11/25 Septic sins, freed orca, vessel adrift, BC pipe, oil train DEIS, coal trains, KPLU, Kply, pocket gophers

(BirdNote)

National Symbol - Turkey vs. Eagle
When the eagle was considered for national emblem in 1782, wise Benjamin Franklin championed the turkey. He said: "The Bald Eagle is too lazy to fish for himself; when the Osprey has taken a fish ... the eagle pursues him and takes it away from him. ... Besides he is a rank coward ..." frightened by a kingbird. But the Wild Turkey, Franklin wrote, is "a bird of courage [that] would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on." (BirdNote)

Septic sins catching up with counties
In June, Island County Public Health tacked up a notice at Maple Grove Boat Launch. In careful and official words, it said that wastewater from homes in the area was likely entering the water. Tests showed high levels of fecal coliform. People should stay out of the water. And, while no data showed that shellfish were contaminated, shellfish are filter-feeders, so it was best to play it safe and not eat them…. And while Maple Grove is one example, it’s by no means the only problem. Jeremiah O'Hagan reports. (Stanwood/Camano News)

Orca spotted free of rope tangle near D'Arcy Island
An orca spotted three weeks ago entangled in a rope and float appears to be free, the Pacific Whale Watch Association says. T77A, as the 19-year-old killer whale is known, was photographed off the Thetis Island-Chemainus ferry in Stuart Channel on Nov. 4, prompting a search by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. After a three-week search that the whale watch association was actively involved in, the orca was found Monday afternoon near D’Arcy Island. Michael Reid reports. (Times Colonist)

Large cargo vessel adrift off Haida Gwaii
A large cargo vessel is adrift about 90 kilometres west of Haida Gwaii. The U.S.-flagged M/V North Star – a vehicle carrier, according to ship tracking websites – was en route from Anchorage to Tacoma when it lost propulsion, said Karen Calla, a communications director with the federal department. Canadian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel Gordon Reid was dispatched from Prince Rupert to support the ship if its crew failed to fix the problem. The ship is expected to reach the North Star early morning Wednesday. Matt Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Burnaby’s battle with Kinder Morgan heads to appeal court
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan says the city will appeal Monday’s B.C. Supreme Court ruling involving Kinder Morgan and the National Energy Board, noting the matter may eventually wind up in the Supreme Court of Canada. “We authorized the appeal (Monday) night at our in camera meeting after hearing from our staff,” said Corrigan. “We will be having further conversations with our lawyer as to the right way to proceed.” Brian Morton reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Plan would boost oil-train traffic
A major oil terminal proposed for Vancouver would bring an additional 28 oil trains per week across Washington and spawn a new era of oil tanker traffic down the Columbia River, a draft state study says. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Analysis forecasts derailment every other year if oil train terminal is built  Curtis Tate reports. (McClatchy) Read: Tesoro Savage Vancouver Energy Project Draft EIS

Study: Coal Trains Pollute More Than Diesel Trains Into The Columbia Gorge
A study from the University of Washington shows coal trains are releasing more pollution into the Columbia River Gorge than freight trains. The trains emitted about twice the particulates as diesel freight trains, according to the study. The study also found that coal trains with uncovered cars were major polluters of the Gorge. They polluted at six times the rate of diesel trains. Eric Tegethoff reports. (EarthFix)

KPLU Listeners Express Anger Over Station's Surprise Sale To KUOW
More than 200 people showed up at a meeting of KPLU’s Community Advisory Council on Monday to express frustration over the recently announced sale of the public radio station to the University of Washington, and its licensee KUOW. The meeting gave the public its first chance to offer feedback on a sale negotiated without much attention ahead of its announcement on November 12. And there wasn't a lot of gray area there. People came to talk about why they support the station's mix of jazz and news, and to vent their frustrations over its sudden sale. Zachariah Hughes reports. (KPLU) See also: Public station, private owners: KPLU sold amid university’s financial struggles  David Kroman reports. (Crosscut)

Rain delays KPly site cleanup in Port Angeles; work might resume in July
Mud. Awww, crud. Heavy rains have turned earth to muck and interrupted cleanup of the Port of Port Angeles' former KPly mill site barely three weeks before contractors hoped to finish the 19-acre tract at 439 Marine Drive. Chris Hartman, director of engineering, told port commissioners Tuesday the work might resume in July after soaked soils dry out enough for contractors to backfill and compact them. James Casey reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Lawsuit filed against Thurston County over pocket gopher process
Olympia Master Builders, the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce, and Hinkle Homes filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Lewis County Superior Court over Thurston County’s interim permitting process put in place to protect the Mazama pocket gopher, according to a news release. In April 2014, four subspecies of the pocket gopher — known as the Olympia, Roy Prairie, Tenino and Yelm pocket gophers — were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In June, the county began using a review process for building permit applications that was recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in response to the gopher listing. Lisa Pemberton reports. (Olympian)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 258 AM PST WED NOV 25 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
E WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING SE 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
--
"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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11/24 Tides & weather, BC pipe wins, Ruckelshaus, state carbon, WA oil terminal, Shell drill

(PHOTO: Islands Sounder)

Giant octopus washes ashore in Eastsound
The bright red octopus found on Crescent Beach in early October was not the first, or the last. This giant Pacific Octopus lives in the Salish Sea, all around the San Juan Islands and the Puget Sound, and grows up to 150 pounds and 15 feet across. The life of the largest octopus happens to be a short one; they only live three to five years and they mate at the end of their life. The female octopus will care for her eggs that are hanging in her den for five to eight months and then she dies. Kat Barnard reports. (Islands Sounder)

King tides and snow headed to Seattle area
Snow showers are in the forecast as the highest tides of the fall come to Puget Sound. The highest “king tide” coming this year is scheduled to arrive in Seattle at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday. Similarly high water, driven by a seasonal alignment of the sun and moon, is expected at all of the state’s coastal communities. Those high tides come as the Weather Service warns of an oncoming storm that could bring snow to the lowlands. A cold front is expected to arrive Monday night over much of the Western Washington. High winds are forecast for Bellingham and the San Juan Islands. Levi Pulkkinen reports. (SeattlePI.Com) And: Chance of snow for southern B.C. rises as temperature drops  (Vancouver Sun) However: Forget the Lowland Snow or Frigid Temperatures West of the Cascade Crest  For those of you hoping for some snow near sea level, I am afraid I have some bad news...not this time.   I should note that a few media outlets are still hyping snow and cold. Cliff Mass writes. (Weather Blog)

Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline wins court battle against Burnaby
The City of Burnaby's bylaw battle against the Trans Mountain pipeline has been shut down by a B.C. Supreme Court judge who has declared that the National Energy Board rules take precedence over the city's. The Metro Vancouver city has tried to hamper preliminary planning in advance of laying the 1,100-kilometre-long pipeline between Alberta and coastal B.C. through two separate bylaws. (CBC)

Seattle's First EPA Chief Laments The Environment's Partisan Divide
Environmental elder statesman William Ruckelshaus may not have decided where to display the Presidential Medal of Honor he will be receiving at a White House ceremony Tuesday. But he has decided how to have a little fun with it. “Well I’ve threatened my wife to wear it outside my suit coat in the daytime and inside my pajamas at night so it wouldn’t hit her in the face when I turned over,” joked the 83-year-old Ruckelshaus before admitting he really doesn’t know what he’ll do with the medal, one of 17 being awarded. Ashley Ahearn reports. (EarthFix)

State has authority to regulate carbon emissions, judge rules
A King County Superior Court judge has found that the state Department of Ecology has both the authority and “mandatory duty” to move ahead with a proposal to regulate carbon emissions. Judge Hollis Hill’s decision, released Thursday, has been embraced by environmentalists who hope it sets a legal precedent that will help Ecology’s rule-making effort survive likely challenges. In her 10-page ruling, Hill wrote that the state had the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon emissions from fossil fuels, both under the state Clean Air Act and the state Constitution. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Washington State To Issue Report On Vancouver Oil Terminal
Washington state is scheduled to release a detailed environmental assessment Tuesday of the proposed oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver. The report by the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council considers the oil-by-rail project’s possible impacts to air, land and water. It will examine possible impacts the project could have, like pollution, noise, earthquake hazards, and risks for fish and wildlife. The public will have until January to comment on the proposal. Conrad Wilson reports. (EarthFix)

A pyrrhic environmental victory in the Arctic
Environmentalist joy at the cessation of Alaskan offshore oil exploration is in fact the result of the overall striking intensification of global oil extraction. Andreas Kuersten opines. (Seattle Times)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 308 AM PST TUE NOV 24 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING NE 5 TO 15 KT THIS AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL
 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
NE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 5 FT AT 12 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT.
--
"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

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11/18 Nooksack dace, Stanley Park seawall, stormwater fees, BC pipe, climate change, BC LNG, Big Oil, El Nino

Nooksack dace (PHOTO: Mike Pearson)

Stoney Creek spill leaves endangered fish either homeless or 'buried alive', biologist fears
Washouts along the banks of a fish-bearing creek in Burnaby may have seriously harmed a rare little fish that's so endangered in Canada it's found in only four streams, says biologist Mike Pearson. The fish is the Nooksack dace, and one of those four streams — Stoney Creek on Burnaby Mountain — recently had a bank cave in at a City of Burnaby construction site, sending sand and silt into the water….. You might not be familiar with the Nooksack dace, but streamkeepers and environmentalists have been working since the 1990s to stop the freshwater fish from going extinct, even taking the federal government to court over its failure to protect it. (CBC)

If you like to watch: Photos: Section of Stanley Park Seawall collapses from wind, waves
 A large section of the seawall — from Third Beach to the Lions Gate Bridge — will be closed for up to a month while crews repair Monday’s damage. Wind and waves are being blamed for the collapse, with climate change a major contributing factor. Here are pictures from Monday's collapse. (Vancouver Sun)

New stormwater fees set to address flooding, drain problems
A new stormwater fee is set to appear on next year's tax statements for about 4,800 property owners in unincorporated Snohomish County. That and other changes to stormwater fees were approved by the County Council on Monday. The county's Surface Water Management Division is expected to receive an extra $1 million per year as a result. The money will pay for projects to lessen problems with drainage and flooding. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

Efforts to stop Kinder Morgan review unlikely to succeed
A lobbying campaign calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to stop the federal review of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion is doomed to fail, experts say. There is no clear legislative basis for Ottawa to agree to the suspension requests sent earlier this month from Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan and from a coalition of environmental groups, they say. Peter O'Neil reports. (Vancouver Sun)

State of Knowledge: Climate Change in Puget Sound
A 2015 report from the University of Washington provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the expected impacts of climate change on the Puget Sound region. (Encyclopedia of Puget Sound)

Climate change stickers mandatory on North Vancouver gas pumps
North Vancouver, B.C. is believed to be the first city in the world to make climate change warning labels mandatory on gas pumps. The city council passed the bylaw unanimously in a vote on Monday night.  Rob Shirkey, the founder of the Our Horizons not-for-profit group championing this cause, called the vote a "historic global first." He said other Canadian and American cities have come close by supporting similar initiatives, but the City of North Vancouver is the first to make it mandatory. Tamara Baluja reports. (CBC)

LNG terminal ‘not likely’ to harm Flora Bank
Flora Bank is a resilient area that would emerge unscathed in the event that liquefied natural gas is produced on Lelu Island, a report commissioned by Pacific NorthWest LNG concludes. Visible at low tide, Flora Bank contains eelgrass that nurtures juvenile salmon in the Skeena River estuary near Prince Rupert. Pacific NorthWest LNG, led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas, wants to build an $11.4-billion export terminal on Lelu Island, which is located next to Flora Bank. Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Will the "tobacco strategy" work against Big Oil?
According to InsideClimate News, the office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had been investigating ExxonMobil for a year before it issued a recent subpoena for “documents on what Exxon knew about climate change and what it told shareholders and the public.” The subpoena compelled ExxonMobil to hand over scientific research and communications about climate change dating back to 1977. (Exxon and Mobil merged to become a single corporation in 1999.) The investigation is based on New York State’s consumer-protection and general-business laws and, crucially, the state’s Martin Act, InsideClimate News reported. That statute prohibits fraud or misrepresentation in the sale of securities and commodities, and gives the Attorney General extraordinary power to fight financial fraud. Lincoln Caplan reports. (The New Yorker)

Pacific Ocean temperatures hint at a record El Niño
Temperatures in a key area of the Pacific Ocean west of Peru rose to 5.4 degrees above average for the week of Nov. 11, exceeding the highest comparable reading for the most powerful El Niño on record, in 1997. Rong-Gong Lin II and Rosanna Xia report. (LA Times)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 250 AM PST WED NOV 18 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST EARLY THIS MORNING
 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM PST THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
NW WIND 15 TO 25 KT IN THE MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT IN THE MORNING...BECOMING LESS THAN 1 FT. W
 SWELL 14 FT AT 12 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 11 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING E TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.

--
"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

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11/16 Tanker ban, BC pipe, storm poop, BC CG, Lummi life, toxic crab, KPLU sold, rail bridges, Tacoma LNG

(PHOTO: Laurie MacBride)

Stone-Faced
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "Over time, the sandstone shores of our region have been eroded by the elements, producing all manner of fascinating textures, patterns and visual oddities. I’ve written before about the natural art gallery you can find here and its strange shape-shifting tendency. When the tide is right, you can find some pretty interesting “faces” along many stretches of shoreline in the Gulf Islands. This one, off Portland Island, jumped out at me when I was rowing our dinghy there this summer – though I’m not sure whether its open mouth was welcoming me or warning me off."

Trudeau bans oil tankers on B.C.'s north coast, threatening pipeline plan; But Enbridge says it will proceed with Northern Gateway
Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway plan is, at least for now, dead in the water after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a letter of instruction Friday telling his transport minister to ban oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s north coast. A ban would prevent hundreds of tankers each year from carrying diluted bitumen extracted from Alberta’s oilsands and piped to northern B.C. from being shipped for export overseas. Brian Morton reports. (Vancouver Sun)

100 groups urge Trudeau to end pipeline reviews
Environmental, community and business groups are pushing for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shut down a pair of pipeline reviews before heading to Paris for climate talks. The City of Burnaby, the Georgia Strait Alliance, Greenpeace Canada and the Sierra Club B.C. are among 100 groups seeking a halt to National Energy Board reviews of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion and TransCanada’s Energy East proposal. In a joint letter sent Thursday to Trudeau, the groups say the reviews should be put on hold until fundamental flaws in the process are fixed…. Trudeau has voiced his support for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but has also said the approval system is broken and designed to support the previous government’s objectives. The Liberals have pledged to overhaul the federal environmental review process so future projects would have the public trust. Matt Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

B.C. storm causes sewage overflows in Greater Victoria
The heavy rains that hit B.C. on Thursday have caused the Capital Regional District to advise people to stay away from beaches on southern Vancouver Island, after storm water and sewage combined to create overflows. The waste water is pumped, raw, into the Strait of Juan de Fuca by the CRD municipalities, and now the CRD has advised the public not to wade along the shorelines or allow their pets into the water in the core area of Greater Victoria. (CBC) See also: Sewage flood forces Savary Island Pie Company to lay off 35 staff  Matthew Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Trudeau orders Kitsilano Coast Guard station re-opened
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered Vancouver's Kitsilano Coast Guard station re-opened in a mandate letter to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Hunter Tootoo. The move was promised during Trudeau's election campaign, and is included in a list of initiatives the prime minister labeled "top priorities" in his letter. Max Haberstroh reports. (CBC) See also: Justin Trudeau makes Coast Guard fleet refresh 'top priority'  (CBC)

For Lummis, fishing is more than a living — it’s a way of life
Members of Lummi Nation say that for them, fishing is different. Tribal and nontribal fishers alike must keep to the seasons and mind their catch quotas. Still, for most Washington residents, fishing is a privilege granted by the state government, said Jay Julius, a Lummi member who has a seat on the tribe’s council. The tribe, on the other hand, has been fishing for 150 generations, Julius said. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Calif. boats sit idle as algae threatens Dungeness crab season
San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf typically bustles this time of year as workers prepare to haul millions of pounds of Dungeness crab that are a tradition at Thanksgiving and other holiday meals. But crab pots are sitting empty on docks, boats are idled and fishermen are anxiously waiting for California authorities to open the lucrative Dungeness crab season. California has delayed the Nov. 15 start of its commercial crab season after finding dangerous levels of a toxin in crabs. Officials in Oregon and Washington are testing crab samples and will decide soon whether to open its coastal season by Dec. 1 as planned. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

Manchester stormwater project to help clean up Puget Sound
On a rainy day in Manchester Nov. 6, a cluster of people gathered to celebrate completion of Kitsap County’s stormwater retrofit project. The park has been named qaqad, which translated means “a place to dry clams,” and will serve as a stormwater purification area for runoff from more than 80 acres of surrounding land…. The project took shape in 2009 after the Stormwater Advisory Committee was established at the request of the Manchester community. Sara Miller reports. (Port Orchard Independent)

University of Washington will buy KPLU-FM, pull the plug on its news operation
Pacific Lutheran University announced Thursday that it will sell its broadcasting licenses to the University of Washington, in a plan that will turn the current KPLU at 88.5 FM into an all-music, all-jazz station while KUOW at 94.9 FM becomes the Seattle outlet for National Public Radio and Northwest news…. The sale is expected to close in 2016 when FCC approval is received. The purchase price for KPLU and its assets is $8 million, with $7 million in cash and $1 million of “underwriting announcements” over 10 years. Proceeds from the sale will go to Pacific Lutheran’s endowment, which currently totals $85 million. The sale, and change of formats, will deprive the Puget Sound area of a first-rate news operation. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.com)

Study adds 37 species to Salish Sea’s fish list, bringing total to 253
…. A new analysis published this fall puts the region’s total number of fish species at 253. That includes 37 species never before documented in the Salish Sea — the 6,500-square-mile expanse that includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Georgia. And since the report, “Fishes of the Salish Sea: A Compilation and Distributional Analysis,” was finished, scientists have added another five to the list. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

Environment groups' study calls attention to rail bridge safety
Environment groups from throughout the country say government oversight, industry transparency and safety standards fall short when it comes to railroad bridges that in recent years have seen an increase in the number of oil trains that cross them. A study released Tuesday titled “Deadly Crossings: Neglected Bridges and Exploding Oil Trains,” urges government and industry officials to take action to prevent derailments such as the one that killed 47 in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, in July 2013 or the one that spilled burning oil into the James River in Lynchburg, Virginia, earlier this year. The study comes from RE Sources in Bellingham, which collaborated with international environment groups ForestEthics and the Waterkeeper Alliance to develop the report. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Tacoma Moves Ahead On Plans For A Liquefied Natural Gas Plant At The Port
Plans for a liquefied natural gas facility at the Port of Tacoma are one step closer to reality, after the Tacoma City Council passed a resolution to move ahead on an agreement with the port about the project. Puget Sound Energy says it needs a place to store natural gas and the way to do that is to chill it to a liquid form. So the company wants to spend $275 million to build the plant which would convert the gas to a liquid and then keep it on port property in a 140-foot-tall storage tank. Ashley Gross reports. (KPLU)

Explosive tanks carried in unmarked cars
Every work day, a small fleet of vehicles travels the roads and highways of Western Washington carrying cargo that, if mishandled or damaged in an accident, can explode. The fleet is not comprised of SUVs or heavy trucks equipped to safely transport cargo that could explode if not handled properly. The cargo is compressed hydrogen gas, and it is transported into neighborhoods and business districts, near schools, playgrounds, coffee shops and senior centers -- in ordinary cars…. The company responsible is Puget Sound Energy, the big utility serving hundreds of thousands of customers. The hydrogen gas, ironically, is used to make sure PSE's network of natural gas pipes running under nearly community are not leaking. Chris Ingalls reports. (KING)

Cadboro Bay threatens to secede over Saanich’s ecological bylaw
The Cadboro Bay Residents Association is threatening to separate its neighbourhood from Saanich if a controversial Environmental Development Permit Area bylaw isn’t changed by next spring. The bylaw, introduced in 2012, affects about 2,000 residents. It kicks in with restrictions and requirements when someone tries to build on land that the bylaw deems to be a rare ecosystem or vital habitat…. In a heated four-hour townhall meeting at the Garth Homer Society on Thursday, the threat was cheered by the more than 300 people who packed the meeting space and spilled into the hallways. The majority of residents were angry and asked councillors to rip up the bylaw or remake it. Cindy Harnett reports. (Times Colonist)

To save the orcas, do we need to demolish dams?
The show is over — at least it’s almost over. SeaWorld has announced that next year, it will phase out its killer whale performances in San Diego. The theme park has been under fire — and, perhaps more importantly, losing visitors — ever since the 2013 movie Blackfish documented its abusive treatment of captive killer whales. But the whales – endangered Puget Sound orcas, if you prefer – need more than just to be freed from captivity. Not surprisingly, they need to eat. Daniel Jack Chasan reports. (Crosscut)

Have a whale of a time at Langley’s new center dedicated to Puget Sound whales
The Langley Whale Center is drawing an increasing number of visitors to its new location in Langley... The move is next door to the previous location but provides far more visibility and double the space for educational displays, information and a gift shop. They also have a lending library for books and DVD’s relating to Puget Sound whales…. The Langley Whale Center is a project of Orca Network, which is based in Freeland, Washington, and is a non-profit started by Howard Garrett and his wife, Susan Berta, in the 1990’s. The organization is dedicated to raising awareness of the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats. Carolyn Tamler On reports. (Whidbey News Times)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 259 AM PST MON NOV 16 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING
 GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING
TODAY
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 20 TO 30 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS...
 SUBSIDING TO 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN.
TONIGHT
SW WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING W 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS AFTER
 MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 10 FT AT 9 SECONDS. RAIN.
--
"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.

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11/9 Keystone, BC unmuzzled, NW tribes, Asarco, port races, Wisconsin derail, bag ban, Navy jets, Elwha

Citing Climate Change, Obama Rejects Construction of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
President Obama announced on Friday that he had rejected the request from a Canadian company to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ending a seven-year review that had become a symbol of the debate over his climate policies. Mr. Obama’s denial of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline, which would have carried 800,000 barrels a day of carbon-heavy petroleum from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast, comes as he seeks to build an ambitious legacy on climate change. Coral Davenport reports. (NY Times) See also: Justin Trudeau 'disappointed' with U.S. rejection of Keystone XL  Kathleen Harris reports. (CBC)

Keystone pipeline rejection means oil tankers could multiply in Strait of Juan de Fuca
President Obama’s decision Friday to reject the Keystone XL pipeline puts a fresh spotlight on other efforts to bring Canadian crude to market, including a $5.4 billion project to boost oil flows to British Columbia. The oil piped from Alberta would be targeted for maritime export, dramatically increasing the number of oil tankers traversing the Strait of Juan de Fuca and raising environmental concerns among Washington state Department of Ecology (DOE) officials.  Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Kristi Miller, muzzled fisheries scientist, felt like a second-class citizen
A federal edict that prevented government scientists from talking publicly about their work turned them into "second-class citizens", a B.C. based molecular geneticist told CBC news Friday. Kristi Miller, a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, told CBC News Friday that she was excited at news the newly elected federal government had lifted the muzzle from its researchers. Kristi Miller was prevented from talking to media about the results of her study. (CBC) See also: Scientists, ministers get green light to speak under Trudeau  Pauline Dakin reports. (CBC)

Exxon Mobil accused of climate change cover-up
Oil giant Exxon Mobil is being investigated for misleading the public about the impact of climate change. The New York attorney general has sent a request for emails and financial records to the company. Allegations surfaced last month that the company's own scientists raised concerns about global warming decades ago and that Exxon had worked to suppress that information. (BBC) See also: Oil companies and climate change: who should pay?  Environmentalists say an investigation into ExxonMobil may open the door to tobacco-style lawsuitsJason Proctor reports. (CBC)

UW Symposium: Ocean Acidification Pushing Boundaries Of Environmental Law
The University of Washington held its first annual symposium on environmental law last week. The idea is to choose a topic and examine how it fits into current and future regulations. This year’s focus—ocean acidification.  It is sometimes called the evil twin of global warming. Ocean acidification is caused when carbon pollution from fossil fuels dissolves into our waterways. Scientists say it may cause serious harm to life on the planet; some say it is already damaging the local shellfish industry. It is also pushing the envelope of current environmental law. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Northwest tribal leaders fight for government to uphold treaties
A proposed coal terminal and affiliated railway for Cherry Point, Wash., has sparked concern about treaty violations and environmental degradation for many Pacific Northwest tribal leaders, 10 of whom rallied together in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning against what they said is government disregard for their treaties. Grace Toohey reports. (McClatchy)

Three decades after the Asarco smelter shutdown, its toxic legacy surprises Tacoma newcomers
Tacoma’s industrial history confronted Alex Stillman on a late spring morning while she was up to her wrists in front-yard dirt. A neighbor saw the 27-year-old school nurse, part of the city’s influx of new homeowners, digging to plant a hedge outside her North 40th Street house and walked over to share some friendly insight about the neighborhood. The conversation sent Stillman inside to start learning things no real-estate agent or inspector had explained to Alex or her husband, Bryce, when they bought the place in fall 2014. It fell to Google to tell her about the long-gone Asarco copper smelter that operated less than a mile from where her tidy 1940s bungalow stands, and that the lead and arsenic emitted from its 571-foot-tall smokestack for several decades had polluted her yard and thousands of others with agents linked to cancer and other serious health problems. Derrick Nunnally reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Dangerous, tasty fishery resumes off B.C. coast
One of British Columbia's most unusual and dangerous fisheries is poised for a comeback. Gooseneck barnacles, which grow on the rocks below the high tide line off the west coast of Vancouver Island,.are prized in Spain and served as appetizers by high-end restaurants across North America. With a shell-like top and stubby stalks of rich meat beneath, goosenecks resemble clumps of asparagus. However, the best ones are hard to reach and risky to harvest. Chris Brown reports. (CBC)

Port Commissioner: The Race We Can No Longer Afford To Ignore
As election results continue to filter in, most eyes focus on the big-ticket races—city council members, state ballot measures, and levies. Yet way down near the bottom of the ballot is one of the most important votes that we cast in the Northwest: the races for port commissioner. Historically overlooked by voters and pundits alike, the Northwest’s recent controversies over coal and oil have begun to shift some attention to the leadership of public ports. It’s an entirely appropriate shift, because the elected leaders of the region’s ports play a more important role—for good or for ill—in determining the fate of the thin green line than almost anybody else. (…. Running for an empty seat vacated by outgoing Commissioner Bill Bryant, environmental advocate Fred Felleman, who was an outspoken critic of the Port’s decision to host Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet this summer, defeated Marino Yoshino. Felleman raised $86,000 to Yoshino’s $29,000.) Eric de Place and Nick Abraham report. (Sightline)

2nd Train Derails in Wisconsin in 2 Days, Spills Crude Oil
Canadian Pacific Railway says less than 1,000 gallons of crude oil has spilled after a train derailment that prompted evacuations in southeastern Wisconsin. Thirteen cars derailed around 2 p.m. Sunday in Watertown. Canadian Pacific said in a statement late Sunday night one car was punctured and it leaked some oil. The company says it's working to determine the exact amount, but it's no more than 1,000 gallons…. The derailment Sunday was the second in the state in as many days. On Saturday, a freight train derailed near Alma in western Wisconsin, spilling thousands of gallons of ethanol. (ABC)

California lawmaker plans law to end killer whale captivity
A California congressman announced Friday that he is planning federal legislation that aims to phase out the captivity of killer whales by banning breeding, importing and exporting the animals for public display. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said he will introduce the Orca Responsibility and Care Advancement Act to ensure that orcas now at aquatic parks such as SeaWorld are the last ones and that when they die, no other whales will replace them. The bill also would ban taking any whales from the wild. Although no orca has been captured in U.S. waters since 1976, Schiff says captive killer whales are bred. (Associated Press)

Construction site washout kills salmon on Burnaby Mountain
Water thick with sand and sediment has fouled a fish-bearing creek after heavy rain washed out an active construction site on Burnaby Mountain last week. The silty water poured into Stoney Creek from a tributary, killing spawning Chum and Coho salmon and smolts, said John Preissl, a local streamkeeper. Salmon had been absent from the once polluted creek for half a century, but returned about a decade ago, thanks to decades of rehabilitation work by foundations, government agencies and hundreds of volunteers, Preissl said. Before the accident, streamkeepers had counted nearly 200 salmon in the creek. Matthew Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun) See also: Rain causes more problems at Burnaby Mountain construction site  Joanne Lee-Young and Matthew Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Victoria council backs ban on single-use plastic bags, staff to study
The days of plastic bags in Victoria could be numbered. Victoria councillors Thursday took the first steps in developing a bylaw that would ban retailers from providing single-use plastic bags. Several councillors said they support the proposal provided the public is properly consulted and the city works in concert with retailers so that the change, if implemented, is even-handed. Bill Cleverely reports. (Times Colonist)

Navy, National Park Service to work together to monitor jet noise over Olympic National Park
The Navy and National Park Service are coordinating efforts to monitor jet noise over Olympic National Park during training missions. “I'm glad the Park Service — the staff who are charged with protecting the visitor experience at Olympic National Park — and the Navy will work together to monitor noise issues and evaluate any increase in noise from Navy training activities,” said U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer in a news release issued Thursday. A Democrat from Gig Harbor, Kilmer represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula. He had requested that the Park Service and the Navy work together on monitoring jet noise. Chris McDaniel reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Taking the pulse of Puget Sound
The state’s effort to improve the health of Puget Sound is moving slowly, even with a variety of fish-focused projects in motion throughout the Skagit River watershed, from major dike setbacks to minor culvert replacements. In a State of the Sound Report released last week, the Puget Sound Partnership describes the progress to restore this inlet of the Pacific Ocean as largely stagnant. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald) See also:  Puget Sound restoration: two steps forward, one back — or vice versa?  Chris Dunagan blogs. (Watching Our Water Ways)

With dams down, restored Elwha River mouth 'a treasure'
No one, not even among those studying the ecology of the Elwha River mouth, expected the degree of change seen there after the dams came down, according to a woman who has researched it for years. An area that once was little more than large cobbles is now a vast tract of quiet, sandy beach speckled with hundreds of seabirds and brushed by ocean waves. It contains pools constantly dimpled by the jumping of fish. Sometimes, looking at the acres of new beach — and the new life it now supports — she nearly cries, said Anne Shaffer, a marine biologist and the executive director of the Coastal Watershed Institute of Port Angeles. Arwyn Rice and Leah Leach report. (Peninsula Daily News) See also:  Who owns new Elwha River land? Discussions begin about ownership, responsibility  Arwyn Rice reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 228 AM PST MON NOV 9 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PST THIS MORNING
TODAY
NE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 10 FT AT 14 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
NW WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 12 SECONDS.

--
"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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11/5 BC salmon, fish farms, Snydar Farm, clean water rule, Keystone, Beth Doglio

Wild BC sockeye (Olga N. Vasik/istockphoto)

Millions of B.C. salmon mysteriously ‘just disappear’ in troubling year
Although spawning salmon are still returning to British Columbia’s rivers – including some, surprisingly, to urban streams – early returns indicate another troubling year, despite some bright spots…. There were good sockeye salmon returns to the Great Central Lake system on Vancouver Island and to the Nass River on the North Coast, he said. But contrasting that were very poor returns on the Fraser River, where only about two million sockeye returned, far short of the more than six million predicted in preseason forecasts. Even more dramatic was the collapse of the pink salmon on the Fraser, with only about five million fish showing up when more than 14 million had been forecast. Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail)

Lawsuit Claims Commercial Salmon Farms Harm Native Fish In Puget Sound
The Wild Fish Conservancy is suing federal environmental and fisheries agencies for inadequately monitoring the impact of commercial salmon farms in Puget Sound. The lawsuit filed Wednesday says commercial farms pose many risks to wild salmon. In 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Marine Fisheries Service found the opposite. They concluded that commercial salmon farms are unlikely to harm wild salmon. Kate O'Connell Walters (KUOW)

Fecal matter pollution in public water: The case of Snydar Farm
The Snydar Farm had a real problem with “raw manure,” that mix of feces and urine produced by livestock. Namely, the farm’s cows were creating a lot of it – in excess of 5,000 pounds every day. According to the Department of Ecology, it was ending up in public waterways, where it could impact everything from drinking water to the shellfish industry. The farm is located in Ferndale, a town 10 miles north of Bellingham in Whatcom County. Recently, its owners – Jim and Victoria Snydar – received Ecology’s first livestock-related water pollution fine in over three years. But the Snydars’ alleged environmental crimes were not new. Drew Atkins reports. (Crosscut)

Senate blocks legislation to undercut EPA clean water rules
Democrats have blocked a Senate bill that would have forced the Obama administration to withdraw new federal rules to protect smaller streams, tributaries and wetlands from development and pollution. Supporters of the legislation — and opponents of the rules — did not get the 60 votes needed Tuesday to stop debate and consider the bill. The vote was 57-41, meaning Democrats have blocked the bill, for now. Most Democrats argue that the Obama administration rules will safeguard drinking water for 117 million Americans and say they should remain in place. The White House threatened a veto of the bill, saying the regulations are "essential to ensure clean water for future generations." Mary Clare Jalonick reports. (Associated Press)

TransCanada's request to pause Keystone XL review rejected by U.S.
he U.S. State Department has rejected TransCanada's request to put the review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on hold. Spokesman John Kirby said the department wrote to TransCanada on Wednesday and "communicated our decision to continue our review." Mark Cooper, a spokesman for TransCanada, said that the company respects the State Department's decision. (CBC)

Environmental advocate running for state House
Olympia environmental activist Beth Doglio has launched a campaign for the state House. Democrat Doglio made her 2016 bid official with an announcement Thursday that she’s running for the seat opened by Rep. Sam Hunt’s decision to run for Senate. Doglio has been involved in Washington environmental advocacy for decades. She is the campaign director for Climate Solutions and directs the Power Past Coal coalition opposing coal exports. She said she previously worked as the first executive director of Washington Conservation Voters. Jordan Schrader reports. (Olympian)

Editor’s Note: Salish Sea News and Weather will not be posted on Friday, November 6.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 230 AM PST THU NOV 5 2015
TODAY
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT THIS AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 13 SECONDS. SCATTERED
 SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING E 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 12 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

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11/3 Elwha, Keystone, BC LNG, Qwuloolt Estuary, Still Cr., Snake salmon, pesticide ban, Bowman Bay, Vic bags

Elwha River 11/2/15 (Tom Roorda/CWI)

Elwha River November 2, 2015
Anne Shaffer at Coastal Watershed Institute writes: "The day after the weekend rain event during which the Elwha flows jumped from 2000 to over 12000 cfs in less than 8 hours. Flows then dropped back to pre-storm cfs overnight. Classic Elwha. The high flow combined with fall high tide and the entire Elwha west estuary (not blocked by a dike) was reactivated. The result? Juvenile steelhead, coho, and Chinook were abundant. Also, (for the first time in over a decade of sampling), we caught a number of large, powerful, adult chum in our sets. We’ve said it before: chum are absolutely critical for the restoration of the watershed ecosystem."

TransCanada asks US to suspend pipeline application review
TransCanada, the company behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S Gulf Coast, has asked the U.S. State Department to pause its review of the project. The move comes as the Obama administration increasingly appears likely to reject the pipeline permit application before leaving office in January 2017. TransCanada said Monday it had sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry requesting that the State Department suspend its review of the pipeline application. The pipeline company said such a suspension would be appropriate while it works with Nebraska authorities to secure approval of its preferred route through the state that is facing legal challenges in state courts. TransCanada anticipated it would take seven to 12 months to get route approval from Nebraska authorities. Rob Gillies reports. (Associated Press)

Steelhead LNG must cross the Salish Sea before its proposed facilities can be built
The list of obstacles before liquefied natural gas project proponents in British Columbia is long and daunting. The laundry list includes the need to secure off-take agreements with Asian customers, to sign rights of way for pipelines through First Nations territory and to lock in financing for their multi-billion-dollar facilities in a capital-constrained energy market. But for Nigel Kuzemko, CEO of Steelhead LNG, there’s an additional obstacle: the Salish Sea.... Before Steelhead LNG sanctions the construction of either of its two proposed LNG facilities on the south end of Vancouver Island, which many observers say is an unlikely location for such a project, the company will need to build a pipeline across and under that sea. Geoffrey Morgan reports. (Financial Times)

After levee breach, marine life returns to Qwuloolt Estuary
It's been two months since the levee at the Qwuloolt Estuary was breached, letting the tides return to the lowlands for the first time in a century. There are early signs that the action is having its intended effect. “We're already seeing marine species like smelt come in,” said Morgan Ruff, the Snohomish Basin Capital Program Coordinator for the Tulalip Tribes. Biologists monitoring the changes to the landscape have also caught an adult coho salmon in the new estuary. Chris Winters reports. (Everett Herald)

Vancouver's Still Creek sees salmon for fourth year running
Chum salmon have returned to spawn in an urban creek in East Vancouver for the fourth year in a row, leaving biologists feeling "pretty excited" about the potential to return city landscapes to their natural states.  "It really indicates that if we can improve these systems more, if we can work on the watershed, if we can open up stream channels that are buried now, we can get these kinds of fish back into our city," said Vancouver Park Board biologist Nick Page. The city has been working since 2002 to restore the Still Creek corridor to its natural habitat, a process sometimes referred to as "rewilding." (CBC)

Feds Release Plan For Recovering Snake River Salmon
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a draft plan Monday for recovering threatened Snake River fall chinook salmon – fish that have to pass eight Columbia and Snake River dams to reach their spawning grounds. In the past, nearly a half million of these fish returned to the Snake River each year. But with overfishing, dam construction and habitat loss, those numbers dropped to just a few hundred by 1992, when the fish were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The construction of the three Hells Canyon Complex dams wiped out one of only two populations of the species and blocked the fish from reaching about 80 percent of their historic spawning grounds in Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Cassandra Proffita reports. (EarthFix)

EPA may ban common pesticide used on fruits and vegetables
A common pesticide used on citrus fruits, almonds and other crops would be banned under a proposal announced Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The proposal would prohibit use of chlorpyrifos, a widely used insecticide that is sprayed on a variety of crops including oranges, apples, cherries, grapes, broccoli and asparagus. The pesticide, in use since 1965, has sickened dozens of farmworkers in recent years. Traces have been found in waterways, threatening fish, and regulators say overuse could make targeted insects immune to the pesticide. Matthew Daly reports. (Associated Press)

Bowman Bay project personal for park manager
 As Bowman Bay glittered under the sun Monday, massive orange machinery dug, dumped and distributed dirt along the shoreline. Trimaxx Construction Inc. of Sedro-Woolley is in the midst of a Northwest Straits Foundation beach restoration project, where about 1,300 cubic yards of rocks are being removed to improve fish habitat and open up the area to more recreation. The beach at Bowman Bay is part of Deception Pass State Park. It is on the south end of Fidalgo Island. For Deception Pass State Park Manager Jack Hartt, the project is something he dreamed up 40 years ago, and at a place he has known since he was 4 years old. Kimberley Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Victoria eyes ban on single-use plastic bags
Victoria councillors are considering whether to bring in a bylaw banning city retailers from providing single-use plastic bags. Councillors Ben Isitt and Jeremy Loveday are sponsoring a motion that calls on the city to implement the ban and on Mayor Lisa Helps to write to all the other municipalities and electoral areas in the Capital Regional District urging them to follow suit. If the city gave first reading to such a bylaw, it would be the first city on Vancouver Island and the first Canadian capital city to do so.  Bill Cleverely reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 230 AM PST TUE NOV 3 2015
TODAY
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING E AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
--
"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

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10/28 Whale watch, BC oil, WA coal, Friends, BC LNG, Shell drill, port upgrades, viaducts

(PHOTO: Laurie MacBride)

Thirty Shades of Yellow
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "November tends to be damp, gray and dreary here on the west coast, so it’s a month I never anticipate with pleasure. Right now, with the darkness closing in earlier each day and that dreaded month fast approaching, I’m starting to crave a bit of extra light and colour. Thankfully, our Hardy kiwis and Bigleaf maples are managing to brighten up their respective corners of our yard – along with my spirits…."

This you need to see: This Is Your Century
Eric Becker's latest. Beautiful inspiration in 2:47. (weareshouting.com)

Tofino whale-watching boat capsized after wave struck, says TSB
Most of the passengers and crew on the whale-watching boat that capsized near Tofino, B.C., on Sunday appear to have been on one side of the vessel's top deck when it was hit by a wave, the Transportation Safety Board said at a news conference in Tofino.  "This would have raised the centre of gravity, affecting the vessel's stability," said Marc-André Poisson, the TSB's director of marine investigations. He said the vessel then rolled and capsized.  (CBC) See also: 1998 Tofino whale-watching accident sparked call for regulation  Coroner says earlier incident that left 2 whale watchers dead will be reviewed as part of latest tragedy. Jason Proctor reports. (CBC)

Tsleil-Waututh Nation take NEB to court to stop Kinder Morgan hearing
Tsleil-Waututh Nation says the outgoing Harper government failed in its constitutional legal duty to adequately consult with their community when it began the NEB review of Kinder Morgan's proposed $5.4-billion Edmonton-to-Burnaby pipeline expansion more than a year ago. The band is now seeking a court order to stop the hearing. The band believes the case will also add political pressure for the incoming Trudeau Liberals to act quickly on their election promise to overhaul the review of oil pipeline proposals. Oral hearings for citizens to speak up about the pipeline are set to begin in January 18-29 at a Burnaby casino and conference centre. Mychaylo Prystupa reports. (National Observer)

Coal, environmentalists spend $100K each on Whatcom charter measures
The company behind a proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point is the biggest donor in a campaign fight over obscure ballot propositions in Whatcom County. The $101,089 spent by Pacific International Terminals was matched by environmentalists, who contributed at least $102,738, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. Both sides seek to amend the county charter in ways that would determine the political makeup of the County Council. The charter is essentially the county’s constitution, with rules for how the government is run and how officials are elected. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Small Non-Profit Leading Charge For International Protection Of Salish Sea
A small non-profit in the San Juan Islands has taken the lead in an international campaign to protect the Salish Sea from adverse effects of shipping. Currently, proposals for 14 new or upgraded export facilities for fossil fuels in British Columbia and five in northwestern Washington could dramatically increase shipping traffic through local waters. “We’ve found ourselves having to speak up time and time again for these fossil fuel projects that are coming through our waters,” said Stephanie Buffum, the executive director of Friends of the San Juans, a non-profit based in Friday Harbor that has worked to protect quality of life in the area for the past 35 years. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

LNG plant near Squamish clears first hurdle in environmental assessment
The Woodfibre LNG planted proposed for Squamish has cleared its first regulatory hurdle after being granted an environmental assessment certificate by the B.C. government. The certificate includes 25 conditions meant to mitigate the negative impacts construction and operation of the plant will have on things like marine life and water quality.  Squamish mayor Patricia Heintzman opposes the Woodfibre project and says she has questions about the certificate, including the conclusion the plant will generate $21-million per year in municipal taxes. (CBC)

TransCanada gets final regulatory approval for Prince Rupert natural gas pipeline
A proposed 900-kilometre gas pipeline in northern B.C. that would supply a liquefied natural gas terminal in Prince Rupert has final approval. TransCanada said Tuesday it has received 11 permits for its $6-billion Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project from the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission. The permits cover the length of the pipeline that starts in Hudson’s Hope in northeast B.C., as well as compressors at the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal at Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. They are the final approval step for the pipeline that earlier received approval from the B.C. government following an environmental assessment. The pipeline is dependent on the LNG terminal being approved by the federal government and a final decision by Petronas to proceed. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Oil platform headed for Port Angeles near mouth of Strait
The Polar Pioneer oil rig, which is headed for Port Angeles Harbor, was near the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Tuesday afternoon. The 355-foot-tall oil drilling platform was headed east at over 6 knots. The floating platform's tugs, Ocean Wind and Ocean Wave, were expected to arrive with the platform sometime after 2 a.m. today, according to a vessel tracking website, www.marinetraffic.com. (Peninsula Daily News)

Ports may need up to $1 billion to update terminals
Port commissioners from Tacoma and Seattle on Tuesday adopted their first budget for a new cargo alliance while warning they’ll have to spend hundreds of millions more to make the port facilities competitive with rivals. The $174.5 million included in the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s 5-year capital budget is “woefully inadequate to our needs,” asserted Tacoma Port Commissioner Don Meyer as the two commissions were preparing to accept the budget. Meyer predicted the alliance and the two ports will have to spend $800 million to $1 billion over the near future to equip the two ports to handle the new generation of mega-sized container ships. John Gille reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Vancouver viaducts to be removed, votes council
Vancouver city councillors have voted 5-4 to remove the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts, which connect the downtown core to neighbourhoods on the city's east side. "This is a once-in-a-generation city-building opportunity," said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a written statement. "There is no decision at the city that has been more scrutinized, studied, deliberated or consulted on than whether or not to remove the viaducts, and after four years, it is time to move forward." (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED OCT 28 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PDT THIS MORNING
TODAY
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS BY LATE MORNING. W SWELL BUILDING TO 8 FT AT 15 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE MORNING... THEN SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
SW WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING S AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS. SHOWERS IN THE
 EVENING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.
--
"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

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10/22 Orca, geoduck, oil train, BC pipe, basking shark, Quiet Cove, tribe rights, melting, goose cull

J16 and calf (NOAA Fisheries)

Puget Sound’s killer whales looking fat and healthy
Seattle’s most celebrated residents — the J, K, and L pods of southern resident killer whales — are looking good. The population of the 81 endangered whales appear to be in excellent health. They are fat and sleek, and several appear to be pregnant. The news was revealed by photogrammetry: measurements made from photographs, that help scientists understand the health of whales and other wildlife. In the case of the orcas, photos and videos taken this summer by a drone helicopter about the size of a large pizza reveal the animals are looking fat and robust. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Vancouver Aquarium and U.S. agency team up for drone research of killer whales  Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Gear, not geoducks, impacts ecosystem if farming increases
The equipment used to farm geoducks, including PVC pipes and nets, might have a greater impact on the Puget Sound food web than the addition of the clams themselves. That’s one of the findings of the first major scientific study to examine the broad, long-term ecosystem effects of geoduck aquaculture in Puget Sound, published last week in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea’s Journal of Marine Science. Michelle Ma reports. (UW Today)

Skagit Valley Sounds Off
Not that Anacortes isn’t well acquainted—even friendly—with Shell Oil. They’ve lived together for 104 years. That long ago, Shell made its first venture into the U.S. gas and oil business with a terminal a few miles from where its refinery now operates. At Anacortes Middle School last week, a number of speakers critical of Shell’s proposed oil-by-rail project began by stressing that Shell has been an O.K. neighbor, an excellent employer and supporter of local schools.  Then they turned a verbal corner to say, “However…” The “however” is Bakken crude oil, the highly volatile feedstock Shell wishes to bring into the Skagit community by the trainload. The same that has made itself famous in 10 spectacular explosions in the United States and Canada since 2013. Bob Simmons reports. (Cascadia Weekly) See also: Residents ask for broad study of Shell’s oil-by-rail project  Joan Pringle reports. (Anacortes American)

Northern Gateway hopes to change Trudeau's mind
While on the campaign trail Justin Trudeau went on record with his strong opposition to the Northern Gateway Pipeline, so it would be fair to assume his election win means certain death for the project. But no so fast says Northern Gateway. Communications Manager Ivan Giesbrect told CBC in an emailed statement, "We look forward to the opportunity to sit down with the new Prime Minister and his government to provide an update on the progress of our project and our partnerships with First Nations and Métis people in Alberta and B.C." (CBC)

Basking shark populations teeter on the brink of extinction
With a massive body and a mouth that emerges from the deep blue like a man-made dungeon cell, the basking shark resembles a great and terrible monster. But this is an animal whose terror resides only in its appearance. This harmless creature floats through the water with its mouth agape under a bulbous nose feeding mainly on plankton. It is only its size and the industry of man that has brought the basking shark from an abundant population to the brink of extinction. Twenty years ago kayakers and boaters in the Salish Sea would have had a chance to see a fairly common dorsal fin that did not belong to a whale. The basking shark, who is named for “sunning” itself on the surface of the water, is called “sunfish” or “sailfish” in some parts of the world. Basking sharks in this region are often referred to as the gentle giant slaughtered almost into oblivion. Cali Bagby reports. (San Juan Journal)

Cleanup planned for Anacortes' Quiet Cove
An environmental cleanup project is in the planning stage for an old fuel yard in Anacortes. The state Department of Ecology says the cleanup could promote future development of the site. Ecology is working with the Port of Anacortes on the project, which would remove soil and water pollution on the property at 202 O. Ave. known as Quiet Cove. Kimberley Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

How will treaty rights influence environmental restoration?
Treaties signed 160 years ago guarantee Native Americans the right to take fish from Puget Sound for all time. A case now before the courts will help determine whether those same treaty rights place limits on how property is developed in the state of Washington. Specifically, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week heard arguments about whether the state of Washington violated the treaties by building culverts that block or restrict the passage of salmon.... If the appeals court upholds a ruling by U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez, the state could be obligated to fix about 1,000 culverts within 17 years at an estimated cost of $1.9 billion, according to state officials. That’s 1.9 billion with a “b.” Chris Dunagan explains. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Glacier melt in B.C. mountains reaches 'shocking' levels
You've heard about glaciers melting for years, but what happened last summer across Western Canada is different, because it's much faster — giving what one researcher calls a "sad window" into our future, where the glaciers are gone. In the past decade, the bluish-white ice of the tongue, or terminus, of the glacier has receded over 200 metres, at a rate of roughly 15 metres a year. This summer though, the melt rate accelerated dramatically to about two and half times that pace, says Brian Menounos, a geography professor and glacier researcher at the University of Northern B.C. in Prince George. Chris Brown and Chris Corday report. (CBC) See also: Permafrost warming in parts of Alaska 'is accelerating'  Matt McGrath reports. (BBC)

43 Canada geese killed in region cull at $725 each
It cost about $31,200 — about $725 each — to capture and kill 43 Canada geese in a cull undertaken by the Capital Regional District this year. The CRD had a permit to cull up to 250 geese on private agricultural land on the Saanich Peninsula, but managed to bag just 43. While CRD staff said the project met objectives to test culling methods, some CRD directors wondered about the cost. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 244 AM PDT THU OCT 22 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 15 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 13 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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10/21 Vancouver redone, Trudeau & BC pipes, salmon closures, sunscreen & corals

Vancouver redone (City of Vancouver/CBC)

City of Vancouver reveals artist renderings of viaduct-free downtown
City staff painted a picture Tuesday at council of what downtown Vancouver might look like with the removal of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts…. The proposal to remove the viaducts, which would cost up to $127 million, includes an "almost unheard of" increase in downtown park space. It also includes two new city blocks that would be used for social and market housing. (CBC)

Trudeau victory means uncertain future for pipeline projects
The Liberal victory in yesterday's federal election appears to be the nail in the coffin for one West Coast pipeline project, but the future of another remains unclear. Incoming-prime minister Justin Trudeau is on record saying he would kill the Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal, which would carry crude oil from the Alberta oilsands to a tanker terminal on the North Coast of B.C. near Prince Rupert…. That leaves the proposed expansion of the existing Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs from Alberta to Port Metro Vancouver on the South Coast of B.C. While Trudeau has promised to formalize the non-binding moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on B.C.'s North Coast passed by MP's in 2010 — that ban applies specifically to the North Coast. And that leaves leave the door open for Kinder Morgan, which is seeking approval from the NEB to twin the 50-year-old pipeline, tripling its capacity, and increasing the tanker traffic in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet on the South Coast. Mike Laanela reports. (CBC)

Salmon fishing closed on Skagit, Stillaguamish rivers
To protect lower than expected runs of returning coho salmon, fishing on the Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers is closed. The closure started Monday, according to a state Department of Fish & Wildlife news release. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald) Central Puget Sound salmon season closes three months early  The central Puget Sound’s salmon fishing season has ended more than three months early due to concerns about endangered chinook. Tristan Baurick reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Chemicals In Sunscreen Are Harming Coral Reefs, Says New Study
New research about sunscreen’s damaging effects on coral reefs suggest that you might want to think twice before slathering it on. Reports about the harmful environmental effects of certain chemicals in the water have been circulated for years, but according to the authors of a new study released Tuesday, the chemicals in even one drop of sunscreen are enough to damage fragile coral reef systems. Some 14,000 tons of sunscreen lotions wind up in coral reefs around the world each year. The ingredient oxybenzone leaches the coral of its nutrients and bleaches it white. It can also disrupt the development of fish and other wildlife. Laura Wagner reports. (NPR)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 247 AM PDT WED OCT 21 2015
TODAY
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN
 IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 11 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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told