May 19, 1998

Holiday Inn Select Seattle-Renton

Ashley Dumont has been appointed director of sales for Holiday Inn Select Seattle-Renton. Dumont previously served as the sales manager at the Holiday Inn SeaTac. Bill Weise has been appointed the general manager for Holiday Inn Select Seattle-Renton.

Reed McClure

The Reed McClure law firm recently honored William Hickman for 30 years of service. Hickman joined the firm in 1968, and was named shareholder in 1971. Hickman concentrates his practice on appellate work and insurance coverage matters.

Safeco

Ed Drake, Safeco Corp. assistant vice president and national manager of direct marketing, was recently named "Executive of the Year" by the Direct Marketing Association's Insurance and Financial Services Council.

Alaska Airlines

Gregg A. Saretsky has been elected vice president of marketing and planning by the board of directors of Alaska Airlines. Saretsky most recently served as vice president of passenger marketing for Canadian Airlines.

Women in Communications

The Seattle Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications has announced its new board of directors. The board includes Jeannine Blue Lupton, president; Lin Berryman, president-elect; Kim Pepper and , co-vice presidents of professional development; Nancy Blanton, Rhonda Peterson and Sharon Rockwood, co-vice presidents of membership; Laurie Maloney, vice president of marketing; Julie Gangler, vice president of student affairs; Peggy Spencer, vice president of finance; Gayle Kerley, vice president of communications; Francina Noordhoek, vice president/recording secretary; Malinda Arbak, vice president/job information; Mary Ann Fleck, historian; Tina Christiansen, co-chair of the Matrix Table; Margaret Coles, web mistress; and Vanessa Gallant, immediate past president.

Correction

Marilee Erickson, a shareholder in the Reed McClure law firm, has been elected vice president of the King County Bar Foundation. The Foundation was misidentified in the May 14 edition of the paper.

Edifice

Edifice Construction has added four new staff members: David Tieu as computer systems administrator, Lori Marchetti-Blazek as accounting specialist, John Wallace as a project superintendent and Mark Haley as an estimator/project manager. Tieu has in-depth experience in hardware, software and networking systems. Marchetti-Blazek has over 20 years of experience in construction accounting and financial systems. Wallace has logged over 20 years in the industrial, commercial, custom and multi-family construction markets. Haley has experience in commercial and residential carpentry and construction systems.

McCarthy

Don Severide and Scot Teichen were recently promoted at McCarthy. Severide was promoted to vice president of marketing and Teichen to superintendent. Severide has been in construction for 23 years. He is responsible for acquiring new and repeat business for the company's Portland and Seattle offices. Teichen has 21 years of construction experience and has been working on several projects at University Village in Seattle.

PSI

Engineering and testing firm PSI has added three new members to its staff. Jeffrey S. Thompson and Matt M. Beheshti have joined the Seattle office and Michele St. Germaine has joined the Spokane office. Thompson is a senior project manager. His new duties include managing environmental projects and field personnel, business development and providing technical oversight. He holds a master's degree in engineering geology from Texas A&M. Beheshti is a project engineer. He is managing projects involving asbestos management, lead-based paint and indoor air quality. He holds a master's degree in civil/structural engineering from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. St. Germaine is the new branch manager for the company's Spokane office. She is responsible for project management and technical oversight of construction inspection and laboratory testing. She holds an engineering degree from Arizona State University.

F.E. Ward

David L. Mingo has been promoted to vice president at Vancouver-based F.E. Ward Inc. Mingo has been with Ward since 1990. In his new role, he will continue to serve in a managerial capacity in estimating and general office operations.

Port of Ridgefield plans massive cleanup

RIDGEFIELD, Clark County -- The state Department of Ecology has awarded a $3.9 million grant to the Port of Ridgefield to help jump-start cleanup of an abandoned and severely contaminated wood-treating site along the Lake River. The 40-acre, port-owned site was occupied for 30 years by Pacific Wood Treating Corp. (PWT), which used creosote, pentachlorophenol, copper, chromium and arsenic to treat wood products. The chemicals dripped into the site's soil and groundwater and entered the Lake River, which connects the Columbia River with Vancouver Lake. The contaminated site also neighbors the 5,000-acre Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, land reserved by the federal government to provide fish and wildlife habitat. Ecology first ordered cleanup of the site in 1991. The port inherited PWT's cleanup responsibilities when the company filed for bankruptcy in 1993. Total cleanup of the site is estimated to cost $40 million and take up to 10 years to complete. Ecology's $3.9 million grant is coming from state Model Toxics Control Act funding. The port already has done some cleanup work with $300,000 of its own funds, along with two previous Model Toxics Control Act grants totaling $1.1 million. Since September 1996, 2.38 million pounds of hazardous waste and chemicals have been removed from the site. The port says it already has measured a large reduction in toxic contamination entering the Lake River. In 1994 the port hired Maul Foster & Alongi, an environmental consulting firm in Vancouver, Wash., to oversee its phased cleanup program. In November 1997, the port hired CET Environmental Services of Portland to demolish the wood-treating plant and remove the hazardous chemicals. And in January 1998, Advanced Environmental Technical Services of Fremont, Calif., was called on by the port to sample, profile, characterize, consolidate and remove hazardous wastes abandoned by PWT. The port has budgeted another $1.46 million for cleanup work in 1998. The port also expects to receive additional money from PWT's bankruptcy settlement, which is now pending in federal court. The port's redevelopment plans for the property include using 7 acres of the site for expansion of the city of Ridgefield's wastewater treatment plant. Cleanup of that 7-acre parcel is expected to cost $12.5 million. Ecology says it will provide water-quality grants and loans to help pay for the treatment plant's construction after designs are submitted and approved. State and local officials say wastewater planning is important in Ridgefield to keep up with the city's and Clark County's rapid growth. Ridgefield's population of 1,770 could jump 50 percent if two new housing developments are approved.

Woman sues Weyerhaeuser over spill

LONGVIEW (AP) -- A Longview woman has sued Weyerhaeuser Co. over a giant turpentine spill last year, contending it caused her asthma to worsen dramatically. Jane Earls, 50, plans to present testimony from her doctor to back her claim, said her attorney, Dave Nelson. "She is having to use inhalers frequently where she did not have to before. She may need treatment for the rest of her life," Nelson said. Earls has had to take respiratory medications and, periodically, antibiotics since shortly after the January 1997 spill. The spill created a stench that could be smelled in five counties and made scores of people sick. Weyerhaeuser apologized for the incident and said it paid out $57,000 to 171 people who submitted medical claims. In March, the company agreed to pay $700,000 in penalties for the spill. Weyerhaeuser offered $3,000 to Earls to settle a claim she filed, but Nelson said she rejected it as inadequate to cover her medical bills and her pain, suffering and disability. The suit does not specify the amount of damages sought. Earls' suit is the second time in the past year that a citizen has sued Weyerhaeuser for chemical releases. Last summer, a former Kelso school teacher, Marlene Bennett, alleged that fumes from a chlorine leak in July 1994 permanently injured her voice. The lawsuit was settled out of court last fall, but details were not available.

ONE/NW adds new board members, staff

SEATTLE -- ONE/Northwest (Online Networking for the Environment), a Seattle-based, high-tech "help desk" for Northwest conservation groups, has named four new directors to its board. Joining the board are: Anne Tillery, a partner with Pyramid Communications in Seattle; David Jones of Microsoft; Marc Smiley, executive director of the Oregon Natural Resources Council in Portland; and Tony Jewett, executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation in Helena. The following board members have been reappointed for additional terms: Paul Brainerd, president of the Brainerd Foundation; Kathy Becker, program officer with the Bullitt Foundation; Steve Clagett, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Washington; Rick Johnson, executive director of the Idaho Conservation League; Allan McDonell, executive director of B.C. Wild; Sam Tucker, publisher of Web Active at RealNetworks; and Sylvia Ward, executive director of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. In addition, Eva Shinagel has joined ONE/Northwest's four-person staff as development director. She is responsible for coordinating fund-raising and communications activities for the non-profit organization. Founded in 1995, ONE/Northwest is a support center that serves more than 1,200 conservation groups in Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. Its mission is to use the power of computer technology to advocate for the environment.

Recycling/transfer station to be upgraded

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE -- Snohomish County is planning to improve and expand its Southwest Recycling and Transfer Station in Mountlake Terrace. The basic operation of the station -- packing waste into enclosed containers for shipment off site -- will not change. The new design and expansion are expected to:

• move traffic off the street by expanding the vehicle-holding area;
• increase safety on the site and on surrounding streets;
• enclose some activities in order to reduce noise; and
• accommodate increased solid-waste and recycling volumes as the local population grows.

The county's first step toward expanding the Southwest facility will be to purchase several properties next to the site. Once that is done, the county will begin a final design process for the improved station. For more information, contact project manager Sego Jackson at (425) 388-6490 (phone); (425) 259-4945 (fax); or Sego.Jackson@co.snohomish.wa.us (e-mail).

Action Team wins Catalyst award

TUKWILA -- The Environmental Education Association of Washington will present its Community Catalyst award this week to the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team for getting people involved in the protection of Puget Sound. The Environmental Education Association says the Action Team's Public Involvement and Education (PIE) program "is one of very few that have enabled people to become truly educated about the environment." The PIE program funds water-quality improvement projects throughout the state. The award will be presented at the next Puget Sound Council meeting, which is set for 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday at the Tukwila Community Center, 12424 42nd Ave. S., Tukwila.