5/9 Bremerton Gasworks, Saanich flushing, Kalakala, hazwaste grants, drinking water, Columbia toxins

Sans sand (Photo: Star Advertiser)

If you like to watch: A BBC/National Geographic film crew have recorded rare footage of humpback whales intervening in a killer whale hunt. Humpback whales intervene in killer whale hunt  

New blog: The US Geological Survey reported that about 70 percent of the beaches on Oahu, Kauai and Maui are being lost to long-term erosion. What’s An Island Beach Without Sand?  

An extensive environmental investigation could be under way this time next year at Bremerton Gasworks, an old industrial site in West Bremerton. The site, along Port Washington Narrows between Thompson and Pennsylvania avenues, will be added this week to the federal Superfund List of the nation's most contaminated properties.  Bremerton Gasworks added to Superfund List  

Saanich Inlet marinas were chock-a-block with recreational boaters Monday - and many of them were unwittingly breaking the law. New federal rules, which kicked in Saturday, prohibit ships and boats from discharging sewage within three nautical miles of shore, meaning raw sewage from holding tanks cannot be discharged anywhere in Saanich Inlet. But, with only two pump-out stations on the Inlet - where there is minimal tidal cleansing - little publicity about the new regulations and almost no information about how they will be enforced, it is a good bet that holding tanks are still being emptied into the waters, said Frances Pugh and Sarah Verstegen of the Saanich Inlet Protection Society. New rules end waste-flushing in Saanich Inlet  

Once an icon of Puget Sound, the historic ferry Kalakala is in such fragile shape it may not withstand being evicted from a Tacoma moorage and could have to be scrapped, the Coast Guard and other agencies say.  Historic ferry Kalakala in dire straits in Tacoma  

The state Department of Ecology recently awarded $18.8 million in grants to 122 local and county governments to help manage solid and hazardous waste, reduce illegal dumping and promote recycling and composting programs, according to an Ecology press release. Skagit Public Works received $300,000 and the Skagit County Public Health Department received $104,000, and both grants were matched 25 percent by local funds. County receives grants from Ecology  

Snohomish County and the rest of central Puget Sound is expected to have enough water for the next half century, according to a Regional Water Supply Update released Monday by the Water Supply Forum. The Water Supply Forum, made up of local water agencies including the city of Everett, which supplies water to most of Snohomish County.  Region's water supply adequate for 50 years


A federal study released Tuesday found more than 100 toxic substances from everyday life are making their way through wastewater treatment plants into the Columbia River. The study looked at water treatment plant discharges in nine cities, from Wenatchee, Wash., downstream to Longview, Wash. They included Umatilla, The Dalles, Hood River, Portland, Vancouver, Wash.; and St. Helens. A total of 112 toxic materials were found, 53 percent of those that were tested for, including flame retardants, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products, mercury and cleaning products. Toxics from everyday life reaching Columbia River  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 850 PM PDT TUE MAY 8 2012
WED
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT...BECOMING NW 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE
 AFTERNOON. W SWELL 6 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
WED NIGHT
NW WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS.

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