3/27 Pier-ing, Kitsap buffers, Lk Whatcom, Barton CSO, Ebey Estuary, diesel health, Elwha Love, Kinder Morgan, ammo wharf, local media

Pier into the Night (Photo: Ric Hallock)

New blog: I’ve been enjoying this month two fine accounts of voyages of discovery along the Baja Mexico coasts. Baja Travels With Carl Safina and John Steinbeck

Although the water in Gig Harbor may be a bit murky, Harbor WildWatch provides residents an opportunity to see what lurks beneath the water’s surface during its regular Pier Into the Night program hosted at Jerisich Dock. The latest Pier Into the Night took place Saturday, March 24. Jerisich crawling (and swimming) with lifeforms in Gig Harbor

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from the Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners, which claimed that Kitsap County's shoreline buffers were unconstitutional. The ruling upholds the Kitsap County Critical Areas Ordinance as rewritten in 2007, including 100-foot buffers for rural shorelines and 50-foot buffers for urban shorelines. U.S. Supreme Court rejects KAPO appeal

Preventive measures are the most cost-effective means of curbing phosphorus pollution in Lake Whatcom, according to a study conducted for the city of Bellingham by the CH2M Hill engineering firm, and the findings seem to support existing city policies aimed at eliminating future pollution with land use controls and purchase of land in the lake watershed that might otherwise become sites for new homes.  Preventing Lake Whatcom pollution cheaper than fixing it, report says

King County will be hosting two community meetings for Westwood Village Sunrise Heights neighbors to discuss the Barton Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project. This project is designed to control CSOs at the Barton Pump Station near the Fauntleroy Ferry Dock. The first on Wednesday, March 28 and the second on Saturday, March 31 Two meetings upcoming on Barton CSO rain garden project

The Washington State Commission on Geographic Names is considering a big change to a long 8-mile waterway where the Snohomish River delta meets Puget Sound. Ebey Slough, a short distance east of the river, would appear on maps as "Ebey Estuary" under this proposal that goes to a public hearing May 18. Ebey Slough, Soap Lake may be renamed by state

Diesel particulate matter can have many adverse health effects, especially for those living near rail yards. Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency’s Lisa Woodard says diesel particulate matter is made up of gasses and soot. Studies show diesel particulate matter exposure can lead to lung and heart diseases, as well as cancer. Courtney Flatt at EarthFix reports. Diesel Emissions and Cancer Rates

Native plants recently planted in the shifting sands, tight silts and mixed jumble of sediments are among the first colonists of some 800 acres gradually emerging from the reservoirs backed up by the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams. Man giving nature a helping hand in laying a new Elwha carpet

As Saturday March 24th marked the 23rd anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the question arises whether the Canadian government has learned any lessons from the 1989 disaster that occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska. According to Chris Genovali of Raincoast Conservation, the answer appears to be a resounding "no," given the support to expand Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline and the dramatic escalation in oil tanker traffic that will accompany it. Oops I Spilled it Again: Why Exxon History is Repeating  

The Navy is close to getting the go-ahead to build a second explosives handling wharf for Naval Base Kitsap submarines. The final environmental-impact statement, or FEIS, is complete and will appear Friday in the Federal Register. After a 30-day waiting period, the Navy will announce it'll go with a combined-trestle design that casts less shade on environmentally sensitive shallow water. Provided permits aren't delayed, construction will begin in July and continue 42 to 48 months.  Final environmental-impact statement issued for explosives wharf at Bangor  

Karilyn Bales, the wife of accused war criminal Robert Bales, and Elizabeth Griffin-Hall, the social worker who dropped off Charlie and Braden Powell at their father’s house, asked local media to leave them alone-- then went on national television. News Tribune columnist Peter Callaghan asks: Why talk to local media when national TV calls?  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE MAR 27 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 7 FT AT 10 SECONDS LATE IN THE MORNING. RAIN AT TIMES.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 3 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 7 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SHOWERS.

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