda T. Burgess, Puyallup River Watershed Council chair, at (253) 863-1860.

Swedish expert gives green roof seminar

SEATTLE — Louise Lundberg, the superintendent of Malmö, Sweden's Scandinavian Green Roof Institute, will be in Seattle Oct. 31 for an event called "Inspiration From Abroad, Action in Seattle — Green Roofs Seminar."

Lundberg will show real estate developers, architects and engineers how green roofs work at a seminar at the Seattle Central Library, starting at 9:30 a.m.

The other speakers have visited Lundberg's institute in the past. Magnussen Klemencic's civil engineering director Drew Gangnes will share research he's done since that trip, and building owner David Gold will talk about a green roof he made that uses recycled carpet.

Cost for the seminar is $72 in advance, or $85. It is sponsored by Seattle Public Utilities, the city of Seattle Department of Planning and Development and International Sustainable Solutions, which runs tours to Scandinavia to educate architects, real estate developers and city officials on green building.

For more information, call Patricia Chase at (206) 349-4904 or see http://www.i-sustain.com.

B.C. developer to speak at forum Friday

SEATTLE — Victoria, B.C., developer Joe Van Belleghem will give a lecture Friday morning in Seattle about urban sustainability at Seattle City Hall, Bertha Landes Room, 600 Fourth Ave., from 7:30 to 9 a.m.

Van Belleghem founded BuildGreen Development. He has 17 years of experience in real estate and finance, and says he has developed profitable green buildings.

Sponsors are the city of Seattle, ULI Seattle, BetterBricks and Seattle Public Library.

At the event the city will recognize five building industry groups for their work in building green commercial buildings.

Ticket prices range from $15 to $30. Advance registration is required. For more information, see http://www.seattle.uli.org or call Lynne Barker at (206) 684-0806.

Ecology seeks comments on Kent landfill

BELLEVUE — The Washington state Department of Ecology is seeking public comments on a five-year review of Kent's 60-acre Midway landfill site.

Ecology states environmental conditions have improved significantly since 1985. The city of Seattle used the site, a former gravel pit, as a landfill from 1966-1983.

Ecology began supervising cleanup in 1984, and two years later the Environmental Protection Agency listed the closed landfill as a Superfund site.

Ecology officials say today groundwater is cleaner, methane gas no longer leaves the property and human health is not at risk.

Tests in the early 1980s showed there was potentially combustible methane gas on the site and contaminated groundwater leaking from it. By 2000, cleanup crews capped and fenced the area, and installed systems to extract gas and control surface water there.

Copies of the review and other documents are located at public libraries in Kent and Des Moines, as well as at Ecology's Bellevue office. Comments are due Nov. 4 to: Ching-Pi Wang, site manager, WA Department of Ecology Toxics Cleanup Program, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue WA 98008. You may also call (425) 649-7257 or e-mail cwan461@ecy.wa.gov.

WSDOT wants to double vanpools by 2015

OLYMPIA — Washington state Department of Transportation officials say more commuters want to share rides. A state program aims to double vanpool service in 10 years.

WSDOT is monitoring travel behavior for changes that could be linked to costlier gas.

Officials say there were about 15,000 vanpool riders across the state in August of this year, up 20 percent from two years ago. Vanpool operators say a record number will likely want the service in coming months.

The legislature set aside $4 million for the 2003-2005 biennium and $5 million for 2005-2007 for the vanpool program. More demand could use up those funds before 2007.

More than 40 percent of the public vanpools in the United States are run here, according to Peter Thein, executive director of the Washington State Transit Association. Vanpools here run six million passenger trips each year.

This is done through RideshareOnline.com, a free statewide service that connects commuters who want to vanpool or carpool. Users can take advantage of OV lanes, park-and-ride lots or employer-sponsored commute incentives.