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Whether you live in the “bowl area” of Edmonds or in the neighborhoods just above known as the “rim,” you must at one time or another have heard about the Edmonds Marsh. Edmonds has a precious commodity, as this estuary is one of the very few still in existence within urbanized areas along Puget Sound.
Read the full story on My Edmonds News.
]]>LOST in the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline is the reality that we have already seen a steady uptick in the flow of tar sands feed stocks — "synthetic oil" or the raw material for it — to our five Washington refineries by pipelines or from tankers transiting the Salish Sea. And there are plans on the books for much, much more.
Kinder Morgan — a multinational company also trying to build a coal-export facility on the Columbia River — intends to more than double the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, B.C., while deepening its port there to utilize tankers larger than those allowed to enter Washington waters. Should a spill occur, the international boundary in the Strait of Juan de Fuca won't be much of a barrier to the toxic spread from these larger vessels... (READ MORE)
]]>Friends of the Earth, People for Puget Sound, Surfrider Foundation and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance announced today their appreciation for the Washington State Department of Ecology’s (Ecology) support of their proposed ban on cruise ship discharges while the vessels are in Washington waters.
]]>“I have been thinking about this for years. At some point you have to retire. I just decided this was the right time,” Dicks told The Associated Press.
]]>When you think about Puget Sound, a bathtub might not be the first image to come to mind.
But that’s one way environmentalists and scientists sometimes describe it, because the shape of Puget Sound is an important factor when it comes to keeping it clean.
A long-awaited report from the Environmental Protection Agency on the health effects of dioxin is confirming what many experts have known for a long time.
Read/ listen to the whole story on kplu.org
]]>February 27, 2012
Contacts:
Kerry McHugh, Washington Environmental Council, 206.631.2605, kerry@wecprotects.org
Robin Stanton, The Nature Conservancy, 206.436.6274, rstanton@tnc.org
Bruce Wishart, People For Puget Sound, 360.223.2033, wishart.bruce@comcast.net
WA Legislature Attacks Clean Water Protections
Proposed weakening of rules would allow polluted runoff to continue flowing into Washington waterways.
OLYMPIA – Attacks on clean water protections continue in the Washington Legislature. Late Friday, February 24th, HB 2801 was introduced in the State House, sponsored by Rep. Sam Hunt (D-22). This bill, specifically section 104, would weaken the implementation of municipal stormwater permits, one of our state’s biggest opportunities to set a course to clean up Puget Sound and other waterways around Washington. The environmental community is united in opposing this legislation.
HB 2801 follows a series of attacks on clean water rules in the state Legislature. The bill would make implementation of clean water rules voluntary, instead of required by law. Several earlier bills proposed either weakening or delaying the draft permit and a proposed amendment to SB 6406 containing similar terms has been floated. Last week, the House Democrats’ proposed budget included provisions specifically calling for the delay of the stormwater permits.
“These important clean water protections are needed to prevent the flood of toxic runoff from polluting our water,” said Mo McBroom, Policy Director for Washington Environmental Council. “Our current approach is not working – these updates are needed to protect Puget Sound and prevent a bigger clean-up bill for Washington taxpayers down the road.”
The Department of Ecology’s draft municipal stormwater permits are necessary to comply with the Clean Water Act and have the potential to be a big step forward to yield significant results in our state’s effort to restore Puget Sound to health by 2020. The draft permits include innovative building practices, such as rain gardens and permeable pavement, to prevent and filter polluted runoff, which is the single largest source of toxic pollution entering the Sound.
“When stormwater is the single largest source of toxic pollution entering the Sound,” said Bruce Wishart, lobbyist for People For Puget Sound, “it is no time to take a step backward.”
“Our waterways are under siege from polluted runoff,’ said Bill Robinson, Washington state government relations director for The Nature Conservancy. “We need to move forward to protect Puget Sound using the best technology and techniques available, not hamstring needed updates.”
The attacks on clean water rules are part of greater assault on environmental protections this legislative session.
]]>Contact:
Sian Wu, 206-701-4734, sian@resource-media.org
Kerry McHugh, 206-631-2605, Kerry@wecprotects.org
End of Public Comment Period Marks New Phase in State’s Clean Water Action
Diversity of interests express support for strong permits
OLYMPIA – The public comment period is officially over for Department of Ecology’s draft stormwater permits. These permits represent the biggest opportunity to address the single largest source of toxic pollution to Puget Sound. Feb. 3 marked the end of a period of workshops, hearings, comments and letter submissions. Next, Department of Ecology will be reviewing and internally debating the desired changes proposed, before issuing final permits in July, 2012.
Comments in support of strengthening the draft stormwater permits were submitted by a broad, diverse set of interests, including tribes, shellfish growers, green builders, fishing guides, business owners, scuba divers, Girl Scouts, community and conservation organizations.
“Getting this right from the start is hugely important to restoring and cleaning up Puget Sound,” said Tom Bancroft, executive director of nonprofit group People For Puget Sound. “State officials need to know that a huge number of people care about the Sound and want to stop the runoff that is responsible for degrading salmon runs, closing commercial shellfish beds and swimming beaches and causing sewage overflows.”
The permit process is an opportunity to give the green light to green building solutions already available and proven cost-effective. “Green infrastructure” or Low Impact Development (LID) uses techniques such as rain gardens, porous pavement and green roofs, which mimic the earth’s natural ability to absorb water and filter toxins out runoff, while preventing flooding and increasing community green space. EPA studies show that preventing toxic runoff at the source can be far cheaper and more effective than cleaning up pollution after it enters our lakes, rivers and Puget Sound.
“In its current form, the draft stormwater permits are a good start, but need significant changes in order to be truly effective,” said Chris Wilke, executive director of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. “We hope the Department of Ecology will be responsive to the robust public feedback process and make changes reflective of the broad support for a strong permit.”
At the same time, as Department of Ecology conducts their permit update process, there have been several efforts by outside interests to weaken the permit. Specifically, numerous pieces of legislation aimed at delaying or undermining core environmental protections were introduced in the state legislature. The weakening of these protections would allow new development to skirt toxic stormwater pollution regulations, and eliminate key tools that promote low impact development and clean water.
The following were among the parties who submitted public comment in favor of strengthening the draft municipal stormwater permits:
"Protecting water quality from polluted runoff goes hand in hand with protecting salmon and their habitats, and is a key part of the overall salmon recovery effort. It also is essential to keeping our shellfish beds clean and safe to harvest. Municipal stormwater permits are important tools to address polluted runoff from urban areas. Without these important protections, salmon, shellfish and tribal treaty-reserved rights are placed at risk". - Billy Frank, Jr. Chairman Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (link to full letter)
“Stormwater regulations should not shy away from challenging the creativity of design teams. Good stormwater policy will challenge the design and building community to reach for solutions that provide greater resiliency, environmental protections, and smarter use of human spaces.” –Joel Sisolak, Cascadia Green Building Council (link to full letter)
“The rest of the nation is already moving towards mandatory LID standards, which have been found necessary to meet the Clean Water Act’s goals. While this permit requires the development of such programs at the local level, we believe the approach outlined has serious flaws.” –Zsofia Pastor, landscape designer, president of Sustainable Development Task Force of Snohomish County (link to full letter)
“Divers in the Northwest have seen firsthand the pipes as they spew forth the noxious pollutants into our underwater world to wreak havoc on the aquatic ecosystem with chemicals that do not belong there and are affecting the sea life that tries to thrive and survive there. The majority of divers here regard themselves as stewards of our watery playground and will always support efforts to preserve our most precious resource and inform the state government of any negative changes to it. That is why Washington SCUBA Alliance strongly supports strengthening the municipal stormwater permits.” –Jim Trask, Washington SCUBA Alliance
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Listen/ read to the whole story from Martha Baskin (Green Acre Radio) on Crosscut.com.
]]>Contact: Steve Mashuda, Earthjustice, (206) 343-7340, x1027
Miyoko Sakashita, Center for Biological Diversity, 415-632-5308
Hawk Rosales, InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, (707) 489-3640
Marcie Keever, Friends of the Earth, (415) 544-0790 x223
Kyle Loring, Friends of the San Juans, (360) 378-2319
Jessica Lass, NRDC, (310) 434-2300
Heather Trim, People For Puget Sound, (206) 351-2898
Navy Training Blasts Marine Mammals with Harmful Sonar
Wildlife protection agency challenged for not doing its job
Earthjustice, representing InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the San Juans, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and People For Puget Sound, today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California challenging NMFS’s approval of the Navy’s training activities in its Northwest Training Range Complex. The lawsuit calls on NMFS to mitigate anticipated harm to marine mammals and biologically critical areas within the training range that stretches from Northern California to the Canadian border.
“These training exercises will harm dozens of protected species of marine mammals -- Southern Resident killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises -- through the use of high-intensity mid-frequency sonar,” said Steve Mashuda, an Earthjustice attorney representing the groups. “The Fisheries Service fell down on the job and failed to require the Navy to take reasonable and effective actions to protect them.”
The Navy uses a vast area of the West Coast for training activities including anti-submarine warfare exercises involving tracking aircraft and sonar; surface-to-air gunnery and missile exercises; air-to-surface bombing exercises; sink exercises; and extensive testing for several new weapons systems.
“Since the beginning of time, the Sinkyone Council’s member Tribes have gathered, harvested and fished for traditional cultural marine resources in this area, and they continue to carry out these subsistence ways of life, and their ceremonial activities along this Tribal ancestral coastline. Our traditional cultural lifeways, and our relatives such as the whales and many other species, will be negatively and permanently impacted by the Navy’s activities,” said Priscilla Hunter, chairwoman and co-founder of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. “Both NMFS and the Navy have failed in their obligations to conduct government-to-government consultation with the Sinkyone Council and its member Tribes regarding project impacts.”
In late 2010, NMFS gave the Navy a permit for five years of expanded naval activity that will harm or “take” marine mammals and other sealife. The permit allows the Navy to conduct increased training exercises that can harm marine mammals and disrupt their migration, nursing, breeding, or feeding, primarily as a result of harassment through exposure to the use of sonar.
“The Navy’s Northwest Training Range is the size of the State of California, yet not one square inch is off-limits to the most harmful aspects of naval testing and training activities,” said Zak Smith, staff attorney for NRDC. “We are asking for common-sense measures to protect the critical wildlife that lives within the training range from exposure to life-threatening effects of sonar. Biologically rich areas like the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary should be protected.”
The Navy’s mid-frequency sonar has been implicated in mass strandings of marine mammals in, among other places, the Bahamas, Greece, the Canary Islands, and Spain. In 2004, during war games near Hawai’i, the Navy’s sonar was implicated in a mass beaching of up to 200 melon-headed whales in Hanalei Bay. In 2003, the USS Shoup, operating in Washington’s Haro Strait, exposed a group of endangered Southern Resident killer whales to mid-frequency sonar, causing the animals to stop feeding and attempt to flee the sound.
“In 2003, NMFS learned firsthand the harmful impacts of Navy sonar in Washington waters when active sonar blasts distressed members of J pod, one of our resident pods of endangered orcas,” said Kyle Loring, Staff Attorney for Friends of the San Juans. “Given this history, it is particularly distressing that NMFS approved the Navy’s use of deafening noises in areas where whales and dolphins use their acute hearing to feed, navigate, and raise their young, even in designated sanctuaries and marine reserves.”
“Whales and other marine mammals don’t stand a chance against the Navy,” said Miyoko Sakashita, Oceans Director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Navy’s mitigation plan for sonar use relies primarily on visual detection of whales or other marine mammals by so-called “ watch-standers” with binoculars on the decks of ships. If mammals are seen in the vicinity of an exercise, the Navy is to cease sonar use.
“Visual detection can miss anywhere from 25-95% of the marine mammals in an area,” said Heather Trim, Director of Policy for People For Puget Sound. “It’s particularly unreliable in rough seas or in bad weather. We learn more every day about where whales and other mammals are most likely to be found – we want NMFS to put that knowledge to use to ensure that the Navy’s training avoids those areas when marine mammals are most likely there.”
The litigation is not intended to halt the Navy’s exercises, but asks the Court to require NMFS to reassess the permits using the latest science and to order the Navy to stay out of biologically critical areas at least at certain times of the year.
Marcie Keever of Friends of the Earth noted, “It has become increasingly clear from recent research that the endangered Southern Resident killer whale community uses coastal waters within the Navy’s training range to find salmon during the fall and winter months. NMFS has failed in its duty to assure that the Navy is not pushing the whales closer to extinction.”
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment.
The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council is comprised of ten federally recognized Northern California Indian Tribes with ancient and enduring subsistence and cultural ties to the Sinkyone Coast, an area that will be affected by the Navy’s expanded training activities.
NRDC is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, NRDC has worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment.
People For Puget Sound is a regional nonprofit with a 20-year history of using science and engaging citizens to safeguard and improve the health of Puget Sound and the Northwest Straits.
Founded in 1979, Friends of the San Juans pursues its mission to protect the land, water, sea, and livability of the San Juan Islands through science, education, stewardship, and advocacy.
Friends of the Earth fights to defend the environment and create a more healthy and just world. Our campaigns focus on promoting clean energy and solutions to climate change, keeping toxic and risky technologies out of the food we eat and products we use, and protecting marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.
The Center for Biological Diversity works through science, law and creative media to secure a future for all species, great or small, hovering on the brink of extinction.
]]>Rein Attemann, People For Puget Sound, (206) 334-6472, rattemann@pugetsound.org
Kerry McHugh, Washington Environmental Council, (206) 902-7555, kerry@wecprotects.org
Olympia, WA – Citizens will gather in Olympia on Wednesday, January 25th, as part of the 20th annual Environmental Lobby Day. Hosted by the Environmental Priorities Coalition, this day of action offers citizens the chance to meet with their legislators in support of environmental issues.
WHAT: 20th Annual Environmental Lobby Day
WHERE: United Churches of Olympia, 110 11th Ave SE, Olympia
WHEN: Wed, January 25, 2012; 9:00 am 5:00 pm
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Tom Bancroft, People For Puget Sound; Christi Norman, Audubon Washington; Phil Anderson, Director, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Brendon Cechovic, Washington Conservation Voters; Senator Sharon Nelson and Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark, starting at 9:15 am
The 2012 Priorities are:
“Each year for the last 20 years, citizens have stood up for Washington’s land, air, and water – together we’ve achieved some landmark successes and worked to prevent rollbacks of our environmental protections,” said Rein Attemann, Advocacy Manager for People For Puget Sound, a Coalition member organization.
Last year Rep. Dave Upthegrove (33rd District) told lobby day attendees, “A citizen from our district who communicates an issue to us is more powerful than any paid lobbyist, because at the end of the day we represent you.”
More information about the event here.
More information about the Environmental Priorities here.
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For more information contact Heather Trim, Director of Policy.
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Restore America's Estuaries has opened the Call for Proposals for its 6th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration, October 20-24, 2012, in Tampa, Florida. The Conference theme is "Restoring Ecosystems, Strengthening Communities."
RAE is seeking proposals for dedicated sessions, presentations, and posters for all coastal and estuarine habitat restoration-related topics, but particularly proposals dealing with the intersection of local and regional economies with healthy coastal ecosystems.
All proposals are due February 1, 2012.
To submit a proposal: program.estuaries.org
For more information visit the conference website: http://estuaries.org/conference/