November 22, 2005

Environmental Watch: New Globe 2006 topic: green construction

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Globe 2006 Trade Fair will be March 29-31 at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in Vancouver, B.C.

More than 10,000 international business people, policy makers and others are expected to attend to learn about recent developments in the environment business. Globe 2006 will also cover new transportation technologies and sustainable construction.

About 400 exhibitors are expected from North America, Europe and Asia.

For more information, call registration manager Zahida Kanani at (604) 775-8031 or e-mail Zahida.Kanani@globe.ca. Or see http://www.globe2006.com.

It is organized by the private, non-profit Globe Foundation of Canada and is held every two years in Vancouver.

ORCAA opens Port Angeles office

PORT ANGELES — Olympic Region Clean Air Agency has opened a satellite office in Port Angeles to provide services to communities on the North Olympic Peninsula. ORCAA is holding an open house today from 1 to 4 p.m. at 116 W. Eighth St., Suite 113, in Port Angeles.

The office is staffed by Rita Cirulis and will serve Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties.

AWB puts out environmental handbook

OLYMPIA—The Association of Washington Business and Marten Law Group have released the 2006 edition of the Environmental Compliance Handbook, a guide on environmental rights and responsibilities under Washington and federal law.

The handbook includes tables and charts, agency contact information, key statutes and regulations, definitions, and tips to help business owners and environmental managers.

New chair for Energy Efficiency Alliance

PORTLAND — Mark Kendall, senior energy analyst at the Oregon Department of Energy is the new chair of the board of directors for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

Mike Weedall, vice president, energy efficiency at the Bonneville Power Administration, was named chair-elect and will succeed Kendall after his one-year term ends in October 2006.

The alliance is a nonprofit corporation supported by BPA, electric utilities, public benefits administrators, state governments, public interest groups and efficiency industry representatives. The goal is to bring affordable, energy-efficient products and services to the marketplace.

Other officers are: Jeff Bumgarner of PacifiCorp, secretary, and Larry Blaufus of Clark Public Utilities, treasurer.

PacifiCorp OKs hydro dam algae study

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — As a condition of its sale to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., PacifiCorp has agreed to spend $450,000 to fund a three-year study of toxic algae found in the reservoirs behind two of its hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Northern California.

PacifiCorp agreed to pay for the study in settlement talks with the Karuk Tribe as part of the sale approval proceedings before the California Public Utilities Commission, said Dave Kwamme, a PacifiCorp spokesman.

The toxic algae will likely also become an issue in PacifiCorp's efforts to gain a new 50-year license to operate three Klamath dams near the Oregon-California border, which the tribes want to see removed or altered.

$400K available for water projects

OLYMPIA — The Puget Sound Action Team has about $400,000 in state funding available for projects that benefit water resources in the Puget Sound Basin, addressing pollution, habitat and/or salmon recovery.

The application deadline is Jan. 9, 2006.

Money from the Public Involvement and Education Fund goes to state residents, businesses, organizations, watershed or salmon groups, tribal or local governments, schools and educators. Maximum funding per project is $45,000.

A proposal assistance workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 at Edmonds City Hall, 121 Fifth Ave. N. Application materials will be posted on the Action Team Web site on Nov. 28. For more information, contact Mary Knackstedt, Program Manager, Education and Public Involvement, (360) 725-5457 or mknackstedt@psat.wa.gov.

Huckleberry thicket may get protection

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a plan to protect 9,500-acres of a huckleberry thicket in Southern Oregon considered sacred to generations of American Indian tribes.

The administrative designation would recognize the cultural and historical significance of the area, dubbed the Huckleberry Patch by locals, and would require a management strategy to protect the shrubs.

"Huckleberry production is low compared to historic levels," said Amy Amoroso, director of natural resources for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, who helped the Forest Service develop the project's environmental assessment. "We would like to increase huckleberry production in this area."

The thicket was once vital for amassing a winter food supply, said tribal chairwoman Sue Shaffer.

The huckleberry, a cousin to blueberries, is unique to the high mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Columbia estuary report is mixed

PORTLAND (AP) — Ten years after work began in earnest on improving the health of the lower Columbia River, a new report card shows mixed results, suggesting that significant work remains to be done to preserve the ecosystem from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean.

Combined, the states of Oregon and Washington, and the federal government have spent about $7.2 million since 1995 to improve conditions in the river's estuary — the mouth of the river, where the ocean's tide meets the freshwater current.

The estuary's water quality and habitat have long been threatened by pollution and development, hurting the fish and wildlife that depend on the river.

In a report card issued by the partnership, the group gave themselves a "C" for habitat preservation, noting that more than 9,200 acres of wetlands along the river have been protected and restored since 1995 — without creating any centralized system for tracking other habitat that may have been lost during that same time.

The bald eagle population seems to be recovering, but the Columbian white-tailed deer population has not made the same gains.

Health of the river's chinook salmon population is difficult to trace, the report card said, but the population is still far below historic numbers.

Preliminary data show that water temperatures in the lower Columbia have continued to increase. And the partnership has also traced some emerging contaminants, like the flame retardant PBDE.