10/2 Asarco cleanup, Samish poop, B'ham Bay, Oly shores, BC pipe fight, jellyfish rule, Skagit Trust

(toxipedia.org)

They call it knock and talk. Washington Department of Ecology workers go door to door on Vashon-Maury Island asking for permission to test the soil of some 700 front and back yards. This time of year, when many of the vacation home owners are back in their winter homes, it’s a lot more knocking than talking. The team is taking the first steps of a major cleanup of soils on the island contaminated by the old Asarco smelter. They expect at least 100 homes to test above the acceptable levels for arsenic and lead that blanketed the area for a century of operations at the Tacoma area smelter directly across Puget Sound. Gary Chittim reports. Asarco cleanup begins on Vashon-Maury islands

The Washington House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources visited Skagit County on Tuesday to tour a livestock farm near a tributary to the Samish River, the mouth of the river and Taylor Shellfish Farms with county commissioners Sharon Dillon and Ron Wesen. The tour highlighted the slow, steady progress of the Clean Samish Initiative, which has been tackling the water quality challenge between livestock and shellfish since 2008. At the start of the tour, Skagit County Public Works water quality specialist Rick Haley explained the bay’s pollution issues and how the initiative, a cooperative effort of more than 20 agencies, aims to restore the watershed and reduce shellfish harvest closures. Fecal coliform counts are now five to 10 times lower in the watershed when it rains, and average counts have decreased each year since 2010, Haley said. However, pollution levels are still too high and shellfish closures occur. Kimberly Cauvel reports. Lawmakers see Samish water pollution controls at work  

Port of Bellingham commissioners say they remain optimistic about reaching final agreement with the city on waterfront development plans, but a few sticking points remain. Two of the biggest remaining potential conflicts: • The route of a waterfront trail in and around the industrial area near the port's Bellingham Shipping Terminal. • Whether to stipulate that 10 percent of new housing on the waterfront must be lower-cost. Compared to the major city-port conflicts in past years over bigger issues like street design, density and pace of development, the remaining issues seem minor. John Stark reports. Port, city of Bellingham face a bit more wrangling on waterfront

Proposed major changes to development regulations on Budd Inlet and other shorelines reached a milestone Tuesday night. After about six years of public process, the Olympia City Council voted unanimously to approve its Shoreline Master Program and transmit it to the state Department of Ecology, which is requiring it. Matt Batcheldor reports. Olympia council OKs shoreline proposal

The Skagit Land Trust recently acquired 20.5 acres to expand three separate wildlife conservation sites upriver along the Skagit. The properties provide habitat for salmon, waterfowl, amphibians and other fish and birds. “These were all small but worthy,” Skagit Land Trust executive director Molly Doran said. “Right now we’re trying to expand all of these great conservation areas.” Kimberly Cauvel reports. Skagit Land Trust adds acreage in east county

Oil-sands opponents who have used their public-relations muscle into fighting the Keystone XL pipeline that would flow from Canada into the United States are turning their sights on two pipeline proposals in British Columbia. Although neither the Trans Mountain nor the Northern Gateway projects cross the border in land, the American arm of the conservation group Forest Ethics said the pipelines will result in an additional 700-plus tankers traversing the waters off the Pacific coast. Dene Moore reports. U.S. oil opponents turn attention to B.C. pipelines   Meanwhile: Northern Gateway Pipeline running by 2018, says Enbridge  

It wasn't a tsunami but it had the same effect: A huge cluster of jellyfish forced one of the world's largest nuclear reactors to shut down, a phenomenon that marine biologists say could become more common. Operators of the Oskarshamn nuclear plant in southeastern Sweden had to scram reactor number three on Sunday after tons of jellyfish clogged the pipes that bring in cool water to the plant's turbines. Gary Peach reports. Wave of jellyfish shuts down Swedish nuke reactor

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 253 AM PDT WED OCT 2 2013
TODAY
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT BECOMING W. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF TSTMS.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

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