Thursday, March 31, 2016

3/31 Vic sewer, First Nation rules, water laws, sea turtle love, Van Aquarium film, snow pack, methanol

Red Irish Lord (SeaOtter.Com)
Red Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus) or bullhead is found in rocky kelp beds and shallows, and juveniles are sometimes found in large tide pools. Adults eat crabs, isopods, barnacles, mussels, and small fishes. In March females attach masses of pink eggs to barnacles, mussels and rocks in strong currents. Females and males guard egg masses from predators. (From Steve Yates' Marine Wildlife of Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the Strait of Georgia)

Federal government extends sewage deadline by six months
The Capital Regional District has been given an extra six months by the federal government to get its sewage together. The PPP Canada extension — coming less than 12 hours before the deadline to file a detailed treatment plan — means the Crown corporation’s promised $83.4 million is still on the table while the CRD nails down its options. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Proposed Victoria Travel Ban Withdrawn By Washington State Lawmakers
Washington state lawmakers have flushed a proposed ban on state business travel to Victoria, British Columbia. The travel restriction surfaced last month in one version of a state budget. It was meant to pressure Victoria to stop dumping raw sewage into shared border waters. But the proviso was dropped from the final budget the Washington Legislature approved Tuesday. State Rep. Jeff Morris said the reason was because decision makers in the Victoria capital region picked two locations to build sewage treatment plants. Tom Banse reports. (NW Public Radio)

Seattle Chefs Consider Link Between Healthy Food And Healthy Environment
Seattle restaurant magnate Tom Douglas came out of his kitchen Wednesday to host a conference for chefs on the science connecting the food they serve and the environment from where it comes…. The event underscores the expanding influence of top chefs when it comes to consumer awareness about food: whether it’s grown locally, organically produced, or sustainably harvested from the wild. Carolyn Jones reports. (KUOW)

First Nations-led environmental assessment needed for B.C. projects like Site C, says coalition
A First Nations coalition is calling for First Nations-led environmental assessments for big energy projects in B.C. like Site C. That environmental assessment mean projects would potentially have to pass three environmental tests — provincial, federal, and First Nations. Advocates of a First Nations-led assessment say the process would take into account industry's' interests as well. In fact, a process that puts First Nations in the driver seat means projects will be more likely to get the green light from First Nations groups, said one First Nations leader. Wanyee Li reports. (CBC News)

Nadleh Whut'en and Stellat'en hereditary leaders proclaim B.C.'s first aboriginal water laws
The hereditary leaders of two northern B.C. First Nations proclaimed the first traditional aboriginal water laws in the province, which could have implications for industrial development including mining and LNG pipeline projects. The Nadleh Whut’en and Stellat’en First Nation traditional leaders declared on Wednesday no development would take place on their traditional territories in the Northern Interior unless the water laws were followed. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Vancouver Aquarium trying to block documentary, filmmaker’s lawyer says
A lawyer representing a filmmaker who produced a documentary about the Vancouver Aquarium’s captivity of beluga whales and dolphins says the aquarium is trying to have the film removed from the Internet. But counsel for the aquarium says its aim is not to keep the filmmaker from expressing himself. The two sides were in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday as the aquarium sought an injunction against Gary Charbonneau’s documentary, Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered. Sunny Dhillon reports. (Globe and Mail)

Lucky sea turtle gets special treatment at Virginia Mason facility
Tucker, an olive ridley sea turtle, was near death when found washed ashore at Cannon Beach, Ore. On Monday, Tucker became the first nonhuman patient to receive treatment at Virginia Mason’s Center for Hyperbaric Medicine. Alan Berner reports. (Seattle Times)

Water-supply snowpack improves but is still less than normal
Snowpack up in the Sultan River Basin has returned almost to normal this year. That’s a vast improvement over last year, when a crew from the Snohomish County Public Utility District found no measurable snow at all at three sites in the mountains around Spada Lake reservoir. The crew measured snowpack on Tuesday at three sites which, when averaged together, came to about 78 percent of what’s considered normal for this time of year. Chris Winter reports. (Everett Herald)

Port commission no closer to answers about methanol plant
Almost two years ago, the Port of Tacoma commission approved a lease for what could become the largest methanol plant in the world, on the Tacoma Tideflats.Commissioners said Wednesday that they are no closer to answers than they were on that May day. Sooner rather than later, Commissioner Don Johnson said, Northwest Innovation Works will have to explain itself and advocate for an extension of a lease term called the feasibility period. Kate Martin reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PDT THU MAR 31 2016  

TODAY
 W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING NW IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES  1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 15 SECONDS.

TONIGHT
 W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT  AT 15 SECONDS.

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"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.

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