Apr 28, 1998

The Brighton Group

Grady Coulson has joined The Brighton Group, a Bellevue-based consulting firm specializing in career and organizational transition services. He is vice president of business development.

Primus

Primus, a Seattle-based provider of enterprise software for problem resolution and knowledge management, has named Patty Cox vice president of professional services. Primus has created SolutionSeries software.

Macrosearch

Lynne Durrell has been promoted to manager of Macrosearch Inc.'s South Sound office in Lacey. Durrell will be responsible for both Macrostaff, an employment division specializing in computer and software engineering, and Macrosearch, an employment division specializing in programmers, analysts, managers and network specialists.

Bellevue Community College

Bellevue Community College president B. Jean Floten was named the 1998 Public Official of the Year by the Municipal League of King County. Floten was involved in the creation of the college's recently opened Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies.

Graham & Dunn

Mark C. Griffin has joined the Seattle law firm of Graham & Dunn as an associate and member of the firm's real estate practice group.

Safeco

Safeco Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Boh Dickey was recently named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the Seattle office of the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. Dickey worked at Deloitte & Touche from 1966 to 1982.

Center for Family Business

The Center for Family Business will open in Seattle on May 4. The center will offer coaching and mediation services to help participants in family businesses create a thriving work environment. The director, Betty Ann Richmond, became interested in the subject while co-founding a family business, Richmond Public Relations.

W.G. Clark

W.G. Clark Construction has added two new managers to its project management staff. Howard Kellogg -- who has over 20 years of experience in commercial, industrial and institutional construction work -- has joined the firm as a senior project manager. Jeff Hendrickson has joined as a project manager and estimator. Kellogg recently was an independent construction consultant for the City of Seattle and construction manager for the International District PDA on its Village Square mixed-use project. Hendrickson has held positions as a project manager, estimator, project engineer and quality control engineer. He recently left Hoffman Construction of Portland, where he had worked since 1987.

Nuprecon

Demolition contractor Nuprecon Inc. has hired Mike Sherstad as its new director of sales. Sherstad, who has a background in sales and construction, also serves as a state representative in Olympia. As a representative, he is now in his fourth year and sits on the Government Reform and Land Use, Law and Justice and Health Care committees.

Snyder Roofing

Tim Gardner has been appointed general manager of Snyder Roofing's Seattle office. Gardner is a 16-year veteran of the roofing industry and University of Oregon graduate. His new duties include supervision of estimators and procurement of new construction and reroofing projects.

Groups appeal Shell's NPDES permit

ANACORTES -- Four environmental groups announced Monday that they plan to appeal the wastewater discharge permit issued recently by the Department of Ecology to the Shell Oil Co. refinery in Anacortes. Environmentalists say the permit's discharge limits are too lax. They also say Ecology has violated the Clean Water Act because it has not required Shell to use the best available wastewater treatment technologies that exist today for oil refineries. Meanwhile, Ecology officials say the permit standards were established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "These are federal permit standards," Ecology spokesman Ron Langley said. "EPA has recently reviewed those standards and reviewed the available technology and determined essentially that the technology hasn't changed significantly. So, EPA has decided not to update those requirements. ... We're following their direction." The groups appealing Shell's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit are People For Puget Sound, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Washington Environmental Council and Ocean Advocates. Seattle attorney Helen M. Kennedy is representing the appealing parties. The groups have asked the state Pollution Control Hearings Board to require Ecology to: establish and include stricter wastewater treatment control methods and effluent limits in the permit; set a discharge limit for dioxin in the permit; and require monitoring, control or treatment of ship ballast water to prevent introduction of invasive exotic organisms. A pre-hearing conference is scheduled for May 8, and the hearing is set for Dec. 21. However, the hearing could take place on Sept. 4 if an opening becomes available on that day. Langley characterized the groups' decision to appeal Shell's permit as a case of misplaced priorities. "It's really unfortunate that these environmental groups are focusing on discharges from these remaining industries when we need their help on larger issues," he said. "The impacts on salmon really are coming from other places." He said the biggest sources of pollution impacting Washington's waters are agricultural runoff, habitat damage, failing septic systems, municipal wastewater discharges, stormwater runoff and mining.

Kinsella leaves SCS to join Emcon

BOTHELL -- John Kinsella has joined Emcon as the company's new area operations manager for the Northwest region. In his new role, Kinsella will guide business development and operational activities in Emcon's offices in Bothell, Spokane, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Portland, Eugene and Medford, Ore. Emcon's Northwest region handles about $15 million in annual net sales, Kinsella said. The company's three main product lines are solid waste, site restoration and facility services. Kinsella has more than 18 years of experience in environmental compliance, site characterization and remediation. Most recently he was vice president and national leader for environmental management system services at SCS Engineers in Bellevue. For the last several years, Kinsella has concentrated on helping clients implement environmental management systems in conformance with the ISO 14000 environmental standard. He is an active member of the ISO Technical Advisory Group, which is developing ISO 14000 standards for eco-labeling and life-cycle analysis of products. He says he plans to continue promoting ISO 14000 in his new job. "We're going to approach it in a very deliberate, definite way," Kinsella said. "I think we can make a bigger impact on that market, frankly, since we're a larger company."

Grandview wells contaminated with herbicide

GRANDVIEW, Yakima County -- A second drinking-water well in an area 2 miles east of Grandview has been found to be contaminated with the herbicide dinoseb. The shallow groundwater well, located on Hicks Road, is 1.25 miles south of a site identified Friday by the Department of Ecology with hazardous levels of the banned herbicide. Workers will continue to take samples this week in the area around County Line Road south of West King Tull Road. The two affected wells are shallow groundwater wells in rural areas. Residents who rely on the wells have been encouraged to drink bottled water until more information is available. Dinoseb was commonly used as a herbicide until federal authorities banned it in 1986. It is considered extremely toxic and has been shown to cause cancer and birth defects in animals. According to the state Department of Agriculture, dinoseb is the number one pesticide handled through the agency's waste-pesticide collection program. Product names for pesticides containing dinoseb included Basanite, Caldon, Chemox, Chemsect DNBP, Dinitro, Dynamyte, Elgetol, Gebutox, Hel-Fire, Kiloseb, Nitropone, Premerge, Sinox General, Subitex and Vertac Weed Killer. Concerned residents may call Ecology's 24-hour telephone line at (509) 575-2490. People with health concerns should contact the Benton-Franklin County Health Department at (509) 582-7761, Ext. 256.

Ruckelshaus to speak at auditing meeting

SEATTLE -- William Ruckelshaus, former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and CEO of Browning-Ferris Industries, will be the keynote speaker at the 1998 spring meeting of the Environmental Auditing Roundtable. Scheduled for May 12-13 at the Renaissance Madison Hotel in downtown Seattle, the meeting will focus on performance measures of audit programs, ISO 14000, and environmental, health and safety auditing best practices. Akihiko Maki of Chiyoda-Dames & Moore in Tokyo also will speak at the meeting on international auditing practices. Cost of the meeting is $250 for Environmental Auditing Roundtable members and $350 for non-members. To register or receive more information, call Kathy Rieth at (440) 327-6605 or send e-mail to: Kathyear@aol.com.

It's time to apply for P2 awards

OLYMPIA -- Businesses and government facilities that have taken steps to prevent pollution and waste in their operations are encouraged to apply for a 1998 Governor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pollution Prevention. Entries must be submitted by June 5. They will be judged by a panel that includes pollution-prevention (P2) experts, representatives from small and large businesses and representatives from labor, community and environmental groups. All Washington businesses and government facilities are eligible for the awards, which will be presented at a ceremony in September. For application instructions, call (360) 407-6719. For more information about the awards, call Bonnie Meyer at (360) 407-6740.

State recyclers to meet in Yakima

YAKIMA -- Recycling specialists from around the state will meet in Yakima May 3-6 for the 18th annual Washington State Recycling Association (WSRA) conference and trade show at the Yakima Convention Center. More than 55 speakers are scheduled for the three-day event. Conference topics will range from how to salvage and sell reusable building materials to how to conduct rural education and outreach programs. The trade show will feature more than 30 exhibitors and vendors. "Recycling: Dawning of a New Era," a panel discussion scheduled for 9 to 11 a.m. May 6, will address the future of recycling. Panelists representing conservation groups, cities, counties, recycling businesses and industry will speak during that session. Awards for "Recycler of the Year" and "Recycling Company of the Year" will be presented by WSRA at an awards banquet at 6 p.m. May 5. The state Department of Ecology also will announce its awards for waste prevention, reduction and recycling at the banquet. For more information on the conference, call Michelle Setsu Holmes at WSRA at (206) 244-0311.