9/26 Jellyfish, Enbridge, Goldstream R. spill, Kitimat refinery, Janicki netpens, Dept of Wild Salmon, Bangor wharf, Oly shores, Wild Olympics, Elwha drones, tsunami debris, septic fees, BC loo

Phialidium gregarium [Photo: Claudia Mills]

If you like to laugh: Swami Beyondananda Live

Hooray, Claudia! The quaint town of Friday Harbor, nestled into the rocky coastline of San Juan Island, is a well-known tourist hot spot and orca-watching Mecca. It’s also the home of Claudia Mills, the Jellyfish Lady of Puget Sound. Tanks bubble in the background as Mills shows me around her office at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs. Ashley Ahearn reports. The ‘Grand Duchess Of Jellyfish’ And Her Life Of Research In Puget Sound

Environmental groups on Wednesday morning will announce details of legal action against the federal government related to protection of species at risk on Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway route. Ecojustice says the case focuses on four species — Pacific humpback whale, Nechako white sturgeon, marbled murrelet, and southern mountain caribou — found on the Northern Gateway pipeline and shipping route. Ecojustice is bringing the case before the Federal Court on behalf of the David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace Canada, Sierra Club B.C., Wilderness Committee and Wildsight. Larry Pynn reports. Environmental groups taking legal action regarding species at risk on Northern Gateway route

The parent company of Columbia Fuels has spent more than $2 million to clean up a fuel spill into the Goldstream River after a tanker-truck crash on the Malahat in April 2011. But despite extensive efforts, fuel remains trapped under the highway and in adjacent bedrock, the provincial Environment Ministry says. The amount that Parkland Fuels Corp. has spent on cleanup was revealed at a sentencing hearing for the tanker-truck driver. Cost of Goldstream fuel-spill cleanup exceeds $2 million

Nearly three quarters of British Columbians say they support refining oil at a $13-billion Kitimat plant proposed by newspaper publisher David Black rather than shipping it overseas, according to a poll conducted by his company Black Press. In a telephone survey of 1,400 people in 60 B.C. communities, 37 per cent of respondents said they were in favour of the refinery and another 35 per cent were "somewhat supportive." About 13 per cent were entirely opposed to the project, and 15 per cent were somewhat opposed. Majority of British Columbians like oil refinery idea: poll

Janicki Industries, high-tech manufacturer of composite aerospace parts and molds, boat hulls and alternative-energy harvesting equipment, is now waist deep into a new venture: fish tanks. Janicki just finished manufacturing its second order of contained, in-ocean fish farming tanks for AgriMarine Holdings Inc., based in Vancouver, B.C., and has an agreement to build 10 more for the company. Mark Stayton reports. Janicki reels in fish-farming contract 

Hooray, Alexandra! One of British Columbia's most vocal advocates for the preservation of wild salmon says she's not waiting to find out from a government inquiry why the Fraser River sockeye run crashed in 2009. Just hours after the Cohen Commission announced Tuesday it had received yet another extension to submit its written findings, Alexandra Morton said she has already set up her own volunteer group to test and monitor wild salmon along the coast. Morton has dubbed it the Department of Wild Salmon, a private sector organization. B.C. wild-salmon advocate side-steps sockeye inquiry to start her own

Contractors begin in-water construction Thursday of a second explosives handling wharf on the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor waterfront, the Navy announced Tuesday. Construction begins by moving barge cranes and material supply barges to the Hood Canal site, and installing piles with vibratory and impact pile drivers.  Construction begins Thursday on Bangor explosives handling wharf

The Olympia City Council heard distinctly different views on the city’s draft Shoreline Master Program on Tuesday night. Some community and environmental groups like the plan, and other business and some residential interests don’t. It all came out in a 2½-hour public workshop to address “organizational” interests of the proposed Shoreline Master Program, including business, neighborhood and environmental interests. The sticking points included proposed regulations that would create new setbacks regulating development near the water, restricting building-height limits and ruling out certain uses entirely in some areas, such as covered moorage. Matt Batcheldor reports. Olympia City Council hears public views of proposed Shoreline Master Program

The Wild Olympics bill remains stalled in Congress, and with lawmakers out through the election, some opponents are celebrating. But, KBKW reports, Sen. Patty Murray's office says the bill has not been killed and is still under consideration. If the campaign continues next year it will be without the sponsor of the House bill, Rep. Norm Dicks who is retiring.  Wild Olympics bill stalls in Congress   And, according to Bill Ruckelshaus and Martha Kongsgaard, Preserving wilderness areas vital to maintaining the health of Puget Sound

Electronic “Ravens” join hungry raptors, their eyes fixed on the flowing water below, as they swoop over the Elwha River this week. The 4½-foot-wide aircraft, resembling radio-controlled airplanes, are steered by researchers on the ground. They took flight Monday, continued Tuesday and will be in the air today. Jeremy Schwartz reports. Drones are Elwha Dam researchers' eyes in sky

The B.C. government says it expects 1.5-million tonnes of debris will hit the province's shores following the 2011 Japanese tsunami — about half the amount of garbage generated by Metro Vancouver in 2010. Still, Environment Minister Terry Lake said he's confident the province is on track in planning how to clean up the debris. B.C. expects 1.5-million tonnes of tsunami debris   

Whatcom County is backing away from tougher countywide enforcement of septic system inspection laws, but all septic system owners are likely to face a new annual fee of $19 or $20 beginning in 2013. The new fee would replace existing county fees now tacked onto bills that homeowners pay private companies for inspections and pumpouts, and homeowners already complying with the law could wind up paying less in some cases, according to Whatcom County Health Department Director Regina Delahunt. The money collected from septic system owners would be used only to pay for the county's costs of regulating septic systems to comply with state and local laws. John Stark reports. Whatcom council moving toward new septic system fee

Lisa Arnold, a community-organizing veteran, looks at how the public could have more voice. After Occupy and the election: how to organize for real change

And finally: The Langley Loo is in the running for bathroom fame. The $90,000 outdoor amenity on Langley Street, near Bastion Square, is one of five Canadian biffies nominated in the third annual Cintas Canada's Best Restroom Contest.  Victoria public toilet in the running for Canada's King of the Throne

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 244 AM PDT WED SEP 26 2012
TODAY
W WIND 10 KT THIS MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 11 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG THIS MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 10 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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