10/5 Salish Sea News & Weather: Elwha, coal export, carcinogen levels, ocean zoning, BC Salmon Safe, IPZ, Great Lakes, Duwamish Tribe, fall colors, aquatic 'shroom

PHOTO: Peninsula Daily News

Boom! They’re setting off explosives today clearing a temporary side channel around the Elwha Dam. Equally dramatic is the cut in the Glines Canyon Dam upriver and seeing water spilling over it for the first time. Explosives to be set off at Elwha Dam today; water spills through notched Glines Canyon Dam

In addition to possible legal action over a Clean Water Act violation, proponents of a coal export facility at Cherry Point now have the State Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation to deal with. The state agency asked Whatcom County to delay issuing a ruing that SSA Marine caused no damage in clearing the site until it’s clear that no Native American tribal artifacts were disturbed. Floyd McKay in Crosscut explains all. Bellingham coal port plan trips over new objections

Ashley Ahearn reports on a new state Ecology study on levels of Dioxin and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils of Seattle neighborhoods and some rural areas. New Study Compares Carcinogen Levels Around Washington State   She also had a great time yesterday with filmmaker Eric Becker talking about his documentary Sound and Vision in an EarthFix online chat archived here.

Partisan wrangling highlighted debate over a White House plan that essentially calls for zoning the oceans, with Republicans charging that it already has created more job-killing bureaucracy and Democrats saying it could give Americans more certainty on how they can use busy public waters. Rob Hotakainen reports, House members clash over plan for zoning the oceans
 
Paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins update from Poulsbo: Liberty Bay closed to shellfish harvesting

Good news from the north:  Salmon Safe has certified 22 ranches and farms in British Columbia as having adopted practices that protect salmon and salmon habitat and will today launch a new eco-certification program. Salmon Safe eco-certification launches in B.C.; Farmers and ranchers commit to practices that protect water, fish habitat

The state’s Department of Commerce granted a special designation to Tacoma on Tuesday that city officials hope will help establish a clean water technology hub on the east side of the Thea Foss Waterway. The “Innovative Partnership Zone” designation will help expand the city’s new Center for Urban Waters into a broader research campus that would anchor an envisioned “clean water cluster” of public and private research and business groups. ‘IPZ’ tag meant to help create Foss water hub
 

Dave Davis in his Plain Dealer blog writes about how Cleveland may be setting an example for the rest of the nation. Our Man of the South says, “You know we are slipping if Ohio is moving ahead of us.”   Sewer district to spend $42M on 'green' infrastructure to curb stormwater   Better hurry, because the National Wildlife Federation said Tuesday that the five Great Lakes are clogged by algae blooms fed by agricultural run-off, while invasive mussels decimate the food chain in deeper waters, and are "veering close to ecosystem collapse."  Great Lakes set to collapse

C.R. Douglas, now reporting for Q13 FOX News, tells the story of the Duwamish Tribe’s long road to recognition by the federal government.  Duwamish tribe donated land for Seattle to be built, tribe now seeks recognition

‘Tis the season: Larry Vogel in EdmondsPatch blogs on the science behind the magic. The Magical Transformation Explained: How Our Trees Get Their Fall Colors

See it, believe it: Kevin Klein of Friday Harbor captured the photo Deer seen swimming across the channel in San Juan Islands heading to Canada

Bad hunting: Japan to hold whale hunts despite activist threats

Good hunting: The remarkable story of Robert Coffan’s discovery of the only true gilled aquatic mushroom continues with a hunt for other streams where it might be found. Amelia Templeton tells the story. Searching in Streams For Oregon’s Aquatic Mushroom

Now, your tug weather:
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 845 AM PDT WED OCT 5 2011
  TODAY
 SE WIND 10 KT EARLY...BECOMING LIGHT...THEN BECOMING W 10 KT LATE. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 7 FT AT 9 SECONDS. CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
 TONIGHT
 W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS. CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.

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