10/24 Coal ships, coal taxes, ocean fertilization, Kitsap shores, PenPly cleanup, Betty Fletcher, oil output, Shell smell

UW News

University of Washington scientists are using advanced photography to reveal the world in ways unimaginable generations ago. The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture presents talks in the series “The Scientific Lens: Research and Photography.” The first is tonight at 7 p.m. at the museum. Admission is free for UW faculty, staff and students; others pay $5 at the door. Pre-register here. Imaging deep-water, extreme environments is first in series

While other areas worry about train traffic and climate change, San Juan Islanders also fear a shipping disaster that could harm whales, salmon, and beaches. Although exact statistics on ship transits are difficult to obtain, the Washington Department of Ecology lists 2011 traffic through Puget Sound at 10,360 large ships, in excess of 300 gross tons; nearly half are headed for the docks of Port Metro in Vancouver, the busiest foreign-export terminal in North America. Those ships are already here — without a serious accident in recent years — but two huge export proposals would up the ante by some 1,572 tankers and coal ships a year. Floyd McKay reports. NW coal port traffic raises worry about huge marine spill

A study released Tuesday, Oct. 23, by SSA Marine claims a significant impact on the local economy and tax base from construction and operation of a coal export terminal proposed for Cherry Point. If it were completed, the $665 million Gateway Pacific Terminal would be the second largest property taxpayer in the county, after BP Cherry Point, according to the study. Much of the $7 million in annual property taxes paid by Gateway Pacific Terminal would not be new revenue but rather a tax reduction for other property taxpayers. That's because property tax collections by cities, counties and school districts are generally fixed. Ralph Schwartz reports.  Coal terminal study: Gateway Pacific would 'significantly' add to tax rolls  

A large-scale, ocean-fertilization experiment that took place off the west coast of Haida Gwaii this summer raises long-term environmental and legal questions, says a representative of a United Nations science agency. “Our major concern is that the science is uncertain and that this seems to have been done without authority,” Wendy Watson-Wright, assistant director general of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, said Tuesday. Mark Hume reports. UN questions ocean-seeding test project off coast of Haida Gwaii

Kitsap County's proposed Shoreline Management Master Program reaches far beyond regulations needed to protect the environment, and it threatens to violate personal property rights, according to several people who spoke during a hearing this week on the plan. William Palmer, president of Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners, told the Kitsap County commissioners Monday to send the proposed shorelines plan back to the drawing board. Chris Dunagan reports. Property rights advocates angry over county's shorelines plan  

It may be the year after the next presidential election — the one in 2016 — before 19 acres of prime though polluted Marine Drive mill property just west of downtown is ready for development. That's what Rebecca Lawson, a regional manager for the state Department of Ecology toxics-cleanup program, said at a public open house on the mill site's future. The draft agreed order with Ecology that lays out the cleanup tasks of the Port of Port Angeles, which is responsible for ridding the former Peninsula Plywood site of pollution, was discussed at the open house Monday. Paul Gottleib reports. Ecology: PenPly cleanup could take five years

Odors in the air over Anacortes since at least August have been traced back to the wastewater treatment facility at the Shell Puget Sound Refinery, according to Mark Buford, Northwest Clean Air Agency assistant director. The agency received 70 complaints from the beginning of August to late last week, Buford said. Each complaint is investigated to try to find the source. During these major events, the odors have been found to come from Shell, he said. Joan Pringle reports. NW Clean Air Agency, Shell working to cut nuisance odor http://www.goanacortes.com/news/entry/nw_clean_air_agency_shell_working_to_cut_nuisance_odor

Northwest wild mushrooms are in short supply this year. That’s had a big impact on the region’s lucrative mushroom hunting industry. It’s also changed what’s on fall restaurant menus in the Northwest and across the nation. Anna King reports. Northwest Wild Mushrooms In Short Supply

A thoughtful commentary by David Suzuki and Art Serritt: For the love of our B.C. coast  

U.S. oil output is surging so fast that the United States could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest producer. Driven by high prices and new drilling methods, U.S. production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons is on track to rise 7 percent this year to an average of 10.9 million barrels per day. This will be the fourth straight year of crude increases and the biggest single-year gain since 1951. The boom has surprised even the experts. Jonathan Fahey reports. U.S. oil production soars toward record

Betty Binns Fletcher, a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and a strong believer in justice for the disadvantaged, died Monday, at age 89. Just five days earlier she had been on the bench listening to oral arguments, having never really retired from the job to which President Jimmy Carter appointed her in 1979. "She was one of the embattled liberals on the court, fighting for the little guy, whether it was for immigration or the planet," her son, Paul Fletcher, a Seattle physician, said. "She felt she was fighting a very important battle." There will be a memorial service at noon on Nov. 10 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.  Judge Betty Fletcher, of the appeals court

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED OCT 24 2012
TODAY
E WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
E WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to: msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.  

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told