8/29 Tethys, Shell Oil trains, PNW frog, Oly shores

Tethys, they say, once had a lock on all the drinkable water in the world. That was some time ago, when Tethys was the goddess of fresh water, which the ancient Greeks knew to be the most precious resource in the universe. These days you’re more likely to run into Tethys as a corporation with a thirst to build the nation’s largest bottling plant, in Anacortes; however, the Planning Director of that city says we may not call it a bottling plant. It is, rather, a “food grade beverage manufacturing facility.” Whatever it is, it’s expected to become the size of 17 football fields and drink five million gallons of Skagit River water per day. The CEO of Tethys Enterprises, Inc. says 500 or more people will work there, once the plant’s in full production. It is a very big deal on tiny Fidalgo Island, population 20,000. Bob Simmons reports. Bottled Up  

On Thursday morning Shell Oil will be meeting with officials from a county in Washington state to talk about plans to build a rail extension to deliver oil from North Dakota to its refinery near Puget Sound. Shell Oil wants to build a 5,500 foot-long rail extension to bring oil trains from the existing BNSF Railway line to their refinery in Anacortes, according to the pre-development meeting documents. The tracks would enable up to six trains per week to deliver petroleum from the Bakken Oil Fields of North Dakota - trains measuring more than a mile in length. Ashley Ahearn reports. Shell Moving Ahead On Oil Train Project For Puget Sound Refinery

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to protect the Oregon spotted frog as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. Fish and Wildlife also proposes to designate 68,192 acres and 23 miles of streams in Washington and Oregon as critical habitat for the aquatic frog, a species that rarely emerges on land. A 60-day public comment period begins today, and Fish and Wildlife will collect scientific and commercial data over the next year before making a final decision on the proposal. Kimberly Cauvel reports.   Pacific Northwest frog proposed as “threatened” species  

In a meeting lasting more than six hours Tuesday night, the Olympia City Council mostly eliminated the possibility to erect buildings next to the Budd Inlet shoreline, a move billed as the council’s final direction on its Shoreline Master Program. The direction taken was a significant change from even the latest draft of the plan that the council spent more than a year developing before the meeting. Here are some of the changes: Matt Batcheldor reports. Council’s Shoreline direction restricts waterfront building

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU AUG 29 2013
TODAY
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 7 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG THIS MORNING. SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS.
TONIGHT
S WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SHOWERS LIKELY AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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