Feb 27, 1996

NWCB

Mark Fowler has been appointed architectural consultant by the Northwest Wall and Ceiling Bureau. Fowler will provide information to architects, contractors and building officials on various industry issues. He was previously Northwest sales manager for Imasco Minerals Inc.

Construction Assoc.

Michael E. Rehfeld has joined Construction Associates Inc. as project manager. Rehfeld has 35 years of experience in the industry and has studied engineering at Seattle University and the University of Washington.

Williams, Kastner & Gibbs

Robert C. Manlowe, senior partner with Williams, Kastner & Gibbs, has been honored for his efforts to promote Jan. 10 as "Washington State Construction Safety Day." Manlowe has worked with the construction community to create programs to promote safe working environments.

AMS

APPROACH Management Services has announced Bryan Kelley has joined as manager of safety and health. Kelley is the former owner of Safety Services & Associates and has over 12 years experience in the field.

Seattle Water

Raj Manhas has been named deputy superintendent of the Seattle Water Department. He will be in charge of the department's $700 million capital improvement program -- which includes treatment facilities on both the Cedar and Tolt drinking water sources, in-town reservoirs, seismic rehabilitation of water towers, replacing aging watermains and general system maintenance. He holds an engineering degree from Punjab University in India and a master's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Washington.

Brill's

Brill's Contracting Inc. has been named a recipient of the 1996 Firestone Master Contractor award. The award is presented annually by Firestone Building Products Co. to the firm's top licensed commercial roofing contractors in its five U.S. sales regions, Canada and Europe. This is the fifth time Brill's has won the award.

Milgard Windows

Milgard Windows of Tacoma has announced the acquisition of Krest Distributing of Denver. Milgard's offices and staff in Englewood will move into Krest's 60,000-square-foot Denver facility. All 65 Krest employees will join Milgard. Milgard says the acquisition allows it to better serve Denver's growing housing market and replacement window business.

Pacific Topsoils

Pacific Topsoils Inc. has purchased Olympic Sand & Gravel Inc. The company says the move will allow it to improve its delivery service. The company also announced Eric Leadbetter, Olympic's former president, has joined as manager of distribution and Bob Buzzell has joined as estimator for the newly created Construction Division.

Changes considered in owl protection

PORTLAND -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking public comments on a proposed rule and a draft environmental alternatives analysis that would affect the northern spotted owl. The proposed rule would ease restrictions imposed on private, tribal and other non-federal forest lands in Washington and California that protect the northern spotted owl. Currently, it is illegal to "incidentally take" a northern spotted owl throughout the owl's range. Under the Endangered Species Act, an "incidental take" means the unintentional killing, harming or harassing of a species or the altering of the species' habitat during an activity that is otherwise legal, such as timber harvesting. Incidental takes are prohibited without special authorization from Fish and Wildlife. The proposed rule would relax or relieve the incidental take prohibition on 4.5 million acres of non-federal lands in Washington and California. It would not change prohibitions on direct killing or injuring of northern spotted owls, and it would retain incidental take restrictions in six key areas of Washington. Written comments and materials must be submitted by April 8 to the Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 N.E. 11th Ave., Portland 97232-4181. For information on how to obtain copies of the proposed rule and the draft environmental alternatives analysis, call (503) 326-6218.

Water spills to help salmon

OLYMPIA -- The Department of Ecology last week approved requests to spill excess water over eight dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in an effort to help endangered and threatened salmon make it to the ocean. The decision involves increasing total dissolved gas levels while spilling excess water over four dams on the lower Columbia River and four dams on the Snake River to assist the migration of sockeye, chinook and other salmon. The approval followed a public comment period and a workshop conducted in Lacey. Most participants supported the excess spills of water, which will help young fish get to the ocean with less fish going through hydroelectric turbines. Other methods also will be used to get the fish to the ocean, such as loading them on barges. The water spills are scheduled for March 14 through Aug. 31.

Conference for shellfish growers planned

OLYMPIA -- Aquaculturists from France, Maine and British Columbia will speak at Washington Sea Grant Program's Sixth Conference for Shellfish Growers March 4 and 5 at the Tyee Hotel in Olympia. Scheduled speakers include French aquaculturist Yves LeBorgne, who will discuss advancements in European shellfish culture and equipment; Brian Beal of the Maine/New Hampshire Sea Grant Program, who will provide an overview of the mahogany clam industry in Maine and hatchery methods for softshell clams; and Ross Cutler of Kitt's Oysters in Ladysmith, B.C., who will talk about techniques to maximize oyster production on a small farm. The conference also will feature discussions on scallop and mussel culture, oyster brood stock management, toxic phytoplankton and the plankton species that causes discoloration or "orange juice" in oysters. The registration fee will be $65 at the door. The fee includes admission to all sessions, lunch, coffee breaks and reception. For more information, call Terry Nosho at (206) 543-2821. To register, call Susan Hester at (206) 685-9117.

Hydraulic engineer joins WEST Consultants

Benjamin Cook has joined the staff of WEST Consultants as a hydraulic engineer. Cook recently received a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington. While at UW, he developed a web site that serves as an on-line source of tsunami-related educational and research information. Cook's professional interests include the field study and numerical modeling of fluvial and coastal processes.

Thompson promoted at Summit

Jeff Thompson has been promoted from project manager to field services department manager at Summit Envirosolutions, a full-service environmental consulting firm in Bellevue. Thompson's new responsibilities include managing Summit's field services group and expanding the use of Summit's Geoprobe, an on-site sampling and analytical unit which provides real-time data used in site characterization and remediation.