May 05, 1998

DOE pollution prevention conference

SEATAC -- "Return on Innovation: Investing in Our Future" is the theme of this year's U.S. Department of Energy Pollution Prevention Conference XIV, which is set for June 1-4 at the Doubletree Hotel in SeaTac. Keynote speakers include: Joe Lucas, president of Inland Technology Inc.; Ted Strong, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission; Earl Beaver, director of waste elimination at Monsanto; Tachi Kiuchi, founder of Future 500; and Joel Makower, journalist and publisher of the Green Business Letter. The conference will include sessions on source reduction and recycling, pollution prevention incentives, activity-based costing, environmental management systems and innovative technologies. More than 50 exhibitors will showcase new technologies, products and services in front of DOE decision-makers. Conference attendees also may tour the following sites: Weyerhaeuser; Boeing; Rainier Ballistics; Tim's Cascade Style Potato Chips; and Trident Refit Facility Bangor, a Department of Defense shipyard. To register by phone, call Mary Betsch at (509) 372-1627 or Mandy Kenfield at (509) 376-7457. To register on-line or receive more information about the conference, visit the following Web site: http://www.hanford.gov/polprev/conference/index.htm

North Lake Union interim cleanup

SEATTLE -- The state Department of Ecology is seeking public comments on interim cleanup actions proposed for the Facilities North site, a former Metro Transit fueling station on the north shore of Lake Union. The interim actions include: demolishing aboveground petroleum storage tanks and associated structures and piping; and excavating the top six inches of shallow soils, which are contaminated with metals from sandblasting and painting operations. Aboveground tanks, structures and piping will be removed and disposed off site or recycled where practical. The metal-contaminated soils will be removed and disposed of at an approved landfill. The site will then be regraded, and erosion-control measures will be installed. The site consists of two parcels: the south yard, which borders Gas Works Park and the Seattle Harbor Patrol on the east and Northlake Shipyard (formerly Unimar) on the west; and the north yard, which is located west of Nortar Inc. (formerly American Tar Co.). AGI Technologies completed the remedial investigation and feasibility study for the site, which revealed metal contamination in the shallow soils at the storage tanks and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the soils and groundwater. Information from the interim actions will be used to develop an overall cleanup plan which will address cleanup of the TPH and PAH in the deeper soils and groundwater. The cleanup will be paid for by the King County Metro Transit Division and Chevron Products Co., formerly Standard Oil of California, which first started using the site as a bulk fueling and storage facility in 1925. Written comments on the interim actions must be submitted by May 27 to: Maura S. O'Brien, Site Manager, Department of Ecology, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue, WA 98008-5452, (425) 649-7249.

Apr 30, 1998

Egghead.com

Egghead.com has entered into agreements with TheGlobe.com and Infobeat.com to expand their marketing efforts. The websites will integrate sales of Egghead's computer products merchandise.

Apr 29, 1998

HOK

Adrian Lam has joined the Redmond office of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) as an architectural designer. He has a variety of project experience, including tenant improvements, space planning and complete interior design services. Anastasia Allison has joined the office with interior design and space planning experience. She is currently on the project team that provides space planning, interior design and tenant improvement services to Microsoft. Ray Limonadi has joined HOK as a project architect. He is currently part of the design teams for Marriot Brighton Gardens Assisted Living in Bellevue and the Twin Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, Ore. Mia Marshal has joined the firm as an interior designer. She has experience as a space planner and also as a furniture designer, lighting designer and model maker. She is currently providing interior design services for Microsoft, and has recently completed the new offices for HOK in the historic Justice White House in Redmond.

AGI

Dean White has been promoted to principal engineer at AGI Technologies (AGI) in Bellevue. He has been with the firm for three years, and is in charge of AGI's geotechnical engineering services. He is currently providing overall geotechnical project management for the proposed Third Runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. Curtis Cross has joined the firm as a staff engineer. He is working on closure plans for a landfill in Texas. Melanie Swanson has also joined the firm as a staff engineer, and comes to AGI from Fluor Daniel GTI. She is working on industrial wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage systems for sites in California and Oregon. Michael Hutchinson has joined the firm as a geologist and will work on hydrocarbon remediation projects throughout Washington. Chase Barton, also a geologist, has joined the firm to manage AGI's in-house soils physical properties testing laboratory. Wayne Rice has joined AGI as a laboratory technician, developing treatment processes and testing chemical monitoring devices.

Interface

Guy Mackenzie has joined Interface Engineering as a mechanical designer. A recent graduate of Montana State University, he is now working on John Muir and Helen Keller elementary schools and Whatcom County Fire District No. 7. Joe Cadden has joined the firm as a senior electrical designer and is now at work on the Tacoma Pre-release Facility, a Tacoma Fire Station, Gig Harbor Retail Center and Riverside Assisted Living Facility. Mark Gemeinhardt, a senior mechanical engineer and project manager, specializes in primary and secondary education facilities. Now that he has joined Interface, he is at work on two elementary schools, Sunrise Health Care, Cineplex Odeon Theater and Staples Office Supplies.

Architekton

Manuel Najarro has joined the staff of Architekton as lead HTML programmer. He will be managing the development and maintenance of Architekton's web-based design and construction document distribution systems. Manuel's previous position was with Northwest College. Ben Liston has joined Architekton as an intern CAD specialist for the PCS Design Group. He is a recent graduate of the ITT Technical Institute in Seattle. Aaron Hermanutz has joined the firm as an Intern CAD Specialist for Architekton's Food Service Design Group. Aaron is a recent graduate of the ITT Technical Institute in Seattle. Jacob Carroll has joined Architekton as an Intern CAD Specialist for Architekton's Retail Petroleum Design Group. Jacob is a recent graduate of the ITT Technical Institute in Seattle.

Apr 28, 1998

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.

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.

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.