May 04, 1999

State seeks hike in nursery fees

OLYMPIA -- The State Department of Agriculture is considering a 7.6 percent fee increase for its plant services and pest program and will take comments on the proposal at hearings beginning at 1:30 p.m. May 17 in Olympia. The hearings will be held in Room 259 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. In the plant and pest program, staff inspect plant nurseries to ensure that consumers and the nursery industry receive healthy, pest-free plants, and they enforce quarantines to prevent the introduction of pests. The staff also inspects nursery stock on request as required by domestic and international markets. The program is funded by license fees paid by nursery dealers in the state as well as fees from requested inspections and certification. Pest detection, testing and inspection services are used by agricultural and forestry industries when third party testing and inspection is needed for the sale of plant material. According to a statement released by the department, revenue and activity levels for the programs have been stable but expenses have grown gradually. A decision on the fee increase will be made May 26 by the department director, Jim Jesernig. For information contact the department.

Heavy snowpack poses flood threat

YAKIMA (AP) -- The abundant snow pack in the Cascade Range poses a late spring and early summer flood threat on several Eastern Washington rivers, the state Department of Ecology said Monday. The Cascade snow pack is anywhere from 135 percent to 185 percent above average. When the seasonal melt begins, flooding is possible on the Similkameen, Okanogan, Methow, Naches, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Entiat, Wenatchee, Klickitat and Yakima rivers. High water also is possible on the Walla Walla and Touchet rivers from melting snow in the Blue Mountains. "These rivers can will rise quickly during extended periods of hot weather or heavy rainfall," said Tim D'Acci, the department's coordinator for the national flood insurance program. "River-area property owners and recreationists, such as anglers, rafters and kayakers, should watch out for sudden rises in river levels due to faster snow-melt conditions." Signs warning of potential high river flows will be posted along the upper Yakima River this month.

Reactor core heading to Hanford

RAINIER, Ore. (AP) -- After a year of work, the cradles and shield for the decommissioned reactor core from the Trojan nuclear plant are ready to give the reactor a ride up the Columbia River for burial at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Construction of the $2 million high-strength carbon steel cradles was a first for Thompson Metal Fab Inc. of Vancouver, Wash., said John Rudi, company president. The fabrication took 20 workers more than a year because they had to follow a quality-control program and "extremely extensive" inspections, Rudi said. "Safety and quality have really been the paramount rules for this project," he said. The support frame is about 68 feet long and 24 feet wide, and the two cradles have a combined weight of about 500,000 pounds. The frame-and-cradle assembly is designed to support 10 times the weight of the reactor core, according to Bob Morgan, project manager for Burns & Roe, which designed the framework, cradles and sheathing that Thompson fabricated. Arntson said the reactor core, filled with 200 tons of concrete and sheathed in protective steel, will weigh about 1,020 tons. Officials say all necessary approvals for disposal of the reactor core have been obtained, including permission from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council and the Washington State Health Department. The trip by barge upriver to Richland, Wash., is about 270 miles. Once there, the reactor core will be removed from the barge by a heavy-haul truck and taken to nearby Hanford, where it will be buried with hundreds of tons of other low-level radioactive waste. Altogether, Portland General Electric expects to spend $26 million on the reactor transport and burial project. The move is scheduled for late August or early September, said PGE spokesman Kregg Arntson. PGE closed the Trojan plant on the Columbia River in January 1993. The company said it would cost too much to repair cracks in more than 3,000 of the heat-exchange tubes in the plant's 326-ton generators. The tubes were vital because they carried hot water from the reactor core into a chamber to create steam that drove turbines to generate electricity.

New faces at Prezant

SEATTLE -- Prezant Associates, a Seattle firm specializing in industrial hygiene, health and safety, has named Kurt Stranne director of Construction Safety Services. He has more than seven years' experience in senior level regulatory compliance consultation, site inspections and safety and health training. Prezant also has named Don Swanby a project manager. He has worked in the management and handling of hazardous materials for 10 years.

Ecology talks toxics in Bellingham

OLYMPIA -- Bellingham residents will get a chance this Thursday to tell Tom Fitzimmons, director of the state Department of Ecology, what they think of plans to further reduce release of toxic chemicals into the environment. The department will hold an open house and public meeting from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Whatcom County Council Chambers, 311 Grand Ave., Bellingham, on May 6. Ecology is focusing its attention on toxics that build up in the tissues of humans and animals, known as persistent bioaccumulative toxics, or BACs. For more information, contact Mike Gallagher at Ecology, (360) 407-6868.

Conference on estuary restoration

SEATTLE -- A conference entitled "Restoring Estuarine Ecosystems" will be held Thursday, May 6, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sand Point facility in Seattle. Sponsored by Restore America's Estuaries and the Estuarine Research Federation, the meeting is the second of three to be held around the country this spring. Keynote speaker for the event is Andy Rosenberg, deputy assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, who will speak about the NMFS role in local restoration efforts. Other speakers will come from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Battelle Marine Laboratory, the University of Washington, People for Puget Sound, the South Slough Estuarine Preserve, and the University of British Columbia. The conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. For more information, contact Jacques White at People for Puget Sound, (206) 382-7007.

Be a hero, get rid of geese

SEATTLE (AP) -- There are now an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Canada geese living in urban areas around Puget Sound, and that number is expected to increase to more than 80,000 in the next decade. So now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to determine the best way to get rid of some of the birds, whose messy habits have made them unwelcome guests in parks and other areas frequented by humans. The agency has just released a 47-page document listing a number of different control options, and is seeking public comment through May 26. Jon Savelle is the Journal's environment editor. He can be contacted at (206) 622-8272.

Foushee & Associates

Foushee & Associates of Bellevue has hired Jeff Ristoff as a project manager and promoted Mike Fey to project manager from project engineer. Ristoff holds a degree in building construction from the University of Washington and has 10 years of construction-related experience. Fey holds a degree in building construction from Central Washington University and has four years of industry experience.

BMC West

James Lee has been promoted to general manager of Everett, Issaquah BMC West. In his new position, Lee will continue to manage the Everett facility and will assume supervision of the Issaquah facility. The Everett facility makes engineered trusses, and is a building products distributor. The Issaquah operation is a professional-builder retail facility, and building products distributor. BMC also announced it is separating its Framing Install program into a district management group so that the program is available to all Puget Sound locations of BMC. Other moves include the formation of a new sales group focusing on large multi-family and commercial projects, and centralizing all credit and administrative functions for the Everett and Issaquah facilities.

Ferguson Construction

Seattle's Ferguson Construction has hired several new personnel: project manager Reg Clowdsley; project engineers Jay Clark and Patti Reese; preconstruction services manager Michele Clute; safety and quality assurance manager Jeff Wharton; estimator David Kincaid; superintendent Daniel Hoolahan; and staff accountant LaWanna Allred.

Approach Management

Rebecca Murray and Tung Doan have joined Approach Management Services as retro coordinators. Their roles will be to administer the company's retrospective rating groups through the state Department of Labor and Industries. Murray will manage the Smart A-Team retro group and Doan the National Electrical Contractors' Association's retro group. The goal is to help individual companies, through their associations, lower workers' compensation claims costs and future premiums paid to the state.

Unimark Construction

Three new employees have been brought on at Unimark Construction. Jeff Briggs is a senior project manager, Tom Saul is a superintendent and Soo Anderson is a project manager. Briggs has more than 29 years of experience and ran his own general contracting firm prior to joining Unimark. Saul was formerly a superintendent in GL Systems' drywall division. Anderson previously worked for McCarthy, where she specialized in shell-and-core work, office tenant improvements and major renovation projects in hospitals.

PCL Construction

PCL Construction Services has relocated its Seattle district office. The new address is: 15405 S.E. 37th St., Bellevue, WA 98006. The company's phone and fax numbers remain the same.