9/12 People For Puget Sound, Lk Whatcom land transfer, Samish closure, personal products pollution, Cedar Grove, refinery dangers, Arctic ice, permafrost melt, green infrastructure

Salish Sea Communications new blog: The End of People For Puget Sound

People for Puget Sound, a longtime advocate of Puget Sound restoration, will cease to exist at the end of this month. Citing financial difficulties, Executive Director Tom Bancroft said the group's staff and structure grew faster than its financial support. After a fundraising campaign failed to generate adequate revenue this spring, the board of directors decided to close up shop while the group still had enough money to pay off its debts. Remaining funds will be used to move the organization's policy, education and advocacy programs to another environmental group, Washington Environmental Council. Bancroft said he is in negotiations to move restoration projects — largely funded by government grants — into EarthCorps, a group with restoration experience. In April 2011, Bancroft assumed the directorship of People for Puget Sound from Kathy Fletcher, who had founded the group 20 years earlier. "This is shocking and sad," Fletcher told the Kitsap Sun. "I never would have imagined that this would happen." Christopher Dunagan reports. People for Puget Sound to disband  See also: People for Puget Sound is ceasing operations   And: People for Puget Sound Shutting Its Doors    And, from OlyPEN: People For Puget Sound Folds– Where to from here?

More than 200 people turned out Tuesday, Sept. 11, for a Whatcom County Council public hearing on the proposed transfer of 8,844 acres of state forest lands in the Lake Whatcom watershed to county control. The crowd filled every seat, crammed the back of the council auditorium and spilled out into the County Courthouse rotunda. Before the meeting, council members said they were not expecting to take a vote on the divisive issue at the end of the hearing, but it could not be ruled out. The hearing was still under way late Tuesday evening. John Stark reports.  Lake Whatcom land transfer proposal draws overflow crowd  

Again: The state Department of Health has yet again closed Samish Bay to shellfish harvesting Tuesday, after a fourth report of sickness from the bay’s shellfish within a month. The bay will be reopened Oct. 1.  Samish Bay closed to shellfish harvest

The water that goes down the drains and toilets of millions of homes ends up funneling into drain fields, septic tanks, or wastewater treatment plants. But that’s not the end of the line. All that water — along with everyday chemicals, pharmaceuticals and human hormones — ends up in groundwater, rivers, lakes, and bays. Cassandra Profita reports. Polluting The Water With Toothpaste, Shampoo, And Drugs

Anyone who lives in Marysville, Tulalip or north Everett, is going to be around home for most of the next year and has a good sense of smell is a potential participant in an upcoming odor study. Complaints about Cedar Grove Composting on Smith Island in north Everett prompted the study by Odotech of Montreal, Canada. Representatives from the company are scheduled to discuss their plans at a public meeting in Marysville on Wednesday night.  The study would be done with a combination of odor monitors and the observations of a group of residents who will volunteer to record their experiences. At least 20 people will be needed. While it could be more, anyone interested will likely have to get in line. Bill Sheets reports. Cedar Grove study seeks a few good noses

The most deadly recent disaster claimed the lives of seven workers at an Anacortes refinery in 2010. Refineries' proximity to people also pose dangers beyond plants. Jeremy Miller reports. Hidden dangers at Pacific Coast oil refineries  

Arctic sea ice has melted dramatically this summer, smashing the previous record. The Arctic has warmed dramatically compared with the rest of the planet, and scientists say that's what's driving this loss of ice. To be sure, ice on the Arctic Ocean always melts in the summer. Historically, about half of it is gone by mid-September. But this year, three-fourths of the ice has melted away, setting a dramatic new benchmark.  'Astonishing' Arctic ice melt sets new record  

As the world's permafrost melts, changing the Arctic's landscape, it will also speed up global warming, a new study by three University of Victoria researchers has found. University of Victoria study says melting permafrost may speed up global warming  

From paying for the Catskill forests so they can filter water to building rain gardens to slow run-off, 'green infrastructure' is in demand from Seattle to Sweden.  How cities are using nature to cut pollution  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 257 AM PDT WED SEP 12 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 5 AM PDT EARLY THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
E WIND RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT BY LATE MORNING. WIND WAVES BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT. NW SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
NE WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS.

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